# Mozzarella



## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Has any one made a real mozzarella. I can make one like you buy in the stores, hard and rubbery. I want to make one like grandma used to make. I guess an Italian mozzarella. No Grandma is not still around.
I have tried about a dozen different recipes including David Frankenhauser's. No luck. Want is the trick. I will be to the point of way too much milk soon and not many customers. I can make ice cream everyday but would love to spend some time practicing my mozzarella.


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

Why not try Rickie Carroll's 30-minute mozzarella? The recipe and technique can be found at cheesemaking.com

Some will say it's not "real" cheese - but it is the soft, fresh, ball kind. And it's super quick and easy to make.

If you don't like it, she probably has "real" mozzarella recipes on the site, too.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Traditional Mozz is trickier when made with goat's milk for some reason. The acid production seems to stall before you get the amount sufficient to stretch the curd. It takes a lot of acid development to get curd to stretch. I think that's why using a food acid (like citric acid) became so popular.

Why this happens I can't tell you, although I suspect it has to do with somatic cell count in the milk, based on the fact it takes far less food acid to make Mozz in early lactation, when the SCC is at the lowest point.

If you truly want to explore traditional Mozz, I'd get an acidometer (and learn how to use it) and track the acid development of your curd as it goes along. Record the temperature and time, and hopefully you'll get an answer. It can take many hours more than the recipe says to get the right acidity, and charting it with an acidometer is probably the best way to follow its development.

I can't say I've ever done it myself, mostly because I found a sort of hybrid recipe early on that calls for mesophilic starter, lipase and citric acid. If you do it right you get the flavor and texture of traditional fresh Mozz without the guesswork. But it sounds like worthy research, and I'd be interested to hear what you learn.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Julia, would you mind posting that recipe or link for the hybrid mozz? Thanks


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Step one: buy a water buffalo.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

This is a recipe I developed and put up on a cheesemaking website many years ago---one that is gone now. But at some point, Gourmetsleuth.com pinched the recipe so it's still available. 
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipe_mozprov.htm

One more thing I wanted to add, Steff, is that the texture of the Mozz you make is entirely in your hands. If you want tender, fresh Mozz, you can do it with the 30 minute Mozz recipe, and it you want a tougher, drier Pizza cheese, you can do that too. It's all about letting the cheese advise you as you make it, and tweaking things so they come out as you want.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Thanks Julia, it would have been nice to attribute your contribution, oh well, no doubt you got your moment of fame at some other time!


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Thanks Julia. I will print that out if it's ok with you. I guess you are right about it bieng in the hand. I bet it would be alot easier to know what that hand feels like if I were making it with someone who knew. Trial and error. 
This season I will practice with all my excess milk till I get it right.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

steff bugielski said:


> This season I will practice with all my excess milk till I get it right.


Take notes, Steff. Detailed notes about time, technique and amounts. It will come in so handy as you try to figure this cheese out. 

And read up about what's going on chemically behind the scenes so you'll know what to tweak to perfect your cheese. You don't need a lot of background knowledge, but a general understanding of what's doing what when will be invaluable in making this cheese.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Liese said:


> Thanks Julia, it would have been nice to attribute your contribution, oh well, no doubt you got your moment of fame at some other time!


Fame? That's funny! But I can't even remember if I ever even signed it since it was on my own personal website, and when Gourmetsleuth.com stole it---well, I guess they couldn't figure that out and attributed it to the Cheesemaking Ring the site was part of.

All gone now, long ago. Xoom.com (which was a free website server) just disappeared one day, taking my Cheesemaker-L site with it, and since we had moved to Yahoo by then, I never rebuilt it... And I really don't remember why Molly Bunton's original cheesemaking ring went down, but it did, and she had to start all over again too...

Things like that happened back in the 90's.

But I don't remember any 'Fame' at all. Just a bunch of home cheesemakers like you guys trying to make sense of a difficult art. And some of us got hooked...


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

Thanks Julia for the link and the effort you put into the recipe.

A few questions if I may?

For the soft fresh mozz, do you stop at step 10?

10. Drain curd into colander, but save the whey for traditional ricotta. Drain curd for 15 minutes in colander, and then cut into 1 by 1" cubes.*** Put about a pound cubes in a large bowl or bucket, and cover with 145 Â° F water. Let the curd soak in the hot water until the curd reaches a temperature of around 130Â°F. Watch carefully that the curd doesnât go over 135Â°F or it will seize up. 
***is this where you stop? Do you do any stretching? or is the cheese ready to use at this point?


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

goatsareus said:


> ***is this where you stop? Do you do any stretching? or is the cheese ready to use at this point?


No, no...all mozzarella is stretched, but to get the tender fresh mozzarella (rather than pizza cheese or provolone) just bring the cut curd up to 118 degrees F., and drain it immediately---don't cook it for 15 minutes. After it drains, recut the curd into small pieces (so it will heat quickly) and put it into the 145 degree F. water until it becomes plastic, and then stretch.

The big difference between fresh Mozzarella, which is very tender and fresh tasting (and which should be eaten within a day), and Pizza cheese, which is firmer and doesn't leak whey all over your pizza when it melts, is how long you cook the curd. The longer you cook the curd, the more whey is expelled, and so the drier the cheese.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Now I am really exicited. I had asked many a cheese maker just how do I get that texture. and all they ever told me was to follow the recipe. You on the other hand have just explained at what step the texture changes and how to achieve the right one. Thank you so m,uch. Now if I only had an abundance of milk to try with. It will have to wait till Feb. when the kids are born.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

steff bugielski said:


> I had asked many a cheese maker just how do I get that texture. and all they ever told me was to follow the recipe.


That's probably because they didn't understand the process, but just followed recipes blindly without knowing what was going on, and how they could impact it. That doesn't work very well over the long term because the home cheesemaking recipes we can lay our hands on are extrapolated from commercial recipes, and all of them were in shorthand since they assumed you already knew the obvious, or you wouldn't be making cheese in the first place. 

But February will be here in no time, and you'll have lots of time to do your homework so you can get the most out of your milk. Enjoy!


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