# have you made 30 minute mozzarella?



## Udder Folks (May 24, 2013)

I started milking our goats for the first time last week, and made Ricki Carroll's (Home Cheese Making) 30-minute mozzarella last night. I was really hoping for perfect little balls of fresh mozzarella. What I got were balls of almost completely flavorless, squeaky, and not very meltable, firm cheese.

Has anyone made this recipe before, using goat milk? I do lots of cooking, and am pretty good at following a recipe. I know that cheese making is a science, but I'm wondering just what went wrong here.

I'm waiting for my chevre culture to arrive in the mail, but am wondering if my chevre will end up tasting like I think it should. I am just shocked (pleasantly) at how non-goaty my goats' milk is. But I DO want my chevre to taste like goat cheese! 

Thanks for any and all wisdom you care to share!


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Yep, I've used the 30 minute recipe - except I used Junket which ends up being a several hour recipe :/ getting the texture right is the tricky part of mozz, it's all about having exactly the right temp and stretching just right. Mine tends to be firmer than I want but it melts just fine. Mozz isn't intended to be very strong tasting.

Chevre is the easiest recipe, just make sure you watch the temp. My very first batch got too hot and was ruined but as long as you don't overheat it turns out great.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

yes, I've made it. mine comes out a little chewier as well, but I have a heavy hand when it comes to cooking (i'm better at bread than I am with cakes). mine still melted.

it's just getting the right temp. maybe emailing New England Cheese Company and asking if they have any specific tips for goats milk? and then let us know. lol


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## kc8lsk (Jan 10, 2014)

I don't make the 30 minute mozzarella but i make an good mozzarella takes about 45 minutes if you would like I'll get the recipe posted later.


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

kc8lsk said:


> I don't make the 30 minute mozzarella but i make an good mozzarella takes about 45 minutes if you would like I'll get the recipe posted later.


That would be wonderful, I'd love to try your recipe.


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## JAR702 (Apr 28, 2014)

My mozzarella was rubbery the first time but with practice it turned out well. I make the chevre and it tastes great. I was buying the cultures packets but found it was cheaper to buy the cultures you mix with milk and then freeze. Also after I make my cheese I use the whey to make ricotta cheese and then with the left over whey you can use it in baking, feed you animals, put in your garden, put down sink for your septic tank. Good luck.


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## Udder Folks (May 24, 2013)

I was curious how many goat people actually got to make whey cheese. The recipe in my book calls for 2 gallons of fresh whey. Does your recipe use less, or can you adjust cheese recipes?


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## kc8lsk (Jan 10, 2014)

Feel free to adjust cheese recipes as much as needed I have done ricotta from whey and on my 4 gallon batches of cheese I usually only make 2 gallon batches just adjust everything accordingly.


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## DrakesFarm (Apr 1, 2013)

I have done this recipe around 7 times and every time it comes out one of two ways! Either hard, dry cheese, or it will be a layered cheese ( because after adding salt it would start to get this weird slick texture) the layered cheese to me is worse! I did it exactly the same time every time, but I guess Its not just me!!


I have Boer, Nigerians, and La manchas, have had, nubians, and kikos, hope to have more of all of them!


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## kc8lsk (Jan 10, 2014)

Here's my recipe I guess it takes Longer than 45 minutes but...

Mozzarella

1 ½ teaspoon Citric Acid Powder
6 Quarts	Whole Milk
¼ Teaspoon	Calcium Chloride
¼ Teaspoon Liquid Rennet or ½ tablet
6 Tablespoons	Salt
Bowl of Ice Water

1. Sterilize all Equipment (Boil everything For 5 minutes or sanitize with bleach water and rinse good). In a small glass bowl or measuring cup, dissolve citric acid powder in 1/4 cup lukewarm water, stirring with a stainless steel spoon.

2. In a Large stainless-steel pot, combine milk and dissolved citric acid, stirring to blend well

3. Place Pot over medium heat and warm milk mixture to 88*F, stirring gently to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

4. Dilute calcium chloride in ¼ cup cool water. Add to milk stirring gently (mix well).

5. Dilute rennet in ¼ cup cool water. Add to milk and stir gently until well blended. Cover and let set for 30 minutes. Check for a clean break. If the curd is still too fragile let set for another 15 minutes or until a clean break is achieved

6. Using a long-bladed knife and a skimmer, cut curd into ½ inch cubes. Let stand for 5 minutes to firm up curds.

7. Place pot over low heat and slowly warm curds to 106*F, stirring gently and continuously, adjusting the heat as necessary to make sure it takes 20 minutes to do so. Turn off the heat and continue to stir for 20 more minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, in another pot, bring 4 quarts fresh water to a boil. Add salt and stir until dissolved. Turn off heat.

