cheesemaking, part one

the reason why we were heading to beth and eric's armed with streusel and pugs is because beth and i decided to try our hands at making cheese. really, beth is more research and development and i'm supply procurement, since i work in a pharmacy and can obtain 500 grams of citric acid at a moment's notice. we decided to attempt american mozzarella, which also yields ricotta. as my friend crystal pointed out, we're going the long way around to make lasagna. true, but who could resist the lure of fankhauser's cheese page?

so we gathered our supplies and began heating milk. we tried both 2% and the diesel whole milk (kroger brand). in a scene out of muppet laboratories, three different thermometers were used to determine the temperature of said milk. 88 degrees is apparently the magic temperature at which the flux capacitor renders time travel and cheesemaking possible. beth added some dissolved junket (rennet), some citric acid, and we left the warm milk undisturbed for an hour while we played with the dogs and drank some wine. after the hour, it looked like watery cottage cheese. so we left it undisturbed for another 1/2 hour. still not producing the fabled 'clean break' necessary to proceed to step 10. we waited another 1/2 hour. the husbands were getting restless. rambo was over, they had little patience for cheese-watching. so we decided to put the lids back on and let it sit, undisturbed, over night.

to be continued....