How to make mozzarella at home
Posted on 17 February 2012 | 4 responses
You might remember this post from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company… they liked our ‘How to make brie cheese at home’ post so much they posted it on their site and sent us a Mozzarella & Ricotta kit. We were so excited to try another type of cheese at home so this post is how we made it. The great thing about making mozzarella is that it’s quite simple, fairly quick and you can eat it straight away!
The following instructions are essentially from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company, with our own notes and experiences added. They have an excellent website for trouble shooting, www.cheesemaking.com, and even have a cheese tech, who can be contacted through their ‘contact us’ page to answer your questions. Check out this page for extra information though. Their kit definitely makes things easy too as it comes with all the ingredients (except milk), a thermometer, muslin and instruction booklet. It’s a great place to start for your first cheese making experience. From their kit we can make 30 large mozzarella cheese balls!!
Choose your milk carefully
First, a word of caution about choosing your milk… you can use cow’s milk or goat’s milk but make sure it hasn’t been ultra heated. The first time we used pasteurised farmer’s milk but we discovered that they over pasteurised it (over 77.5°C), which destroys the milk proteins, and the cheese becomes lumpy instead of silky smooth. We were pretty disappointed to waste that milk but we’ve learnt our lesson and now just use raw milk to be sure. If you want to pasteurise your raw milk yourself just heat it to 62.5°C and cool it quickly before starting the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 L milk
- 1 1/4 cup cool water (chlorine free)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid
- ¼ rennet tablet or ¼ teaspoon liquid rennet
- 1 teaspoon cheese salt (this is optional – you could substitute herbs if you want!)
Equipment
- large pot (stainless steel or non-alumunium or non-cast iron pot)
- dairy thermometer
- slotted spoon
- long knife
- glass bowl
How to make your mozzarella
We like to prepare everything near to the pot and stove top by doing the following:
- Pour your milk into your pot and place on the stove top (don’t turn the burner on yet)
- Put your slotted spoon, thermometer and long knife nearby for easy access.
- Dissolve the rennet into ¼ cup (62.5ml) of water. Stir and put to the side.
- Mix the citric acid into 1 cup (250ml) of water until dissolved.
Add the citric acid solution to the milk, stirring vigorously.
Heat the milk to 31°C while stirring (if your milk is pasteurised, heat to 32°C)
Remove the pot from the burner.
Slowly stir in the rennet solution with an up and down motion for approximately 30 seconds (but definitely no longer than 60 seconds – be careful not to stir too long as this will essentially cut the curd as it forms and create the same effect as over pasteurised milk… a lumpy ricotta texture).
Cover the pot and leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes (5 minutes for pasteurised milk).
Check the curd – it should look like custard. Use your hand to gently pull the side of the curd away from the pot to check. If it is too soft, let it set for a few more minutes.
Cut the curd with a long knife that reaches to the bottom of the pot – cut parallel lines in one direction and then cut in rows perpendicular and slightly at an angle to those cuts to create a pattern of squares.
Heat the curd to 41°C while slowly moving the curds around with the spoon.
Remove from the burner and keep stirring slowly for 2-5 minutes. We did ours for 3 ½ minutes. The longer you stir, the firmer the cheese will be. Note: this is where you will realise if the milk has been over heated during pasteurisation. If it has, it will be lumpy and look a bit like cottage cheese. If it hasn’t it will look like soft, silky cubes.
Pour off the floating whey and ladle the curds into the glass bowl, draining as much of the whey as you can without pressing the curds too much.
Microwave the curds for 1minute.
Drain off the whey again, add the salt and gently fold the curds into one piece.
Microwave the curds for another 30 seconds, drain again and stretch the curd. It must be 57°C to stretch properly so if it isn’t hot enough, microwave for another 30 seconds. We had to do this a few times…
Stretch the cheese until it is smooth and shiny – the more you work it the firmer it will be and now is a good time to taste it!
We then formed our cheese into a ball but you can make it a log, braid it or even make small balls which is called Bocconcini – this is what we’ll do next time! We’ll mix them with olive oil, herbs and garlic… yum!! (kind of like our kefir labneh balls)
Then you need to submerge the mozzarella in 10°C water to cool for 5 minutes and then ice water for 15 minutes. This cools it down, helps it keep its shape and protects the silky texture from becoming grainy.
Eating and storing your cheese
We cut slices of tomato and mozzarella and simply drizzled it with olive oil and dressed it with chopped parsley which was delicious!
You can store the cheese in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, stored in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can freeze it and reheat when ready to use.
