I know this is nothing new; there are all kinds of sites out there with directions on how to make your own cheese. But I bought a kit from Urban Cheesecraft a few years ago for Brian for Christmas, and this is the first time I’ve documented our process. I thought it was about time!
The basic ingredients for making mozzarella is:
Milk
Vegetable Rennet Tablets
Citric Acid
Cheese Salt
Pretty sure you can buy all that separately, but the kit is only $22, and I’m telling you, it’s worth it. The instruction book alone is probably worth that price. It addressed all my questions and concerns and offers advice. Brian and I have made mozzarella with just the cheese salt, and also added herbs on occasion. We’ve been impressed with it almost every time (the time we wildly experimented with salt amounts didn’t turn out to our liking).
First you need a glass of wine.
Well, I needed a glass of wine. Brian was doing all the hard work while I took pictures.
Dump in some milk (there are recommendations about what kind of milk to use in the booklet). Dump in the citric acid (okay, not all of it). Take its temperature.
Eventually add in the rennet when it reaches a certain temperature. So sorry this is vague, the wine was getting to me 😉 You stir it in and you’ll start to see everything separate.
Eww gross.
Put the curds (that’s the clumpy stuff; whey is the liquid) into a bowl and microwave it.
Kneed the cheese a couple times, draining off your excess whey. waaaaaay. It’s really hot. Brian was moving like he was playing hot potato.
My only task was to put in the salt. We like 2 teaspoons, though you can salt to taste. This is where you can add in your own herbs too.
After some more stretching and folding, we had a nice ball.
Which we stuck in an ice bath for a while (to retain its shape)
Ta da! Cheese for our pasta salad. And for some paninis, yum.
For detailed instructions, visit the Urban Cheesecraft blog. I didn’t want to go all copying and pasting and not give credit where it’s due. But we always have fun making it, and I never get tired of watching gross-ness turn into something so cool. Kinda like babies. Sort of.
5 Comments
Any cooking project the begins with a glass of wine is a winner, in my book! I never even thought about making my own cheese, looks interesting!
It’s an activity that always seems to bring Brian and I together, and almost always turns out well. Brian conveniently always does the dirty work (like holding the hot cheese), so that probably makes it more fun for me! haha.
Man, I didn’t know one could make cheese at home. I learned something new. I might have to pick up one of those kits for my hubby to play with.
It really is a lot of fun! And something we actually used. I picked up one of those make your own hot sauce kits and Brian hasn’t ever touched it. But cheese… everyone loves cheese!