Cheesy hobby grows: Many making mozzarella at home these days; quality milk tops list of ingredients

Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) - If you're taking the time to grow your own tomatoes and make your own dough, why not make your own mozzarella cheese to finish that pizza?

Unbelievable as it may sound, the perfect ball of mozzarella, made fresh in your own kitchen, can be yours in an hour or less.

Home cheese making is a fast-growing hobby in the country. Once you discover how simple it is, you may find that you can make your own cheese as fast as you can make a trip to the grocery store.

Like a wine that's only as good as the grapes it was made with, a good cheese starts with the milk.

Cheeses can be made with store-bought milk, but whole milk is best, and if you can find milk that hasn't been homogenized, called creamline milk, that's even better.

Most milk available in grocery stores has been homogenized _ spun so that it doesn't separate _ and pasteurized _ heated to kill harmful bacteria.

For cheese making, creamline milk is optimal.

''You don't have to use raw milk (milk directly from the cow with no treatment) but it can't be ultra-pasteurized over 172 degrees,'' said Ricki Carroll, a cheese-making expert and author of Home Cheese Making. Carroll operates the New England Cheese Making Supply Co. in Ashfield, Mass.

For the past 30 years, experimentation and study, including time spent studying with European cheese makers, have earned Carroll the national reputation of ''cheese queen.''

''We had goats, from a neighbor, and had to do something with the milk,'' Carroll said, explaining her entry into the field in 1978.

Being so close to dairy farms, Carroll said, Northeast Ohio residents should have no trouble finding good milk for home cheese making. Those who live in areas that rely on milk that has to be trucked long distances will find they have ultra-pasteurized milk on their grocery store shelves, which doesn't make good cheese.

Carroll said the popularity of home cheese making has been growing. ''We see people making it more and more ... much more as people are becoming aware of eating locally,'' she said.

The eating-local movement, combined with recent food safety scares, has increased Americans' interest in buying food from a local source or producing their own.

But cheese making as a hobby, just for the fun of it, also is growing. ''It's a nice family activity,'' Carroll said.

Jim and Eileen Leverentz opened Leeners in Northfield, Ohio, in 1996 to sell beer- and wine-making supplies. The expansion into cheese wasn't a big stretch. ''We're about fermented foods, and cheese is just fermented milk,'' Jim Leverentz said.

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Leeners holds classes on cheese making and sells kits to make other fermented foods, including mustard, root beer, bacon and corned beef brisket. But the cheese stands alone as the store's best seller.

''Cheese making is our largest selling product line. We sell more cheese-making supplies than we do beer- and winemaking supplies combined,'' Leverentz said.

Leverentz said cheese making is relatively simple and appeals to a broad range of people. ''It's all chemistry. It's neither cooking nor baking. You are manipulating the chemical structure of the milk,'' he said.

As with any chemical formula, recipes call for some additives to turn the milk into cheese. Recipes vary, but for mozzarella, most call for rennet _ an enzyme that will help the cheese curds to coagulate _ and citric acid, to help acidify the milk so it can be kneaded and stretched into the classic mozzarella shape.

Leverentz said Leeners' recipe was developed over time by trial and error, and calls for the addition of calcium chloride. He said milk's proteins are denatured through pasteurization and homogenization; adding the calcium helps to restore the natural balance of the milk and produce a better cheese.

Leeners' recipe also calls for mild lipase powder, an enzyme derived from calves' tongues, that adds a classic Italian flavor to the cheese. In Carroll's recipe, the lipase is optional, which also makes her recipe better suited for vegetarians.

Leeners, New England Cheese Making Supply Co., and the Grape and Granary in Akron, Ohio, all sell kits to make quick mozzarella. The kits, which sell for around $25, include citric acid, lipase powder, rennet, a thermometer, a basket for making ricotta, recipes and instructions. They also sell the supplies separately.

Carroll said mozzarella is a good cheese to start with because it's easy and produces a familiar cheese. Soft cheeses, including ricotta or queso blanco, also are easy for beginners and typically are no-fail recipes.

''Most people get started with a book,'' Carroll said.

Following are two recipes for homemade mozzarella. The Leeners formula produces a drier mozzarella, perfect for grating on pizza, while Carroll's said her version is a softer, fresh-mozzarella style.

Watch our own experiment making Leeners' recipe:

For videos and step-by-step photos of the following two recipes, visit the Web sites listed at the end of the recipes.

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LEENERS' MOZZARELLA

1 gallon whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized)

2 tsp. citric acid

Ľ tsp. mild lipase powder dissolved in 2 tbsp. distilled water

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˝ tsp. calcium chloride dissolved in 2 tbsp. distilled water

˝ rennet tablet, crushed and dissolved in Ľ cup distilled water

˝ tsp. flaked salt

Place milk into a stainless steel pot.

