MOZZARELLA/BURRATA CHEESE MAKING

Don't you love Mozzarella and Burrata cheese?  I do and I found this great class at the Sacramento Food Co-op.  The instructor Sacha Laurin is very knowledgeable in all types of cheese making and is the cheese maker at Many Moons Cheese in Winters Ca.  I've taken a couple of her cheese making classes and she is a lot of fun.  All her classes are hands on so it really helps you understand the process.
In this class we learned how to make the Mozzarella curd and how to stretch it to make the balls of fresh Mozzarella and also how to stuff the Mozzarella and make Burrata.  The usual stuffing for the Burrata is either Mascarpone, Ricotta, or the Mozzarella cheese curds mixed with butter. Actually the cheese making is fairly easy since it doesn't require any aging and it is pretty much fool proof.  It is a little time consuming but it can all be made in a few hours and the results are well worth it, plus it can be eaten right away.  Just think of the fresh Mozzarella or Burrata with fresh tomatoes this summer or on slices of Italian bread or crostini with some prosciutto..YUM!

Straus Family whole milk works the best for Mozzarella.  Our set up for cheese making

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Mozzarella curd after draining the whey

Mozzarella ready for stretching

Burrata

Citric acid is combined with water and added to the cold milk.  The milk is then heated to 90 degrees while stirring.  The rennet is added to water and and added to the pot.  Leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Citric acid and Rennet added to the milk after the milk has reached 90 degrees

After 5 minutes, it should look like custard

checking the whey, there should be a separation between the curd and whey

Cut the curd into 1" cubes

separate the curds and whey in a colander lined with cheese cloth

cheese curd draining

curd cut into workable pieces.  For the class each portion was cut into 4 pieces

A short video on how to stretch the cheese curd for Mozzarella

How to make the Burrata.  The Mozzarella square is filled with a mixture of Mozzarella curd and butter blended smooth with an immersion blender.

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The finished product.  These were just placed on a plate without cooling the cheese so they kind of deflated.. but it still tasted wonderful

After making the Mozzarella or Burrata it can be immersed in cool water or whey to cool and help hold it's shape.

The finished product and dinner..Fresh Mozzarella and Burrata with sliced tomatoes, basil and Prosciutto and some crusty bread and of course a glass of wine.

I can't wait until tomatoes are in season to make this again..Almost as good as the fresh Mozzarella in Italy.