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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Try Your Hand at Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

The gift that keeps on giving!  Win this 30 minute Mozzarella Kit.  Consider it a Christmas present to yourself!  We had a great time making this together.  And we have supplies to do it 29 more times!  Of course the "taffy stretching" hands-on part was a favorite...but I'm getting ahead of myself!  
I've recently had an opportunity to try out the 30 Minute Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.
The kit includes everything you need to make a 1# batch of mozzarella cheese ~ 30 times!  That's right, 30# of cheese with one kit!  All you add is the milk.  We had a great time and it was really easy to do.

We used raw milk from a local farm.  First, we heated the milk to 145°F for 30 minutes.  Then we cooled the milk quickly by placing the kettle in a sink of ice water.
We added the citric acid which was dissolved in water. It's important to be sure the water doesn't contain chlorine.
Then we heated the milk again to 90°F stirring constantly.
At this point, we removed the kettle from the stove and slowly stirred in the rennet solution we'd made earlier.  The pot was covered and allowed to rest for 5+ minutes.
Now we could see the separation begin to happen.  But the curds weren't quite set enough so we gave it a few more minutes.
Using a knife that would reach the bottom of the pot, we cut the curd into cubes and made diagonal slices as shown in the directions.  Now we could see the whey begin to separate more.

  We put the pot back on the stove and heated the curds to 110°F while slowly moving the curds around in the pot to help separate the solids.  Then we took it off the heat and continued stirring gently for 2-5 more minutes.

The whey was poured off into a pitcher and the solids remained in the colander.
We heated a pot of water to 185°F.  Then we dipped the colander with the curds into the water several times to rinse the whey off and heat the cheese again.  After folding the curds over to drain the whey, they began to get stretchy and elastic.

Here's the fun part!  You pull the cheese like taffy to lengthen the proteins.

You can add some cheese salt (included in the kit) while you stretch the cheese until it's shiny and smooth.  Once you reach this stage, you can form a braid, a log or a ball with your cheese.
If you want to make string cheese, simply stretch the cheese into long pieces and cut.  Drop them into cold water for 5 minutes to set the cheese.  Then let set in ice water for another 15 minutes.  This is important to keep the cheese from becoming grainy and protects it's silky texture.
Voila!  30 minute mozzarella right in your own kitchen!  This is a great project to do with kids!

Now, here's the exciting part!  The folks at New England Cheesemaking Company have offered to sponsor a giveaway for one 30 Minute Mozzarella Kit to a lucky person somewhere in Canada or the US!
You have 5 chances to enter!

1) Follow The Woodwife's Journal and leave a comment below telling me that you're following,
2) Blog about my giveaway and leave a comment below with the link to your post.
3) Tweet about my giveaway and leave a comment below.
4) Visit New England Cheesemaking Supply Company and leave a comment below telling me what product interests you the most.
5) Follow New England Cheesemaking Supply Company on Facebook and leave a comment below.

At 6PM on Christmas Eve 2011, I'll draw a random number from the comments section to choose the winner!

I'm sharing this with the folks @ Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday and Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday.
Click on their buttons to see what's happening there.
Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

Jenny Matlock


Much herbal love,
 

32 comments:

  1. I am a follower of your journal

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  2. I would be interested in any of the beginner kits. I have made chevre before but nothing else.

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  3. I follow The Woodwife's Journal.

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  4. I liked New Englad Cheesemaker on facebook. I would like the mozzerella kit for sure . Since I like to make lasagna!

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  5. I posted about your giveaway on my blog! :)

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  6. I visited the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company and I would be interested in trying their basic cheese making kit.

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  7. sorry here is the link to my blog with my post about your giveaway!
    http://tomandkatiew.blogspot.com/2011/12/cheese-giveaway.html

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  8. You know I love you Sharon Wallace. This could be my next big adventure.

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  9. I "liked" New England Cheese Company on Facebook.
    Jennifer in PA
    JDages@pobox.com

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  10. I am a follower of your blog and have "liked" New England Cheese. I also posted on my blog your giveaway. I'd like to learn how to make all kinds of cheeses but to start with, Mozzarella, cottage cheese, any type of non-press cow's milk cheese.

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  11. I guess I didn't read the directions well enough. I "liked" New England Cheese Company

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  12. I am a follower of New England Cheesemaking Supply Company!

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  13. I am a follower of The Woodwife's Journal! Love it!

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  14. I visited the New England Cheese Supply Company and think the Deluxe Basic Cheese Making Set looks very interesting to try!

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  15. Mozzarella is wonderful. I can just imagine how good it is home made!

    =)

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  16. This is something I would attempt after my Christmas guests have left!!!

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  17. That looks so fun...and yummy too! Merry Christmas!

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  18. Hi Sharon,
    It is so much fun to make homemade Mozzarella and it is so good! This looks like a great give away. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. I am wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

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  19. Excited to make cheese! I followed the cheese company on Facebook!

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  20. Visited their site & I have to say, I am interested in it all! I would probably start with the Deluxe Basic Cheese Making Kit! Yum!

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  21. Now following the New England Cheese Making Co on facebook too-Thanks for the intro!

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  22. I stink.

    I'm so wickedly behind that I deserve NOT to get into the drawing on this cool cheese making kit!

    I'm going to scroll ahead to see who won it!

    What a super cool prize!

    And you know, I think you are a super cool blogger, too!

    Sending you warm wishes for a 2012 filled with creativity, joy and lots of homemade cheese!

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Preparing small batch natural, additive free products for beauty, health and home right here in our kitchen since 1991 from herbs grown organically in our garden, wild crafted in nearby meadows and woodlands or purchased from reputable, like-minded companies. Dried everlasting wreaths, arrangements and potpourri. Herbal salves, tinctures, soaps, teas and more.