Place the pot of milk on the stove over medium heat. It is important that you heat the milk slowly. Sprinkle in the citric acid, lipase powder and diluted calcium chloride while you gently stir. Heat slowly until the milk reaches 88 degrees. Stir every few minutes to prevent scorching the milk on the bottom of the pot. You will begin to see the curd develop.

Once the milk reaches 88 degrees, stir in the rennet and water mixture. Continue stirring every few minutes until the milk reaches 105 degrees.

Remove from the heat and let the milk set, covered, for 20 minutes at 105 degrees. The curd (white mass) and whey (greenish liquid) will now be fully separated.

Use a slotted spoon or strainer to transfer the curd to a microwave safe dish. If the curd is too soft to transfer, let the milk sit a few more minutes. Pour off as much of the whey as you can. Gently press the curds together with the spoon and force more whey out of them. Squeeze out and drain as much whey as possible.

Place the curd in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove and press the curds again to force out more whey. The cheese should begin to mass together and become sticky. If it does not, you will need to leave it in the microwave a few seconds longer. Not all microwaves are equal. It will not hurt to place the cheese back in the oven for 20 to 30 seconds more if necessary. Note the total time needed for future reference.

Add the flaked salt a little at a time and knead the cheese with a spoon as you would bread dough. It will become smooth and shiny. Place the curd back into the microwave and heat on high for 1 more minute. Remove and drain any remaining whey. This time your cheese will be too hot to handle, about 130 degrees.

Knead the cheese again until it sticks to the spoon and pulls away from the bowl.

When the cheese begins to stretch like taffy, it is almost done. You can have some fun now by pulling and stretching the cheese until it is completely cooled. This is an important step. Stretching will make the cheese firm and stringy. If you prefer a softer texture don't stretch as much.

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Place the cheese in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Use this cheese within one week or store it in the freezer for up to one month. If your cheese is too soft to shred for pizza, place it in the freezer then shred it partly frozen.

Makes about 1 pound.

More information: http://www.leeners.com

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RICKI'S 30-MINUTE MOZZARELLA MAGIC

Distilled water

1 gallon whole milk

Ľ tablet rennet, dissolved in Ľ cup unchlorinated (distilled) water

1˝ tsp. citric acid

Salt

Add the citric acid into 1 cup of cold distilled water and stir well. Place the citric acid solution into an empty, cold, stainless steel pot. Aluminum or cast iron will not work. (Also make sure to use a stainless steel or strong plastic slotted spoon.)

Pour the cold milk into the potquickly to mix well with the citric acid. This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later.

Heat the milk to 90 degrees. As you approach 90 degrees you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temperature. (If you are having problems with milk forming a proper curd you may need to increase this temperature to 95 or even 100 degrees.)

At 90 degrees, remove the pot from the burner and slowly add the dissolved rennet to the milk. Stir in a top-to-bottom motion for about 30 seconds, then stop. Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Check the curd: it will look like custard, with a clear separation between the curds and whey. If too soft or if the whey is milky, let sit for a few more minutes.

Cut the curds into a 1-inch checkerboard pattern. If a drier cheese is desired, carefully cut and stir this curd to release more whey.

Place the pot back on the stove and heat to 105 degrees while slowly stirring the curds with a ladle. Take off the burner and continue slowly stirring for 2 to 5 minutes. (More time will make a firmer cheese.) Scoop the curds with a slotted spoon into a heat-proof bowl to be used in the microwave. (If the curd is too soft at this point, let sit for another minute or so.)

Press this curd gently with your hand, pouring off as much whey as possible.

Microwave the curd on high for 1 minute. You will notice more whey has run out of the curd. Drain off all whey as before. Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch. (Rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point.)

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Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each and repeat the kneading as in the last step. Drain all of the whey off as you go.

Knead quickly now as you would bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. Add salt near the finish.

At this point the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch like taffy. It is ready to eat when it cools. Form it into a ball and drop into ice water to cool and refrigerate.

When cold, wrap in plastic wrap. Cheese will last for several days but is best when eaten fresh. Makes about 1 pound.

Note: Lipase powder may be added to the milk to provide a typical Italian cheese flavor.

_Ricki Carroll, New England Cheese Making Supply Co. More information: http://www.cheesemaking.com.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

So you think you might want to make your own cheese? Here are some resources to help you out:

Books

"Home Cheese Making, Ricki Carroll (Storey Publishing 1995-2008)."

"The Home Creamery, Kathy Farrell-Kingsley (Storey Publishing, 2008)."

Supplies

The New England Cheesemaking Supply Co., http://www.cheesemaking.com.