[mlktrkdrvr]

I have the cheese makers journey book and am following the directions exactly. I can not for the life of me figure out how to stretch this cheese. I have watched you tube videos but they all seem to start out with boughten curd. I started yesterday with goat's milk. I have clumpy balls that come apart in the brine. This is only my second attempt at cheese. Last time it was not smooth, but at least held together. This is also a lot tougher than last time. I have done everything the same. Can someone help me?

 

[nchen7]

have you watched this vid?

when I did my goats milk mozza, I found I had to heat the milk up a little higher before putting the rennet in. I usually make the 30 min mozzarella (b/c I have no patience).

as for stretching, i'm not great at it. last time I did it, I had the water REALLY high and tried not to move it around so much...kinda worked ok.

how are your curds? were they dry and crumbly?

also, I find cheesemaking.com has great info on the website, and they will respond if you email them.

good luck!

 

[mlktrkdrvr]

I used whole raw goat milk and did not use any citric acid (per the recipe in the book). Should I use it anyhow? It is 2 gal whole milk 1/2 tsp DVI thermophilic B culture and 1/2 tsp rennet. it sits over night and then you stretch it- or in my case crumble it.

 

[nchen7]

look on the website for the regular mozzarella recipe. I only do the 30 min one (with citric acid). the video she's doing the 30 min, but she shows you pulling the curds that she makes.

 

[TDG-Farms]

you can put it in the microwave for like 45 seconds or until pretty hot to the touch and fold / stretch it that way. You only wanna heat it up 2 or 3 times this way. And you dont wanna try to draw out to much of the remaining moisture or you can turn it into rubber cheese :0

 

[nchen7]

yes....microwave works too.... we dont' have one in the house, so that never comes up as an option for me......

 

[christinajh]

I warm some water to almost boiling, and I drop my curds in after they have drained. I use two wooden spoons to quickly mesh the curds together then I pull it out of the water and stretch it.