How to make sauerkraut and cultured vegetables at home
Posted on 12 February 2012 | 1 response
Recently we’ve tried making our own sauerkraut. It’s so incredibly easy and healthy that it seemed silly not to try and of course, share it with you! This post shares two methods – with salt and with whey. The kefir whey version is quicker to ferment and ready for eating.
What is Sauerkraut?
Sauerkraut literally means ‘sour cabbage’ in German – it is naturally fermented thinly sliced cabbage. It has a distinctive tangy flavour and is often used on hot dogs, as a condiment to meals but also much more… as an ingredient in soups, salads and sandwiches too, for example.
Its flavour and preservation is a result of lactic acid that forms when the bacteria, the cabbage’s natural flora, ferment the sugars in the juice that is extracted from the cabbage by adding salt. You may remember the lactic acid explanation when we fermented butter too!
There are many types of lactic acid bacteria produced in the process, but here are a few I’ve read: Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. Because of this process, don’t confuse it with pickled products, which simply get their acidic taste from vinegar. Sauerkraut is a live-culture probiotic food, like our homemade kefir and yoghurt. These beneficial bacteria improve the functioning of the digestive tract. Sauerkraut contains large quantities of choline, which lowers blood pressure. It also contain acetylcholine, which reduces blood pressure, slows the rate of the heartbeat and promotes calmness and good sleep. Acetylcholine also has a beneficial effect on the peristaltic movements of the intestine.
Sauerkraut came to Europe via Asia and because of its high vitamin C content it was used to prevent scurvy and survive the long winter months when no fresh food was available. It also is a good source of fiber and essential nutrients, including iron, vitamins K and B6, managanese and folate. According to some of my reading, recent research indicates that when eaten by women during pregnancy, it can prevent babies from developing certain types of childhood cancer. I also read that older studies have indicated that sauerkraut is effective in preventing cancer of the breast. Despite its health benefits, if you are on a low salt diet you should probably avoid this food.
How to make sauerkraut/cultured vegetables with salt
Making sauerkraut is extremely easy! The only ingredients are cabbage and non-iodised salt. You will need between a 0.6% and 2% salt concentration, which equals 1 1/2 to 4 teaspoons of salt per kilogram of prepared cabbage.
First, choose your cabbage. Your cabbage head should be fully matured, large, compact, heavy and with tender green leaves and a solid white interior. Make sure there is no damage or insects and check that the leaves at the bottom of the cabbage are not beginning to separate from the stem which indicates it is old. The amount of natural sugars varies for different varieties and also depends on the conditions of its growth. For example, the larger the head, the sweeter it is.
Next, shred or slice your cabbage, and put in a non-metallic bowl. This produces more surface area for the salt to draw the sugars out of the cabbage.
Now you add a few tablespoons of salt, and mix thoroughly, massaging the salt into the cabbage. Make sure you use non-iodised salt because iodine will prevent the bacterial fermentation necessary to change cabbage into sauerkraut. We simply use good quality sea salt so we get all the great minerals too. As mentioned earlier, salt draws out the cabbage juice so it can be fermented. It also favours the lactic acid-producing bacteria whilst inhibiting undesirable competitors. In this way it acts as a preservative. If you use too little salt you will notice the cabbage soften and it will lack flavour. However, too much salt will delay the natural fermentation and if you really use too much salt it may cause a sharp, bitter taste or it will be dark in colour or you may see pink yeasts growing. For more information on different types of salt, have a read of this link.
Pack firmly until salt draws juices from cabbage. We massaged our cabbage and pounded it with our hands but you can use a utensil if it is easier.
Fill jars firmly with kraut and cover with juices, leaving a centimeter or 2 of headspace. We used glass jars but you can use an earthenware crock or food-grade plastic pails. You should not use metal containers or nonfood grade plastic containers. If juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per litre of water). You will see in the below photos that we added carrot to half of our batch. We also put in ginger, coriander and cumin to see what it will taste like. 
Seal your jars. It is very important to make it air tight because the fermentation process requires anaerobic conditions.
Keep the jars at room temperature (20-22°C) until the bubbling stops. This is usually 2-3 weeks. Check the jars regularly. During the fermentation, film yeasts or moulds may form on the liquid’s surface. If they appear skim them off. If any discolouration appears within the top inch of kraut, remove it. This isn’t harmful so don’t worry if you can’t get all of it. Just make sure the kraut is below the liquid by repacking it if necessary. If you need to top it up do so with weak brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per litre of boiled and cooled water). Reseal and store in the refrigerator or a very cool place until you use it up.
Yum!
Some notes about temperatures: At higher temperatures, fermentation will occur faster and it will be ready sooner. But.. if you keep it at temperatures lower than 20°C fermentation will be slow and may be incomplete if it drops below 15°C. If it is kept above 24°C during fermentation the kraut may become soft.
