Cheese Making-Part Due

THIS, ladies & gentlemen, is a successful batch of Full Moon Mozzarella!

 

Following the same recipe as last time, I did make one small adjustment. I used 1/2 a Junket rennet tablet instead of 1/4 a tablet.  Supposedly, Junket isn't as strong as other forms.  This amount seemed to work beautifully.

And yes, this time, I did use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius.  I'm still laughing at myself over that little mistake.

Same lineup as before.

After citric acid, curds start forming.

Added rennet and let sit and TADA!  We have real curds this time!  I was SO excited!

After cutting into cubes, it looks like this. I feel like Little Miss Muffet with her curds & whey!

After bringing temp up to 105 degrees, I got this.  YUM!

Then came the microwave process.  I was amazed how much whey came out of the heated mozzarella.  I used a small-hole colander and put the mozzarella in it as I folded so the whey could drain easily. 

Make sure to use gloves because this stuff is H-O-T!  It only took a couple of minutes to go from a big glob to shiny, stretchy cheese. 

I put the finished mozzarella in the salted water and into the fridge it went.

The ricotta is in my sink draining as I type. It will drain for a few hours before it's ready to devour.

As desperately as I wanted to make caprese salad, (Farmer's Market trip produced some beautiful late-season tomatoes and basil) I'm holding out for dinner.

Tonight's menu:  Homemade pizza.  There is homemade whole wheat dough in the fridge and I'm making pizza sauce in a few minutes.  The mozzarella is going to make this so delicious.

Tomorrow, I'll post all the recipes so you can make your own from-scratch pizza.  Trust me, you're gonna wanna make this!