Cheese

Technically this is not a craft project. And technically, I did buy the milk in February, but I had the other ingredients, so I’m still counting it.

I’ve been wanting to try cheese making for a while. I even put it onto my 2016 craft resolutions list. It is intimidating. I thought I’d dip my toe into it by trying mozzarella cheese. There are recipes out there that have the word EASY in the title and claim to be a 30-minute recipe, so that seemed like a good place to start.

I don’t have easy access to raw milk, and since I had no idea if this would even work, I decided to trust the instructions that said you could use regular milk as long as it was not ultra-pasteurized. From what I read, it results in a less smooth and silky cheese, but would still produce something.

And it did! The entire process is magic. Milk turns to curds and whey. Curds change texture and become elastic and stretchy, and suddenly, you have a ball of cheese.

I tried to make ricotta with the leftover whey, but that did not work, and the ball of mozzarella is a bit bumpy,but all in all, I’m pleased that I finally gave this a try. And it is delicious.

 

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