dragonlaurel
Improvising a more SS life
I want to try it. Wish I had a buddy nearby to work with on it.
Making Cheese tips for 1st timer
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freemotion
Food Guru
I have four gallons of milk in the pot for mozzarella right now. I discovered that I like to make it later at night so it can hang overnight, then it stretches beautifully in the morning.
I don't care for herbed cheese myself, but I do wonder if it would interfere with the stretching process. You might try herbing your ricotta instead.....you DO make ricotta after making the mozzarella, right?
If not, just heat that whey up to 200 F and then strain it, and voila, ricotta! I imagine it would be good on crackers and such. Or press the ricotta lightly overnight for ricotta salata. Yum.
I plan on trying to make cheese with kefir this fall or winter, as the ripening culture. Then rennet it and proceed.....should be interesting!
I don't care for herbed cheese myself, but I do wonder if it would interfere with the stretching process. You might try herbing your ricotta instead.....you DO make ricotta after making the mozzarella, right?
If not, just heat that whey up to 200 F and then strain it, and voila, ricotta! I imagine it would be good on crackers and such. Or press the ricotta lightly overnight for ricotta salata. Yum.I plan on trying to make cheese with kefir this fall or winter, as the ripening culture. Then rennet it and proceed.....should be interesting!
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Kefir cheese? That sounds doable! I have oodles of kefir!!!!freemotion said:I have four gallons of milk in the pot for mozzarella right now. I discovered that I like to make it later at night so it can hang overnight, then it stretches beautifully in the morning.
I don't care for herbed cheese myself, but I do wonder if it would interfere with the stretching process. You might try herbing your ricotta instead.....you DO make ricotta after making the mozzarella, right?
I plan on trying to make cheese with kefir this fall or winter, as the ripening culture. Then rennet it and proceed.....should be interesting!
freemotion
Food Guru
Of course, I will be reporting my results here....somewhere....but don't hold your breath, it could be a while before I get to it. Too many urgent projects on the list right now, and I can get four gallons of milk out of the fridge in a hurry with mozzarella and even faster with a stinky cheese!
I plan on doing the kefir experiments with one gallon batches. The problem is, it takes the same amount of time and effort for a one gallon batch as it does for a four gallon batch.
I plan on doing the kefir experiments with one gallon batches. The problem is, it takes the same amount of time and effort for a one gallon batch as it does for a four gallon batch.
ABHanna4d
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I tried it and it worked! I added some sundried tomatoes nad basil in the final kneeding stage to the 30 minute mozzerella recipe!ABHanna4d said:Can I put in any spices or ingredients into my cheese? Please dont laugh this may sound like a dumb question but Im SO new at this (just made my first cheese today!!).
I want to make another ball of cheese (since the family devoured the first one instantly!). Can I put in some sundried tomatoes and basil?? do I just kneed it in at the final kneeding stage? Will it mess up the ball and make it fall apart, or will this actually work the way it seems like it should work?
Anyother ingredients I should add to mozzerella?? this was so much fun!!
then I used the whey to make ricotta, I got about a cup and a half!!
This is so much fun! Im going to try cream cheese next!
noobiechickenlady
Almost Self-Reliant
YUM! Good grief, that looks tasty! 
Okay, this is my first time on the site and posting, so I'm sorry if I don't do this right. I tried to make cheese this afternoon and failed. I was going for mozzerella but it came out more like ricotta cheese. It wasn't stretchy at all. What did I do wrong? is it the citric acid that makes it stretchy? Did I not mix the citric acid into the milk thoroughly enough? Any advice would be much appreciated! And if I'm not doing this posting thing right, please let me know!
Farmfresh
City Biddy
Welcome to Sufficient Self ccmkelly! 
The citric acid makes the milk curdle the stretchiness comes from gently heating the curd and then kneading it. If you do not heat it enough or heat it too much you will have trouble with the stretchiness.
I am just a beginner cheese maker myself. I am sure others with more experience will also chime in.
The citric acid makes the milk curdle the stretchiness comes from gently heating the curd and then kneading it. If you do not heat it enough or heat it too much you will have trouble with the stretchiness.
I am just a beginner cheese maker myself. I am sure others with more experience will also chime in.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Welcome to the forum!
Is this real mozzarella you're trying to make, or Ricki Carroll's 30-minute mozzarella? I am guessing the latter since you mention citric acid?
Did it ever form a proper, reasonably-firm curd, or was it only *ever* flimsy and ricotta-like? If it never formed a decent curd, the problem may be your milk, mainly if you are using store-boughten milk, some of which works but some of which doesn't. Try another brand and/or a fresher lot.
If the curd was ok when you cut it but it just never got stretchy after draining/heating/kneading, one possibility is that you did not heat it enough (or in teh case of real mozzarella, did not heat it properly). Another possibility, esp. in the case of 30-min mozzarella, is that you did not drain it sufficiently before heating. I screwed up several batches of 30-minute mozzarella the first few times before I figured out that you really have to drain the *bejeebers* out of it, or I guess the remaining whey gets in the way or something.
Just a beginner myself, but able to make a few things in a semi-replicable way
,Pat
freemotion
Food Guru
I never made the 30-min recipe. I use the recipe on the Fias Co Farm website for goat's milk.....BUT.....Don't throw a "failed" batch away! It may not be mozzarella, but it is cheese. We have eaten many batches that I labelled, "Failed Mozzarella" and it is our favorite cheese to slice and eat.
Sometimes the break is far from clean, sometimes things look great until I try to stretch it. I test a small chunk for stretchiness, and put it in the fridge and try again the next day if it is too crumbly. Sometimes that is enough.
With a really crumbly batch, I have put it into my press and pressed it lightly overnight and.....yummmmm! Don't forget to add salt if you do this, though. You normally add the salt into the hot whey that you heat up the chunks to stretch them, and the stretching works the salt into the cheese. So just knead some into the mushy mess if you have to skip the stretching.
Also, if you used storebought milk that was ultra-pasteurized, you need to add calcium chloride because the calcium and proteins are so damaged that it won't form the bonds needed to make many types of cheeses.
Sometimes the break is far from clean, sometimes things look great until I try to stretch it. I test a small chunk for stretchiness, and put it in the fridge and try again the next day if it is too crumbly. Sometimes that is enough.
With a really crumbly batch, I have put it into my press and pressed it lightly overnight and.....yummmmm! Don't forget to add salt if you do this, though. You normally add the salt into the hot whey that you heat up the chunks to stretch them, and the stretching works the salt into the cheese. So just knead some into the mushy mess if you have to skip the stretching.
Also, if you used storebought milk that was ultra-pasteurized, you need to add calcium chloride because the calcium and proteins are so damaged that it won't form the bonds needed to make many types of cheeses.
