Whole milk mozzarella ??

egger66

I made a few pizzas this week and played around with some different cheeses...some better than others. However, I found that the whole milk mozzarella was difficult to grate(I used 2 different brands). It seemed very soft and "spongy". I even tried putting the cheese in the freezer for a few minutes to get the cheese a little firmer. I liked the flavor of the whole milk variety and was hoping someone might know an easy way to get the stuff to behave :silly:
Thanks

Fidel

You're buying the balls in the liquid or the shrink wrapped stuff? Good cheese, but not for pizza. It gives off a lot of moisture as it cooks too - leaving a puddle on your pie.

Go to the deli and have them do some thin slices of whole milk mozz for you. Some delis in groceries will grate for you also.

Much better than the bagged stuff and melts perfectly with a great flavor.

egger66

No balls in liquid, but it is shrink wrapped. I'll be visiting the deli next time.
Thanks

AZRP

I use the same stuff you are talking about and I freeze it for a couple hours before grating, otherwise it is a gummy mess. -RP

Serial Griller

I use whole milk mozzarella in water sometimes.
Use a hard boiled egg slicer to slice your cheese. Lay the slices on paper towels for a few minutes to soak up the excess moisture. Then lay the slices on your pie about 1" apart and put on your toppings and bake as usual. No need to grate... this eliminates the puddles of moisture on your pie.
Hope this helps.
SmokinJack

BConk

I use the shrink wrapped, fresh, whole milk mozzarella all the time for pizza. IMHO there's no finer cheese for pizza.

Like Wing says - The trick is to drain off the excess moisture. I slice the cheese then dice it into 1/4" - 1/2" cubes and put the cubes into a stainless steel wire sieve over a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap but leave the cheese at room temps for about an hour and you'll be amazed at how much water comes off of it.

It also helps, when you're buying the cheese, to compare the firmness of the cheese balls. Out of several packages of the same brand cheese you'll often find quite a variation in the firmness of the balls. Choose the firmest - as that's the one with the least water.

[Deleted User]

Dude!

You need to start a stage act in Vegas! You're like... well... like Kreskin (or Carnac)! THIS is EGGxactly what I do!

NEVER underestimate the power of the egg-slicer (can you say multi-tasker)... and it's great for slicing olives for pizza as well!

Depending on the effect I want, after slicing, I sometimes turn the slices in one or more additional directions, turn once for "shredded", twice for small cubes.

Yup, leave 'em on paper towel to "wick" off excess moisture.

Wayne

Aron

I use whole milk mozzarella all the time--up here there are a bunch of places that make it in house daily. I seem to be in the minority based on above comments, as I prefer the softer balls rather than firm. I don't bother grating--I make a few slices and then just tear it into some smaller pieces. You really do not have to cover the entire pizza--there should be plenty of sauce showing through since the whole milk mozzarella will spread generously as it cooks (try using 50% of what you think you'd use the first time). One tip I've gotten is to keep the cheese away from the center--the outside of the crust rises more than the middle, so gravity will pool the cheese towards the center anyway giving you coverage there but not a soggy mess as you would if you already had a lot of cheese there. I used to overcheese my pizzas when I started using the fresh mozzarella, but now that I use less, the pizza comes out better.

One more tip - regarding the "soft/spongy" comment--fresh mozzarella on pizza tends to get that consistency as it cools--it's best eaten as soon as you can without burning your mouth.

[Deleted User]

Aron,

Here! here!