Homemade Buratta

Well what else would I do with a spare afternoon?

When I saw a posting about homemade burrata, starting with Ricki "The Cheese Queen's" 30 Minute Mozzarella Magic recipe I immediately sent it to my cheese-making partner Shari and we set a date for the adventure. These days work's been a little crazy and there never seems to be enough time to even get the essentials finished, so Shari and I -- unlike my usual plan -- opted for Ricki's microwave method -- no sink filled with hot water or additional pot of near boiling water needed. All we had to do was bring milk up to temperature, add rennet and citric acid, drain the curd and microwave at 30 second intervals until the cheese could be stretched and filled with a combination of soft curd and cream.

To be honest this first attempt was more like the plastic packaged mozzarella you might shred for pizza then it was the silky soft fresh cheese packed in water -- although perfectly edible But, the microwave method gives just the confidence needed to try the more involved hot water process. Stay tuned for our fresh cheese progress.