# First Mozzarella



## ffemt128

Well as you know we bit the bullet and purchased the Ricki's Mozzarella Kit from Brew and Wine Supply (sponsor here by the way). I spoke with Doug on the phone for a total of about 45 minutes last week. Real nice guy to talk to. My order was placed on Thursday and shipped the same day. Mr Brown payed a visit to the house while I was at work and delivered my Cheese kit. After seeing the delivery I packed my daughter back into the truck and off to Giant Eagle we went for some Snyder's Whole Milk. 

We had dinner then started the mozzarella around 7:00 pm, maybe shortly before. Just under an hour we had the cheese in the ice water to cool it. The entire process was seemless. I think the hardest part was holding and stretching the 135 degree cheese. Both my wife and I believew this is better than any store bought mozzarella we have tried. I'll be stoopping for more milk tomorrow and will no doubt be buying more rennet in the near future. The next batch will be a double. Forgot to mention. The final weight of the Mozzarella was 15.44 oz. Not bad for a total investment of an hour and about $4.50 in materials.


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## Wade E

Wow, that quick huh and that cheap?


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## ffemt128

Yes Wade. $3.85 for the milk and since you get enough to make 30 batches for a 2
$25.00 kit, its not all that bad.


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## Runningwolf

You guys need to quit teasing me with another hobby!


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## Wade E

I hear ya there Dan!!!!! Between this and fishing, its the only reason I havent started the cheese making and I dont think I want to but man does it sound enticing!!!!!


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## Julie

Now you need to buy the hard cheese kit. Keep your rennet and cultures in the freezer, they will last longer. 

Since we are going into the spring we are going to start making mozza and ricotta thru the summer. Then this fall we are going to kick up the hard cheese making. Since you have to age the hard cheese in a temp around 50 degrees, we decided to do that in the fall. We have a bedroom that we can keep temp in around 50 degrees.


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## ffemt128

Julie said:


> Now you need to buy the hard cheese kit. Keep your rennet and cultures in the freezer, they will last longer.
> 
> Since we are going into the spring we are going to start making mozza and ricotta thru the summer. Then this fall we are going to kick up the hard cheese making. Since you have to age the hard cheese in a temp around 50 degrees, we decided to do that in the fall. We have a bedroom that we can keep temp in around 50 degrees.



We pretty much decided if we do hard cheeses we will wait til fall so that we can age in the basement. Temps down there are generally between 45-55 degrees in the winter depending on the part of the basement. Figure we will put the cheese in a large container for storage. I'll be searching for press plans, the simple press on cheesemaking.com doesn't appear hard to make.


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## Brew and Wine Supply

ffemt128 said:


> We pretty much decided if we do hard cheeses we will wait til fall so that we can age in the basement. Temps down there are generally between 45-55 degrees in the winter depending on the part of the basement. Figure we will put the cheese in a large container for storage. I'll be searching for press plans, the simple press on cheesemaking.com doesn't appear hard to make.



I have those plans

Glad the Mozz worked out for you..looking forward to doing some too, but with triming the vineyards and having to cut and set fence posts, my little bit of free time is tied up.


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## ffemt128

I found plans on the web this am for a simple cheese press. They can be found

http://www.fiascofarm.com/dairy/cheesepress.html

I think I'll make one of these up this summer for when we venture into hard cheeses in the fall.


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## ffemt128

Going to make another batch of Mozzarella today. May also try ricotta so that we can make stuffed shells. If we do that I'll need to make more mozzarella tomorrow so we can grate it and put it on top to melt...


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## ffemt128

Second batch of Mozzarella made, I made this one a little more moist. I think I like the first batch better. This one weighed in at 17.5 oz. Curds were stiffer and I didn't stir as long after reaching the 135 degree mark or stretch as much. Still very yummy.


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## roblloyd

This thread is one reason I took a month or so off. My wife told me to hold off on making more wine (made about 10-12 batches last year) have aged and shown to be worth it. 
If I tell her I want to start making cheese she'll think I'm nuts!

Is it really that much better than what you can get at the store? I'm not talking about the tough stuff sealed in plastic but the fresher looking stuff near the olive bars soaking in some liquid.

fresh mozz, fresh garden tomatoes, fresh basil and cukes with a nice aged balsamic....mmmmm


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## ffemt128

roblloyd said:


> fresh mozz, fresh garden tomatoes, fresh basil and cukes with a nice aged balsamic....mmmmm



This is what I'm waiting for this summer. I think it's better than store bought.


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## Brew and Wine Supply

+2 on that


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## Rocky

I just gotta find time to get into cheese making. We used to make ricotta at home and we added coarse black pepper and red pepper flakes to it. Yummo! I remember the little wicker baskets. Wonder what happened to them.


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## ffemt128

Rocky said:


> I just gotta find time to get into cheese making. We used to make ricotta at home and we added coarse black pepper and red pepper flakes to it. Yummo! I remember the little wicker baskets. Wonder what happened to them.



Wow, does that sound great. We love anything with red pepper flakes...


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## Brew and Wine Supply

Rocky said:


> I just gotta find time to get into cheese making. We used to make ricotta at home and we added coarse black pepper and red pepper flakes to it. Yummo! I remember the little wicker baskets. Wonder what happened to them.



Go for it Rocky, you have one day left for free shipping...

BTW, the red pepper mozz sounds great, I want to do some with Italian spices....


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## Julie

I say yes what the cheese you make at home is way better than what you can buy. One thing I noticed right off the top when I made a mozza was the sodium, store bought is much higher, so that in turn, IMO is less healthy.


