I thought I’d take a little time to answer questions from my mozzarella cheese making post:
1. Have you ever found rennet or citric acid at a pharmacy or local store?
No, I haven’t…but I don’t have a lot of options in the smallish town I live in. I have found citric acid at a bulk food store I like to visit on my way to visit family in KS…otherwise…I just rely on my online resources. What in the world did Ma Ingalls do without the world wide web?
2. I’m curious as to what your outcome is in quantity. How many cups of cheese? Cups of whey? …
I usually get about three eight ounce (ish) balls of cheese when I start with two gallons of milk. There is a ton of whey leftover (how many cups are in a ton, do you suppose?). More accurately, I’d say it’s around a gallon, maybe?
3. Can you shred that mozarella to use on pizza and stuff?
Oh yeah! My kids like for me to just cut off hunks of it for them to munch on, but I shred it and put in on our pizza, definitely. It doen’t shred quite as easily or melt quite as well as store bought but it works well enough. It’s kinda string-y…a lot like string cheese. I need to try to make cheese sticks sometime with it!
4. What about cheddar? Can you teach us that one too?
Oh, how I wish I could. Cheddar is a whole-nuther process. It requires (as far as I understand) a cheese press and other equipment…plus it has to age for several months. It’s not nearly as “easy” as mozzarella and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to learn it. If I do, you’ll be the first to know! For now, I’ll stick with Landmark Raw White Cheddar…it is SO good. (BTW, don’t most of us say whole-nuther, even though it’s not even a word? I think it should be a word.)
5. Are you an Italian or a Nebraskan? Both?
Actually…neither. (Well, I guess I am an official Nebraskan now) (Go Huskers!) Born and raised in Kansas…there’s not a lick of Italian blood in me (as far as I know). Which proves that you (yes, you) also have what it takes to make mozzarella cheese all by yourself. It’s realllllly not that difficult…and it’s realllly cool and fun to try.
Oh…and it’s also my favorite thing to say to people when they can do something I can’t (like drive a stick shift or answer questions correctly when we play Trivial Pursuit).
“Oh yeah?” I say. “Well I can make mozzarella cheese. Betcha can’t do that? Huh, huh?”
Okay, I don’t really say that. Usually. At least I don’t say it out loud.
Sounds like a whole-nuther issue of mine to deal with doesn’t it?
;)
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I have been able to find liquid rennet from a local farm that sells raw milk.
I also have found rennet tablets in our local grocery store in the pudding/custard sections. (It works, but the liquid is definitely better.) :)
Yum- homemade cheese!
Blessings,
Michele
Just wondering about how many gallons of milk you use in a week with a family your size. We seem to be drinking or cooking enough that lately, even though our kids are young, we are needing about a gallon a day. I guess I should start keeping track. Can’t wait for the ricotta info that is coming. Thanks for the bright spot for my morning!
Ma Ingalls added vinegar. :-) All it takes is a little acid.
“whole ‘nother” usually works better in grammar-sensitive situations. even though, “whole another” that it would be replacing makes little grammatical sense either.
Actually, Ma Ingalls sent Pa out to kill a calf! Ma made rennet using the inner mucosa of the abomasum (the 4th stomach) and vinegar. Laura actually discusses the process in one of her books–Little House in the Big Woods I think. She loved the cheese but didn’t love that a calf died to make it.
Thank you thank you for answering all those questions!
Can I ask another? I mean after that one? and this one? :-)
Do you think this would work with store bought milk? I know, I know, but I still can’t get raw :-( But I would like to try the cheese just for fun! :-)
I was actually talking about the citric acid, but yes, the rennet came from the stomach. She wouldn’t have needed the internet for that. :-)
The best way I know of to “shred” mozz is in the blender. I have a vita-mix, but I don’t think that should matter for cheese. Other cheese gets gummed up in it pretty easily, but mozz is usually dry enough that a few pulses makes it perfect for spreading over pizza. Putting it in the freezer for just a while before shredding it would probably make this work even better.
There’s my two cents on cheese. I would love to try this, but I can’t eat dairy right now, so that would just be plain ol’ torture!