Cheese Making Version 1.0

It's so easy (AND CHEAP!!!) to make mozzarella cheese that it's almost silly to purchase. Generally fresh mozzarella balls will cost $6/ball however with this recipe you save about $4/ball. Plus you can't beat the wonderfulness that is a fresh, warm cheese ball.

You can purchase a mozzarella making kit which will include citric acid, rennet, cheese salt, and a thermometer. The kit will come with instructions on how to dissolve the rennet tablet and citric acid. Importantly, dissolve these components in non-chlorinated water (I used bottled). The kit will not include milk. When purchasing milk make sure you purchase whole milk or at least 2%, and the less pasteurized the better for curd formation. Make sure you do NOT purchase the ultra pasteurized milk. The milk can come from just about any animal. I used cows milk but plan to try goats milk in the future..and better yet raw goats milk from the farm!

1. First, heat the milk to 85 F and whisk in a citric acid solution. I've read you can use a different acid, but citric acid produces a more reliable acidity with a target range pH of 5.4-5.6. Once you've added all the citric acid, stir the solution with a slotted spoon.

2. After the milk has been acidified, wait for the milk to reach 100 F and add the rennet-water solution. Rennet is an enzyme derived from the stomach of calves, goats, or lambs, or it could even be vegetable based rennet. Animal rennet, the rennet we used comes from calves, contains enzymes that coagulate milk allowing for curd formation (CHEESE!). Heat the milk to 105 F, then turn the heat off, and allow the pot to sit for (at least) 10 minutes covered. You can tell the curds are ready when you can gently press a spoon into the curd and leave a dent. The steps that follow include draining out as much of the liquid whey from the curds as possible.

3. Fish out the curds into a strainer using a slotted spoon. Lightly press the curds against the strainer to squeeze out the whey. Following straining, the curds are microwaved. After each microwave cycle (~1 minute each time) you drain the whey. You want to get out as much whey as possible in these steps.

4. Finally, knead the curds to form your mozzarella ball. The leftover whey can be used to make ricotta however I did not have a super fine cheese cloth to filter the ricotta which ended up being a problem. I tried using a coffee filter... it definitely does not work!

Here are instructions for making ricotta: http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Ricotta-Cheese-From-Whey/

I was so mesmerized by the process of making the cheese that I failed to take too many pictures but overall it's a simple process (for mozzarella anyway!). I'd like to make all the types of cheeses by the end of this summer. ;)

An ending and a new beginning

About a week ago I heard this oldies song on the radio "Kansas City" for the first time and it was wildly appropriate. While this is the inspiration for the title of this blog, it's not the reason I'm starting a blog!

I defended my PhD a few days ago (hurray!!!) which was very exciting however what I can't shake off is how lonely it still is as a graduate student. Following a text rant to a friend about how my undergraduate institution was amazing and than at grad school it's been nothing but solitary hours, I realized starting a blog would fill the gap and keep my distanced friends a little closer. My undergraduate institution was a small school and I had roommates for all four years. It was a close community and you could always find someone to study or work with. It was amazing and I miss the environment a lot. Since moving down to Illinois and beginning my PhD, its been many solitary hours spent working and studying. The campus is spread out and as a graduate student you're in an odd position trying to find your place, attempting to balance the work load and often feeling lonely. When you want people to hang out with usually everyone is busy yet when people invite you out...you are busy...funny how that works, huh?

I look forward to the medical school environment, going through the process with a close group of classmates who will be on the same schedule, experiencing the same process as I will be. In addition to working with people which I very much look forward to!

So here's to beginning a new chapter in my life. I will blog out the happenings of this summer as I prepare my dissertation materials for deposit and get myself settled in a new city. My family has moved frequently growing up and we've lived in IL, MI, and NY, but MO is new! I'm beginning my journey now and I'm really looking forward to what new doors this will open in my life.