Say Cheese!

I made my first batch of cheese today, and it turned out perfectly! I am extremely proud and already imagining a world-renowned artisan cheese business. Seldom do my pastimes yield such satisfying results (as my recently documented failures involving campfire cooking, beading, and fiddling illustrate).

At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I must state that I owe everything to my 30-Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. I had read about the owner, Ricki Carroll, in Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Ricki recommends that beginners start with soft cheeses, which require little equipment and are not aged. I ordered the mozzarella kit on Thursday and it arrived Saturday. The $24.95 kit contains a dairy thermometer, butter muslin, citric acid, cheese salt, and vegetable rennet tablets--enough for 30 batches of cheese. 

I began by pouring a gallon of organic whole milk (pasteurized but not ultra-pasteurized) in a stainless steel stock pot and stirring in 1 and 1/2 teaspoons citric acid dissolved in one cup of bottled water. When the milk reached 90 degrees, I added 1/4 of a rennet tablet dissolved in one cup of water. I brought the milk to 105 degrees, turned off the heat, and covered the pot. Five minutes later, the curds had pulled away from the sides of the pot and were ready to scoop into a microwaveable bowl. 

I microwaved the curds for one minute, drained the excess whey, and gently folded in about one tablespoon of cheese salt.  I returned the mixture to the microwave for 35 seconds, drained the whey, and kneaded the cheese until it was smooth and stretchy, like taffy. I rolled the cheese into a ball, and dropped it in a bowl of ice water. Done!

The Wrangler, whose culinary skills ordinarily are of the grilled cheese sandwich or frozen pizza variety, made a beautiful and tasty cabrese salad with the homemade mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from our neighbor's garden, and olive oil. It was a wonderful treat on a hot summer's eve.