Storing sauerkraut/cultured vegetables
Once the sauerkraut is fermented, simply store it in airtight containers below 15°C (or refrigerate) and use within 2-3 months (I’ve read that if it is tightly packed it can keep for 6 months or more in the fridge!).
You could always can your kraut but this will make it similar nutritionally to the type you buy in the supermarket because you are essentially pasteurizing it which may kill several good bacteria. The store bought sauerkraut is also often pickled in vinegar and sugar and maybe even some preservatives. The whole point of fermented foods is that it is ALIVE so in order to gain the health benefits of fermentation and maintain the live culture we simply put ours in the fridge!
How to make sauerkraut with whey
You might remember from our post about how to make kefir cheese, that we were left with kefir whey as a by-product? So, we decided to test it out for experience with a different cultured vegetables method. When you use whey the amount of salt can be reduced or even eliminated because it is rich in lactic acid and lactic-acid-producing bacteria and therefore acts as an inoculant. This method of fermentation is much quicker than the salt method above. During the first few days of fermentation, the vegetables are kept at room temperature and then afterwards placed in a cool dark place for long term preservation (or the fridge).
For a sauerkraut recipe using whey, simply repeat the process above (bruising the vegetables to release the liquid) but use 1 cabbage (cored and shredded), 1 tablespoon of sea salt and 4 tablespoons of whey (as an example of proportions). Keep it at room temperature (covered tightly) for 3 days and then transfer to cold storage. You can eat it immediately but it gets better with age.
Experiment with other vegetables and seasoning too… I did a batch of cabbage, carrot, seaweed and fennel seeds which was delicious!!
Eating sauerkraut/cultured vegetables
You can eat it raw or cooked, as a relish with meat dishes, mixed with oil and onions as a salad, heated with bacon, caraway and apples, heated with brown sugar, apple and onion or simply added to stews… and more.
You can try pureeing the sauerkraut and mixing it in equal amounts with plain yoghurt or mayonnaise to make a delicious topping for vegetables!
We are planning on trying to make bigos for Jean’s family. It is also knows as Hunter’s Stew and is a traditional meat stew of Polish cuisine. The recipes vary wildly so we’ll take inspiration from Jean’s mum and the internet – it will probably include white cabbage, sauerkraut, various cuts of meat and sausages, puréed tomatoes, honey and mushrooms, juniper berries and more!!! The interesting thing about this dish is that it is reheated again and again (sometimes it is kept going for over a week!) which is said to intensify the flavour.
UPDATE 1
Since writing this article, I read this post about why over at Delicious Obsessions they have stopped using whey in their vegetable ferments. It’s certainly food for thought. Please have a read and let us know what you think about it.
UPDATE 2
Since Update 1, we have been having a little discussion about using whey in vegetable ferments on our Facebook page. It was really helpful to engage in conversation to make sense of things together. The main question we had was:
If we use whey, will the bacteria from the vegetables not grow at all? Will only the bacteria from the whey grow? Is it possible that the bacteria from both the vegetables and the whey survive?
Thanks to Sybil, who sent her questions to cultures for health and got this reply:
“The whey and the natural bacteria on the veggies both multiply, the whey does not inhibit the vegetable bacteria growth.“
Fantastic news!
For further information… Lactic acid bacteria consume glucose – glucose is a component of lactose and a product of photosynthesis which is why it is present in cabbage leaves. All my ferments have turned out beautifully so far so the main difference I can see with the article is that I’m using kefir whey and the post refers to yoghurt whey. We use raw milk when we can and farmers pasteurised milk when we can’t get raw milk which means the whey would be very rich in lactic bacteria. I’ve never tried using our homemade yoghurt but maybe it wouldn’t have the full range of bacteria needed – yoghurt bacteria grow at a higher temperatures than room temperature (we incubate our yoghurt at around 43°C as opposed to the 20-23°C used to ferment at room temperature). However, Sybil shared that she indeed uses yoghurt whey for her fermented vegetables and it works very well for her. She uses yoghurt that has organic cream on top so perhaps it is all the quality of the whey!
So, in summary my feeling is that if you inoculate vegetables with a range of lactic acid bacteria that grow at room temperature, they should be able to grow on the glucose in the vegetables. I think both methods have worked well for me, taste great and now I feel more confident that they are both just as healthy too! Enjoy your fermenting!
