30 Minute Mozzarella Cheese

We are in the middle of a blizzard today and I stocked up on a gallon of milk when I went to the store just so I'd be able to make some cheese while stuck in the house.

So in between the many shoveling sessions (5 so far) I decided to make 30 minute Mozzarella cheese.
The ingredients were simple except that I didn't have citric acid. On the internet, I found out I could use lemon juice (lots) as a substitute, so I took the risk.

I heated the milk on the stove to 90 degrees after adding the usual diluted calcium because the milk is store-bought and the lemon juice. Once it reached 90 degrees, I turned off the heat and added 1/4 liquid vegetarian rennet diluted in a half cup of filtered water.

Then I let it sit the required 5 minutes, covered. At that point, I had to stir while turning on the heat again and bringing the temperature up to 105 degrees.


At this temperature, I had to turn off the heat again, and stir continually for 5 minutes. Using a strainer, I then separated the whey from the curds and put the curds in a microwave safe bowl.

After pressing on the curds to release and drain off more whey, I microwaved the curds for 1 minute on high. As soon as the minute was up, I had to use a large spoon to fold and kneed the curds like bread dough. Then I had to repeat this process twice more for 35 seconds in the microwave. After the 3rd time in the microwave, the curds really started to resemble mozzarella. You could see the cheese "stretching".
You can (and I did) add cheese salt during the last round of kneeding. Then you can eat the cheese warm right away (I had a nibble and it was delicious.) or you can roll it into small balls and transfer them to a bowl of ice water to bring the inside temperature down.

I plan to serve something Italian for dinner tonight just so I can use my new, home-made mozzarella. Now, where did I put my shovel. It is time to go outside again.

My finished cheese before breaking it into individual balls.

Whey Ricotta - first try

While my first attempt at Feta was draining in a colander, I decided to use the fresh whey it produced to try Whey Ricotta. This is a way to use the whey and not be wasteful.

Simply pour the drained whey into a large pot and heat it to 195-200 degrees on the stove. Do not let it boil. As soon as the curds separate, remove it from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Carefully ladle the curds out of the pot and into a cheese cloth lined strainer and let it drain for 20 minutes. The recipe said to add salt or herbs. I chose to sprinkle in some mixed Greek herbs into the cheese.

Results: The yield was very small, but the recipe said I could have added some milk to the whey to increase the yield. The taste was fantastic. It was a nice dry, crumbly ricotta that I ate on crackers with sun dried tomatos. It tasted heavenly. So far, it was the best tasting cheese I have made.

Halloumi Cheese

Ingredients
8 pints fresh milk (a gallon), either goats or ewe or cow
1 Teaspoon Rennet or special cheese rennet
1/4 Teaspoon calcium carbonate
a little salt if desired

Equipments
Pan
2-3 Muslin bags or similar

Instructions

• Bring the milk to room temperature or heat it slightly on the stove. I didn't do this for my first attempt and the curds did not form. I later figured out my milk was too cold.

• Add the calcium carbonate to the milk only if you are using store bought milk. Apparently (I learned this the hard way) this milk has a lot of the calcium removed during processing.

• Next add rennet to the milk and let it set for 30 minutes.

• Break up the curds that form and put them into one or two muslin bags and hang to drain for about 30 minutes. (I didn't have bags, so I used cheese cloth and tied the 4 corners together)

• Take the liquid (whey) that drains and put it into a pot.

• The solids in the muslin will be firmer and oval in shape. Leave them hanging while you continue.

• Bring whey you put in the pot to the boil. If any curds form on the top, use a slotted spoon to remove them. Set these aside for the extra treat described below.

• Once the whey comes to a boil, lower the heat to just a simmer, remove the soft curds from your hanging muslin bags and lower them into the boiling whey. Let them simmer gently until the cheese floats to the top, approximately 20 minutes.

• Remove the cheese and sprinkle it with salt, and fold it in half and wrap it in cheese cloth.
  

• Place a weight on top of it and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.
  

• Save a small amount of the whey left in the pot in a airtight container that will also fit the cheese. After two hours, you can eat the cheese, but any that is left should be stored in the air-tight container with the small amount of whey.

This recipe makes 2 or 3 rounds of cheese.

Results and Taste testing: Well all looked to be going well once I figured out to warm up my milk. When I put the final product in the fridge under the weight, it looked just as expected, a pure cream color.

The next morning, when I checked on it, it had changed color. 80% of the cheese had gone from white to grey/clear. It was not appetizing looking at all!

However, I was determined to taste it. Halloumi's claim to fame is that you can grill it in a pan with no oil and it get browned and soft but doesn't melt away like other cheeses. So I sliced off a few slices and put them in a small pan. To my delight, as it heated, the color changed instantly back to all white and then it began to brown just like Halloumi from the store. I was also delighted to find that it tasted exactly like the cheese from the store too. My only disappointment is that it looks hideous before it is heated.

If anyone knows why this happened I would love to know what I could do differently to prevent this color change from happening the next time. Thanks
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Extra Treats
The curds that you skimmed from the whey and set aside can now be hung in the muslin bag and hung to dry. They will form a hard cheese that can be grated over spaghetti and other foods.

Or, instead of drying it, you can mix in some sugar and cinnamon into the soft curds for sweet snack.

You can use the left over whey that the cheese was simmered in to cook spaghetti noodles.

Chevre (Goat Cheese)

Today is my first attempt at making cheese. Because I am anxious to begin this new hobby, I wanted to start with an fresh cheese that doesn't require months of aging before I can taste it.

This recipe came from a guest on Martha Stewart.

First I need my supplies...

• 1 quart of goats milk
• juice from 2 lemons
• course salt
• chopped herbs - I will use parcel from my herb garden

I will also need...

• a double boiler
• a candy thermometer
• cheese cloth
• a wooden spoon

Step 1:
Heat the milk in a double boiler (don't let the water touch the bottom of the top half)

(my improvised double-boiler)

over simmering water until the thermometer shows it has reached 180 degrees Fahrenheit.


Step 2:
Remove from the heat and stir in the juice from the two lemons. Let it sit until it sets. This is quick - about 15 seconds. Add more lemon juice if it doesn't set right away.

(nothing obvious happened when I added the lemon. I expected curds to appear or at least lumps, but even when I added more lemon, nothing obvious happened, but I continued anyway.)

Step 3:
Line a colander with several layers of cheese cloth and then use a ladle to transfer the set cheese to the colander.

Step 4:
Tie up the 4 corners of the cheese cloth to make a bag and hang this bag from the wooden spoon over a pot. Leave it to drain for 2 hours until it reaches the consistency of cottage cheese.

Step 5:
Open the bag

and transfer the cheese to a small bowl and break it up with a fork or spoon. Mix in the chopped herb and some course salt (to taste).


Step 6:
Enjoy! Spread it on crackers and enjoy your first homemade cheese!

The leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for 1 week.
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Tasting results
I was really pleased with my first effort. The cheese turned out soft, creamy and a bit lemony (I did actually use a lot of lemon juice!). The Parcell herb added a nice touch, but I think dill would be good too. I didn't use much salt, but it was just perfect on a salty trisket.