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## ffemt128

Julie said:


> I say yes what the cheese you make at home is way better than what you can buy. One thing I noticed right off the top when I made a mozza was the sodium, store bought is much higher, so that in turn, IMO is less healthy.



Not to mention no preservatives.....


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## wildberry

what all come in the kit?


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## Brew and Wine Supply

trying to go from memory.....
Citric acid, cheese salt, rennet tablets, cheesecloth, a thermometer, Instructions.... I think thats it...


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## Julie

Brew and Wine Supply said:


> trying to go from memory.....
> Citric acid, cheese salt, rennet tablets, cheesecloth, a thermometer, Instructions.... I think thats it...



Doug, did it come with culture as well? I don't remember if we boughtthe culture separate of if it came with the kit.


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## ffemt128

Brew and Wine Supply said:


> trying to go from memory.....
> Citric acid, cheese salt, rennet tablets, cheesecloth, a thermometer, Instructions.... I think thats it...



That's all that's in the Mozzarella kit....


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## Julie

ffemt128 said:


> That's all that's in the Mozzarella kit....



Thanks, the cultures might have come with the hard cheese kit


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## wildberry

would cheese salt be the same as canning salt?
Barb


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## Brew and Wine Supply

Cheese Salt is sea salt. No additives, ie: iodine.


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## Brew and Wine Supply

I am one who likes to know what I am talking about by doing ... i did my first batch of Mozzarella on Saturday, Here are a few notes..

Rennet tablets, when you crush them, you loose about half ( I may use liquid rennet next time), and some recomendations are to up the amount of rennet if using store bought milk... so I used a 1/2 rennet tablet, things worked a little better.

After addinga 1/4 piece of rennet tablet and did the waiting time, the instructions said your curd should look something like custard....mine did not Looked more like cottage cheese floating in water, so I added another 1/4 of the rennet tablet. Did the re heat and wait... same thing... no fret, just strained it off and everything worked great.

When heating it up in the microwave to 135* to 140*... that stuff is hot, follow the directions and wear rubber gloves, the only ones we had were the wifes... way too small.... now typing with mild burnt hands... well not that bad but it was quite hot trying to streach it.

Streaching, it can be over done, mine got quite hard, not really sure if it was from over working or using a 1/2 rennet tablet for a 1 gallon batch.

Nice thing about the harder mozz. is it shreads very easy.

We did not add any salt... it needs it. Made four balls ( about 2 to 2-1/2 inches round )from the one batch, left two plain and added garlic salt and Itailan seasoning to the others and let them sit in the fridg overnite... they WERE great, sliced them up and on crackers.

Will I do it again...yup, and soon, this is the greatest.


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## ffemt128

Brew and Wine Supply said:


> Rennet tablets, when you crush them, you loose about half ( I may use liquid rennet next time), and some recomendations are to up the amount of rennet if using store bought milk... so I used a 1/2 rennet tablet, things worked a little better.
> 
> After addinga 1/4 piece of rennet tablet and did the waiting time, the instructions said your curd should look something like custard....mine did not Looked more like cottage cheese floating in water, so I added another 1/4 of the rennet tablet. Did the re heat and wait... same thing... no fret, just strained it off and everything worked great.
> 
> When heating it up in the microwave to 135* to 140*... that stuff is hot, follow the directions and wear rubber gloves, the only ones we had were the wifes... way too small.... now typing with mild burnt hands... well not that bad but it was quite hot trying to streach it.



I agree with the statement of the curd not looking stiff like custard. Ours was more like a watery custard then after heating and stirling a little it was exactly like floating custard. I considered adding a 1/2 tablet and also ordering some liquid rennet for future batches so that more than 1/4 tablet/tsp could easily be added until the correct amount was determined.

135* is very hot. I know what you mean about slighly burnt hands. I don't have rubber gloves. Only ones I have are nitril for EMS. Wasn't to bad. 

I was hoping my batch Saturday would have been harder as we wanted to grate it for our stuffed shells. Stuck it in the freezer while preparing everything else and it was fine.


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## joeswine

*When to start*

 i HAVE 6 WINES READY FOR THE BOTTLE VERY SOON ,BUT IMUST TRY CHEESE MAKING ITS SOUNDS VERY REWARDING AND i LIKE CHEESE,i'LL KEEP FOLLOWING THIS THREAD UNTIL THEN WITH IN THE NEXT MONTH FOR SURE...


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## ffemt128

The last batch I did I used a 1/2 rennet tablet. Seemed to work better. Curd got stiffer quicker.


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## wildberry

what recipe do you use?


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## ffemt128

I purchased the Ricci kit from Brew and Wine Supply. He's a sponsor of the forum.

I'll be making another batch of Mozzarella today. May make some pizza tomorrow.


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## ffemt128

Cheese is done. This may end up grateable for the pizza. Might have to go get another gallon of milk. This is too much fun.


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## joea132

Just ordered the cheese kit from Brew and Wine Supply. Looking forward to making it at the firehouse for pizza night!


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## Brew and Wine Supply

Already got it boxed up ready to go out Monday!


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## John_Kelvin

I'll better buy it,than make in my own


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## Runningwolf

John_Kelvin said:


> I'll better buy it,than make in my own



say goodbye John


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## Fabiola

wildberry said:


> would cheese salt be the same as canning salt?
> Barb



You can use any salt in cheese with no iodine, cheese salt is expensive but you can substitute with pickling salt, canning salt, sea salt, kosher salt, etc.


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## ShelleyDickison

I ordered the mozzarella making kit. I am very excited. It's not even here yet and I made my husband go and get milk. It should arrive today. Probably right before we have to leave for the wine tasting. Oh well, watch out tomorrow.  !


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## A2

Anyone have any photos of the process? I've been wanting to do this a while now.


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