9. Drain off whey through a cloth-lined colander. Let drain for 15 minutes.

10. Place curd mass on a clean cutting board and cut into 1 inch strips. Place in a large bowl. Pour salt water over strips.

11. Wearing heat resistant rubber gloves or using a long-handled wooden spoon, work strips under the hot water (the cheese will become very soft), pushing and pulling and stretching them. The curd will begin to stretch. Pull cheese out into a long rope, folding it back on itself and stretching again until it is smooth and shiny. Use your hands to shape the cheese into a single ball or pinch off pieces for small cheeses.

12. Place cheese in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towel. Use immediately or wrap and refrigerate.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I've done ricotta with the whey left from 1 gallon. Also a super easy one. I made cannelloni with that and the mozz


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## Udder Folks (May 24, 2013)

Thanks for the new recipe to try! I'm hoping for cheese success! :thankU:


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## Udder Folks (May 24, 2013)

Wild Hearts Ranch said:


> I've done ricotta with the whey left from 1 gallon. Also a super easy one. I made cannelloni with that and the mozz


How do you make it?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I'd have to look up the recipe, it's in my Junket packet.

Here's one I found online that's pretty similar:

1. Save the whey from making cheese in a non-reactive pot. (here you see curds for abasic cheese at the bottom of the pot, as the whey is being poured off.) filter asmany of the curd particles as you can since they would otherwise form tough'beads' in the final ricotta. Cover and let sit 12-24 hours at room temperature todevelop sufficient acidity.

2. Heat the acidified whey with stirring, taking care to avoid sticking or burning. Use either a double boiler, or a pot with avery thick bottom which will disperse the heat well. This image shows that the tem-perature has risen to about 82 °C, and a white foam is appearing on the surface.

3. Continue heating with stirring until its temperature is near boiling (95 °C. Notethat foam will build up somewhat. Be careful. If it boils, it can boil over.

4. Remove from heat. Cover and allow the 'cooked' whey to cool undisturbed untilcomfortable to the touch. The curds should look like clouds suspended in the whey,while the whey appears clear and yellowish green.

4. Do not stir up the cure: set up a receiving pot with a large strainer and a fine cleancloth on top. If the curd is floating, you may dip out the curd into the cloth. Alterna-tively, if the curd all sinks, pour as much of the whey through the cloth as you canwithout disturbing the curds. It will filter through much faster if you do this care-fully without stirring up the curds.

5. Gently scoop out the curds because the curds are very fine and delicate, they can stopup the cloth easily. This will cause very slow draining if they are broken up. Much of the whey will drain out as you dip the curd.

6. Drain the whey through the cloth (be patient, it can take 2-3 hours).

  7. Pick up the corners of the cloth, suspend it like a bag over the drainage pot (or sink),and allow the last of the whey to drain out. It will take several hours, and can be donein the refrigerator over night.

8. Remove the ricotta from the cloth, pack into a container, cover and store in the refrig-erator. Use it soon after making. Ricotta will freeze very well.


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## Udder Folks (May 24, 2013)

Thank you!


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I use this recipe for mozzarella: http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Mozzarella-Cheese/

The first several times (early in my milking season) it turned out WONDERFUL. However, as stated previously, mozzarella doesn't HAVE a ton of flavor. The right amount of salt helps (based on your taste), but it's still a pretty bland cheese.

However... lately I'm having a hard time getting the right texture. My curd doesn't set up smooth. It gets "firm" and separates... but it's not smooth. Before it set up nice and smooth and looked like soft tofu when it was cut. Now when I cut it, it looks like cottage cheese. You can even tell on the top of the curd, before cutting, that it's not smooth. I thought it was my rennet, as it started happening when I started freezing it. However, I bought new rennet (liquid this time) and it is still not setting up smooth.

That said, the mozzarella still turns out ok. It's a little firmer (which is great if you grate it) and it melts well. It DOES "UNmelt" pretty quickly though.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

How old is your citric acid? My last batch was a complete failure - never set at all - and I don't know if it was the rennet or the acid as they were both quite old.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

It's recently purchased - though it was purchased bulk so I guess I dont really know how old, and it's stored just in a baggie. So that could be it. Maybe I'll try new citric acid. It stretches fine - just the curd isn't smooth when you go to cut it. But since acid is added before anything else, that could totally be it! Thanks!


