Day 20 - October 20, 2009

Day 20:

Today we attempted mozzarella again. This time Rex helped me along the entire time and we used a double boiler instead of the steam kettle. Both of those things I think played a big part in the cheese working out much better this time around. Using the double boiler we were able to get the temperature correct within about an hour instead of about 5. It didn't take long at all, thank goodness. We got everything to the right temperatures, cooled it and then added the rennet to curdle the milk. It already looked better at that point then it did in the steam kettle. After we poured out the leftover whey there were a lot more curdles than yesterday. We put them in a bowl with 170 degree water over the top and hoped that they would start to melt. It did!

While we were working with the mozzarella hoping it would melt, we started on the ricotta. When you make ricotta you use fresh whey that is no longer than 2 hours old. It was perfect to make with the leftover whey from the mozzarella. The ricotta turned out really good as well! It was really creamy, probably the best ricotta I've ever had. It was so bland it made my mouth super dry so I started adding the salt a little at a time. It still wasn't improving so I decided to add the entire amount the book called for. Yeah, it ended up too salty. It was good, just over salted. It ended up being used in a lasagna on Thursday.

As for the mozzarella, after we worked with them and got it all stringy and looking nice, we shaped them and tasted. It was also super bland. John suggested that we roll them in salt, which made a huge difference. Then he told me to roll them in salt, soak them one last time to make them melted enough to reshape and then on to the ice bath. The salt must have reacted funny with the cheese because the texture started to change. They would no longer hold their own shape in a little ball, instead we ended up having to make little round discs. When they came out of the ice bath, they were like little rubber hockey pucks. Disappointing for sure, but at least they were stringy at one point. They tasted alright and they were also used in the lasagna.

We started to wonder if maybe we overworked the cheese too much. I'm pretty sure that Rex and I will try again and see if we can get it right.

And now for my blonde moment of the day:

In the back of the kitchen we have some doors that lead outside to a receiving lot where we get all our shipments in. The door is always locked so they just ring a doorbell of sorts and someone goes to let them in. After I finished my ricotta I had a bucket full of whey with vinegar in it, so it was something we couldn't use again. John didn't want me to dump it down the drains, it is bad for the septic tank. He told me to go outside and dump it in the dumpster or on the asphalt out there because there were no chunks left in it. I had only been out there once to help load a truck and that was it, so I headed back to find the dumpster. I went out and found it and dumped all my liquid out and turned around to go back inside. I had locked myself out! So I rang the doorbell so someone would come and get me and a minute later Rex comes walking back with a super confused look on his face showing something like "I'm not expecting any shipments right now, who's ringing the bell?" and then he saw me standing there and broke out into a huge grin. He opened the door and I told him I locked myself out. He started laughing. From that point on every time the bell went off that day he would look for me first before he went to get the door.