How to make kefir cheese
Posted on 3 February 2012 | No responses
Since we’ve been loving our kefir nearly daily at the moment, I thought we should take a small step further to make something other than smoothies from it. When I started looking online I was amazed by the variety of recipes using kefir as an ingredient – cheese, ice-cream, sourdough bread, cookies, pancakes, pizza bases, soups and more. So, one step at a time! I decided to take a very small step indeed to make a very simple type of kefir cheese.
Now, this cheese isn’t a hard cheese… but its not quite like cottage cheese either. I really like [...] Continue Reading…
How to make muesli, granola, cereal… or whatever you want to call it!
Posted on 29 January 2012 | 3 responses
When Jean eats a bowl of cereal from a standard pack of muesli, nearly half the pack is gone! He’s a hungry man! It’s expensive, contains hardly any of those cashews advertised so prominently on the label and often has a heap of sugar added too! So, a few years ago I decided to make our cereal weekly at home. Now, we really miss it when we are travelling and feel we don’t get a proper start to the day without it. More importantly, what Jean realised is that no matter how high-fiber/high-protein the store bought cereal was, it wouldn’t [...] Continue Reading…
How to make kefir at home
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 2 responses
When we were doing our cheese making course back in 2010, Elisabeth Fekonia gave us some kefir grains to take home. So we’ve been using these friendly microorganisms and yeasts to help balance our inner ecosystem and supply complete protein, essential minerals and vitamins B12, B1 and C. It is also an excellent source of biotin, which helps the assimilation and absorption of other B vitamins from the body.
Kefir has all the great health benefits of yoghurt and more, because whilst yoghurt works through a bacterial conversion of the milk sugars, kefir uses both bacterial and yeast actions! Kefir is full of [...] Continue Reading…
Dear readers… thank you!!!
Posted on 5 January 2012 | 1 response
Dear readers,
To kick off the new year, we’d like to warmly thank you for your continuous reading and support throughout 2011… Indeed, Making Sense of Things is growing, and was viewed more than 53,000 times in 2011! The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people, so if it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 20 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Here are some more crunchy numbers for you:
Most visitors came from Australia. The United States & The United Kingdom were not far behind.
We also had visitors from New Zealand, Fiji, Papua [...] Continue Reading…
Aquaponics – eFISHient food production in Palestine
Posted on 19 November 2011 | 1 response
Aquaponics in the West Bank
During our stay at Bustan Qaraaqa in Palestine, we have been lucky enough to volunteer one day a week with Phil and Lorena from Byspokes on aquaponic systems (their website is where the following information comes from). Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, which is growing fish in water, with hydroponics, which is growing plants in a liquid. Since they arrived in the West Bank in July 2010 they have been researching, developing and trialing the FIRST EVER aquaponic system constructed behind the Wall!
They have been developing integrated aquaculture/irrigation systems and aquaponic systems to enhance food security in rural areas of Palestine, [...] Continue Reading…
Talking rubbish – Turning trash into treasure
Posted on 14 November 2011 | 1 response
Here at Bustan Qaraaqa they don’t simply sort their recycling, compost their vegetable scraps and put out the rubbish to be collected weekly – they take REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE to a whole new level. With no municipal waste management in Palestine, they have adopted a policy of ‘what comes on site, stays on site’, often collecting other peoples waste too! Using permaculture, creativity, knowledge and passion they educate and demonstrate by living sustainably themselves and maintaining a philosophy that there is no such thing as waste - just a failure of imagination. They hope to inspire Palestinians to stop throwing their [...] Continue Reading…
How to recycle a pallet into an… armchair… and more!
Posted on 4 November 2011 | No responses
We are always thinking of ways to reduce, reuse and recycle so recently, when I realised how common it is to see wood pallets thrown out in nature, on the side of roads, parking lots or junkyards, I thought ‘what can I do with those?’
The good news is that with a bit of imagination and some DIY, there is a lot of potential in these seemingly useless wood stocks… I recently made this garden armchair from a pallet found in a street near where we are staying in Palestine!
I know it’s far from perfect, but hey, it’s only my first [...] Continue Reading…
The politics of olive harvesting in Palestine
Posted on 26 October 2011 | 8 responses
We are currently staying at Bustan Qaraaqa in Palestine and just happen to be here during olive harvest season… we are also here during an interesting time because of the Shalit Deal, where Israel swaps one Israeli soldier for 1027 imprisoned Palestinians… so, how do we link olives with the Shalit Deal??
Well, ironically, the olive leaf is a symbol of abundance, glory, wisdom, fertility, pureness and peace… but here people are oppressed, getting their olive groves and rain water cisterns destroyed by Israel as the natural water resources are monopolised (on average Israelis have access to 4 times as much water as Palestinians). People’s ability to sustain [...] Continue Reading…
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