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## Sydmurph (Jun 4, 2013)

Did you do the 5 degree temp conversion for goat milk vs cow milk? I find her recipe makes great fresh 'bocconcini' type mozza, but doesn't really seem to work for traditional mozzarella balls for a number of reasons...and it leaks milk fat like crazy at the stretching stage. The liquid that gets expressed is all the yummy creamy fatty stuff. Definitely not whey as we know it. It's a waste as far as I'm concerned to use her recipe past the first warming/stretching. All that repeated massaging does more harm than good, and you end up with that hard rubbery texture.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

The recipe I use, uses the microwave to heat the curds for stretching, but DOES instruct to drain the liquid that comes out during this process. However, I've stopped doing that as the stuff is DELICIOUS! LOL I just made some last night and was able to get all that drained liquid back into my cheese as I stretched & salted it. Kinda dissappointed that I was able to get it ALL back in - cuz my plan was that I could DRINK whatever was left. HAHA. YUM!


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

What recipe do you use?


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## justspry (Feb 5, 2014)

I found that temp is very important and too hot wont make cheese  Also too much cirtic acid makes it hard


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## equinecpa (May 18, 2014)

I made the 30 minute Mozarella recipe the other day with sheeps milk. The texture came out great and I was so looking forward to tasting it. I was shocked when I tried it-totally tasteless :shock: Has anyone used this recipe with goats milk and yielded something tasty? Does the stretching/microwaving part render it tasteless. I know Mozzarella is a mild cheese but tasteless? Any suggestions for improvement (perhaps I should try one of the recipes listed here?). On the upside the ricotta cheese I made from the whey is decent-mild but decent.


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## justamerefarm (Sep 2, 2014)

I haven't tried to make the mozzarella. I did try to make cheddar. It's pretty good but I find it a little strong. One would have to become accustomed to it. Did you use salt for the mozzarella. I'm ageing two kinds of Gouda right now, hope that is good. These are my first tries but will try the mozzarella this fall. Will let you know how it turns out.


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

Mozzarella is a blander cheese. Salting it helps. Here's a really simple recipe that I use. I skip the last microwave stage though, and it comes out much less rubbery
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/07/making-fresh-mozzarella/


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I tried it. I liked it Ok. I don't like strong cheese though. I would have preferred it softer though


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## SunnydaleBoers (Jul 28, 2012)

Sydmurph said:


> Did you do the 5 degree temp conversion for goat milk vs cow milk? I find her recipe makes great fresh 'bocconcini' type mozza, but doesn't really seem to work for traditional mozzarella balls for a number of reasons...and it leaks milk fat like crazy at the stretching stage. The liquid that gets expressed is all the yummy creamy fatty stuff. Definitely not whey as we know it. It's a waste as far as I'm concerned to use her recipe past the first warming/stretching. All that repeated massaging does more harm than good, and you end up with that hard rubbery texture.


This is what we've noticed too (we're using raw Jersey milk for ours)- the more you work it the tougher it will get, but it still seems to melt just fine if you grate it up. I still can't quite hit the texture of good, fresh mozzarella (like the balls you buy in the store) though. I dont know if we need a completely different recipe for that, or if I just need to salt the curds and throw them in a bowl without stretching, or what. The cow is producing more than enough milk for us to experiment with, but I still feel bad throwing out the crap batches. Apparently it's time to add a few feeder pigs to the barnyard

I've been meaning to order some lipase to add too, as that's supposed to add some additional flavor.


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## equinecpa (May 18, 2014)

justamerefarm said:


> I haven't tried to make the mozzarella. I did try to make cheddar. It's pretty good but I find it a little strong. One would have to become accustomed to it. Did you use salt for the mozzarella. I'm ageing two kinds of Gouda right now, hope that is good. These are my first tries but will try the mozzarella this fall. Will let you know how it turns out.


I would love to hear if your mozzarella tastes like anything when you try it? I am really disappointed with the taste-I"m talking not just mild but tasteless. I did add the salt suggested in the recipe-I wonder if I should have added more.

Can you share your Gouda recipe? I was thinking of using my remaining sheeps milk for that..I don't want to waste it on more tasteless cheese!


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## justamerefarm (Sep 2, 2014)

The Gouda recipe I used was from the Ricky Carol book. I haven't tasted it yet because you need to age it but will let you know. I'm using goats milk just because that's what I have. I do seem to have a bit of a mould problem though so I'm using vinager to help that. I also made some parmesan which has to age 12 months! But it smells really yummy. Here's hoping. Next I want to try soap and oh ya, ice cream with my raspberries.


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