Sunday, May 23, 2010

FINALLY! Mozzarella success!

I can't believe my eyes! Truly stretchy, melty, flavorful mozzarella! So exciting.

I followed the Fias Co Farm directions EXACTLY. Well, not totally. I have tried her method before but failed miserably. This is because I do not have a double boiler large enough to accomodate 2-3 gallons of milk, and so I used my regular SS pot. It is extremely difficult to get a good 90 degree temperature throughout that much milk using a regular SS pot without a double boiler setup. The last time I tried to do this I heated the milk to 110, and I think the other phases of the recipe's temperatures were off too, but don't remember. That time, it did not work.

Because I have been tired of wasting so much milk, I have been testing recipes with only 1/2 gallon at a time. Yes, I had to adjust the whole recipe considerably.

I used my regular SS pot as the base of a double boiler along with a SS bowl as the base. If I use hot water from the spout and put the double boiler setup on the very lowest setting on my horrible electric stovetop, the temperature is much simpler to control.

Obviously, I really wanted to get this recipe right. This is because a). I've read this is one of the cheeses that freezes well. b) pizza is one of Ed and Guy's favorite foods (Ed's making pizza crust right now). c). It is one of the best cheeses to have around in the summer because it makes a beautiful grilled cheese. My favorite is putting basil, tomato, and mozzarella together in a sandwich. I call that the caprese sandwich. Not to mention caprese salad. Oh and eggplant and moz. Sooo many possibilities. I hope that I can get consistent results in the future.

I guess I need to invest in a proper, large double boiler. Especially considering that Ed and I are installing a wood cookstove in the fall--that will be too easy to scorch.

Now we need to get our outdoor pizza and bread baking oven built. Oh so many projects.

Did I mention that we did install a rocket stove outside? It works great, if you take into account that the cooking area is ony about 6 inches in diameter. We cooked one hamburger at a time on the stove. I don't know if we can change the diameter of the burn area. It will be fine for boiling water.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Yay, on the success!!

Why not look for the double boiler you want and let me know and I will get it for your birthday. I was wondering what to get you.

Vegetable Garden Cook said...

Aw... that's sweet. You don't have to get anything. But, I will put it on the Amazon list (I keep a list of things I would like to get for myself and Ed always hounds me to figure out for him what to get me for my birthday).