Friday, April 12, 2013

Say Cheese!

A few weeks ago I made cheese for the first time, in a class that a friend of mine was teaching. We made 30-minute mozzarella cheese, based on the recipe on the Cultures for Health website.

Ingredients:
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • One gallon of milk
  • 1-1/4 cup filtered water
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon citric acid
  • 1/4 rennet tablet or 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet
  • Large bowl of water, placed in the refrigerator when you start
  • Large bowl of water, placed in the freezer when you start

My teacher brought the first four ingredients to class already mixed up. We poured it all into a big pot and heated it to 90° F. Then we took the pot off the burner and added the rennet. Once the rennet is in there, you want to gently stir it with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds, using an up-and-down motion. Then we let it sit there to solidify a bit.


After 5-10 minutes, there was a custard-like substance, which we sliced into squares with a knife. We put it back on the stove and heated it to 105° F, then took it back of the burner and stirred it for a few minutes. 


Next, we drained the whey off, and microwaved the curds for a minute, drained again and added salt, microwaved for another 30 seconds, and pulled it like taffy.


I think that was it? Below is the finished product, after I'd squished it into a ball and sliced a piece off. It was a little crumblier than the mozzarella I normally buy at the store (even the fresh kind), but delicious.

Say cheese!


This post is doing triple duty:' Saturday Snapshot, a Saturday Farmers Market post, and, at last, a Weekend Cooking post!

21 comments:

  1. That is SO awesome Ali!!! I've always wanted to make mozarella myself! One of these days I'll actually try :p And you've just inspired me a bit more ;)

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  2. I recently made crème fraiche - it was so good, I'd love to try cheese next. You made it look easy :-)

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  3. I can't imagine making my own cheese - inspiring though. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. WOW, how cool!! I can't see myself making my own cheese, but really that doesn't seem as complicated as I would have thought. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

    Here is my SATURDAY SNAPSHOT post.

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  5. I've made cheese before - it's so good when it's fresh like that.

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  6. AWESOME!!! I'm salivating away here! :) Making cheese is one of those things I've long wanted to try, but haven't gotten around to yet. ("Things I've Long Wanted to Try" is a very long list.)

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  7. what fun...and then you have cheese to eat!

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  8. Fantastic that you made your own cheese! Have a great week.

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  9. Your cheese looks great. I've been wanting to do a cheesemaking course for some time. You do make it look easy.

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  10. I can't imagine making cheese. Pretty impressive. Here's Mine

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  11. So cool! I have always wanted to make cheese.

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  12. I've always been intimidated by the idea of making cheese homemade, but that doesn't seem too complicated. :) Very cool!

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  13. Very cool. Love your photos of the process. Looks like fun!

    Joy's Book Blog

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  14. that would be so much fun to try at least once. Thanks for sharing the photos.

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  15. I'm impressed too - you sure took Grilled Cheese Day(/Week) to new heights! LOL

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  16. How fun is this!? I've made ricotta but I haven't made cheese that requires rennet. This doesn't look so hard.

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  17. I've been so tempted to give cheese making a try. Your post and photos are very encouraging!

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  18. Yum! That looks so good. And how fun to eat cheese you made yourself. Awesome.

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  19. I don't think I'll be making cheese any time soon, but it was interesting to see how the mozzarella was made!

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  20. Wow! Very adventurous of you!

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  21. I've always wanted to try this! Congrats on your homemade cheese!

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