# a new mozz problem!



## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

making mozz, or trying to once again, and this time, when it was at ph to stretch, it started to try, but got kinda mushy and grainy, but then when i went ahead and mushed it into a ball (i do handful size balls at at time, not the whole lump) and set in water to cool, it got softer yet. then i set it onto a plate and the cream oozed out pretty fast! what is that?? why? and here i thought i just about had it down! argh. again, tastes great, so i can still use it but i want it RIGHT. is that so much to ask?! :bored:


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

Were you using older milk? Are your goats getting plenty of alfalfa? It sounds like a weak calcium bond. If you drain the whey at pH 6 it should help, if not you might need to add calcium chloride.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

I just got this link threw the cheesemaking .com news letter.
Maybe this will help? Or maybe not. I just wanna help...LOL

Make Homemade Mozzarella with Ricki Carroll!

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/mass_appeal...la!?ref=scroller&categoryId=10032&status=true


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

cmharris6002 said:


> Were you using older milk? Are your goats getting plenty of alfalfa? It sounds like a weak calcium bond. If you drain the whey at pH 6 it should help, if not you might need to add calcium chloride.


the milk could've been older. i have _gallons and gallons_ in the fridge, in both fridges?!!! egads! 

altho i like my gals being so productive, i am more than certain of my choice to retire old ethel this spring! i am considering once a day milking for the next 3 months too, just tooooo much milk i can't keep track of it all. raising pigs again next year for sure too! i have many gallons frozen as well.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

hmm, how bout this....another try at the mozz yesterday yielded some curds that seemed like they wanted to stretch but just couldn't quite do it. it tasted good (as usual) so I just stopped bothering trying to spin and plopped it into a couple small bowls for molds. 

low and behold, I just hacked off a piece cuz I'm really hungry, and since I hate cold cheese, put into micro for just a short bit, maybe 10 seconds. its PERFECT. i mean, stretchy, yummy, creamy, delish PERFECT mozz. argh! it was a batch that was leaking cream terrible, and got kinda rough looking. 

i put it into the fridge later afternoon yesterday and just now, over 24 hours later, tried it. what does this all mean? I'm sorry to be such a pain, I am a huge 'why' person, I have to know why in order to do better. but its a huge relief knowing that altho it looked kinda lumpy and not so good yesterday, I now have this super stuff!~


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

Hmmm, leaking cream and rough looking... Did you drain the whey at pH 6? What was the pH the first time you tried to stretch and what was it after? What was the temp of the curd when you were trying to stretch? 

I don't know about you but I'm going to add this to my bag of tricks. If the cheese isn't coming together plop it in a bowl and try again later


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

oh dear, them's lots of questions! hehe! I do not know the ph of the whey at draining. I started to try the stretch a bit early cuz it seemed to be trying to stretch itself and I thought maybe since the batch the day before didn't come out real spiffy, I'd give it a go. I don't know the exact temp of the whey I heated to stretch either. hmm, looks like I will try using a notebook a few times to see what I'm doing (or not!)

and as for the result after the bowl in fridge, yeah, that was a big surprise! the taste was so good I wan't too bugged, and would've happily used it later for pizza or whatever anyhow. I dont' bother grating anymore, I just slice thinly and put all over my casseroles and pizza etc., works the same with less effort. I figured it wasn't going to get any worse but this was a great surprise anyhow!


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

There are just so many variables in cheese making that without specifics you might not be able to figure out inconsistencies in your results. Here is a simple cheese making record sheet if you want to use one.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

hey, that's a really great sheet, thanks!

its happend a few more times, its not ready for at least a day, once was even 2 days in the fridge and then it was good. still getting a 'rough' result, but fully usable and very tasty!


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