Water buffalo milk

[picaman]

I like making homemade mozzarella for myself--it's extremely easy if you haven't tried it. I've been using non-homogenized whole milk that I get from the Union Square market, which is fine for me everyday.

However, I've decided to make some really good stuff to give as holiday presents (packed in jars with olive oil, some nice olives, herbs etc.) along with the fresh bread my partner bakes. Anyone know where to buy fresh water buffalo milk in NYC? I've tried asking in some of the better pizza places (Totonno's in Coney Island, etc.), and searching the site here, but didn't get anywhere.

Ideally I'd like to get it over time by the gallon--can't get vast quantities into the fridge!

Apologies in advance for the slightly-off-topic post, but figured that the "local forum" might be the best place to ask. Thanks for your help!

Jamie

[guajolote]

lots of places in NY

[malcolmjolley]

I like making homemade mozzarella for myself--it's extremely easy if you haven't tried it.

OK, I'll bite: How does one go about about making one's own mozarella?

[rickster]

Try this link for the material you need to do it. It is highly reliant on getting the right milk though. Most of the milk sold in supermarkets will not work and turns into ricotta (speaking from unfortunate experience). It's not as easy as it might sound.

NE Cheesemaking

[picaman]

guajolote: thanks for the link. I've actually been to a couple of the places listed and didn't see it there, but maybe I was just having bad luck. This list is so comprehensive that I'm sure I'll be able to find it. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

malcolmjolley: Here is the link to the mozzarella recipe I use. Actually, I just use the technique listed here, and have modified the recipe through trial and error:

--I leave out the calcium chloride and the lipase powder (haven't gotten around to ordering it on the net yet)

--Instead of the rennet, I use 2 Junket tablets (available in the grocery store). From what I've read, it tastes better when you use actual rennet and let the curd develop slowly, but I'm impatient When I make it for the gifts, I'm getting all of the ingredients and doing it right.

--Jamie's secret ingredient, now not so: I add 2 tablespoons of dried buttermilk powder. Yum!

Before I started getting the milk from Union Square market, I used regular old whole milk from the grocery store and got mozzarella in the end just fine. It does taste better though, I think, when you use non-homogenized milk.

Try it--it really is much easier than you would think. And if you get really fancy, you can make ricotta--also very easy.

Jamie

[rickster]

Well, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I ordered the kit from the company I linked to above, tried it like 3 times with supermarket milk, got ricotta twice and a small amount of mozzarella once. They warn that a lot of supermarket milk will not work, especially if it's ultra pasteurized and sugggest using a mixture of cream and reconstituted non fat dry milk. I haven't tried that yet.

Edited September 23, 2003 by rickster (log)

[picaman]

rickster, one of the things I found in my experimentation was that the amount of rennet needed was consistently underestimated in nearly all the recipes I came up with doing Internet searches, given the amount of time I wanted to wait to get the final product. I also think (and this is definitely anecdotal) that it may take more rennet to coagulate "store-bought" milk. When I use the same (probably excessive) amount of rennet with the Ronnybrook Farm non-homogenized milk, it goops up almost instantly. It may be too that adding the powdered buttermilk helps it along.

When you say you got "ricotta twice," do you mean very fine curd floating in the whey? If so, it was probably on its way to mozzarella. I think at that point all it takes is either more time for the curds to continue forming, or if you are like me, more rennet added. From what I've read, this is heretical to the proper way of making it, and I think that flavor is probably sacrificed. But it is expedient and you get your mozzarella.

I hadn't noticed the cream/non fat dry milk method--maybe I'll give that a try this weekend. Thanks for mentioning it!

I guess this is now officially a cooking thread--not sure if it should be somewhere else

Jamie

[docsconz]

Great thread. I've always wanted to make mozzarella and ricotta. Mozarella di bufala can't be beat. I'll be spending a couple of days at a bufala farm in Campania in November. Hopefully, I'll pick up some tips there. The Woodstock water buffalo farm is not too far from where I live. Maybe I'll have to check it out

[rickster]

When you say you got "ricotta twice," do you mean very fine curd floating in the whey? If so, it was probably on its way to mozzarella. I

I would have said it was not so fine and it didn't seem like it was going to get to the mozz state. Thanks for the advice on the rennet. It didn't occur to me that there was a cure for the problem.