While your Camembert or Parmigiano-Reggiano will do fine for long periods of time in the cheese drawer of your refrigerator, there's one type of cheese and it's a popular one that has to be stored a bit differently. Fresh mozzarella, beloved as a salad topping or eaten caprese-style with ripe tomatoes and basil, can most often be found in plastic containers full of liquid.
This liquid can be water, a salted brine, or whey, which is a by-product of the cheesemaking process. But why does fresh mozzarella have to be stored in liquid unlike other cheeses? Mozzarella is typically produced in the shape of a ball. Not only will your pizzas taste good, but your homemade pizzas will look amazing too!
However, you will want to ensure that you prepare and cook this fresh cheese properly, or you may have a watery mess on your hands. As fresh mozzarella is a soft cheese meant to be eaten fresh, this cheese has a very high moisture content.
In addition, fresh mozzarella is stored in a watery whey that will need to be drained before being used. While mozzarella on pizza can evaporate easily in professional pizza ovens, this does not always happen in domestic kitchens, and you can be left with watery, sloppy mozzarella on your pizzas. To keep this from happening, you may want to learn how to dry mozzarella cheese for your pizza. Firstly, you will need to drain the liquids from the bag in which the fresh mozzarella was stored.
The next thing you need to do is to remove the ball of fresh mozzarella and place it onto a plate or cutting board. Then, you will want to shake off any of the excess water and moisture from the mozzarella, and cut up the mozzarella into three of four pieces. Drain any more water from the cut up pieces so that the mozzarella cheese can dry up faster. The next step is to place the mozzarella pieces inside a mesh strainer, and place the strainer into a bowl.
Then, you can place both the bowl and the strainer inside the refrigerator, and leave for a few hours. If you can, try to buy from a local cheesemaker or learn how to make your own mozzarella at home.
Creamy, milky fresh mozzarella is mild flavored but irresistible. Fresh mozzarella is sold in small plastic containers or bags filled with water or whey. Once opened, the mozzarella should be eaten within a few days—and the sooner the better. Fresh mozzarella is sold in several different sizes. Mozzarella balls are about the size of a small orange. Bocconcini cheese is formed in slightly smaller balls about the size of an egg. Ciliegine mozzarella is smaller still, about the size of a cherry.
Sold in a tight plastic wrapper without any liquid, processed mozzarella has a texture that is firmer and more rubbery than fresh mozzarella.
The flavor is very mild and a little bit salty. Because it melts well without becoming watery although it can be quite stringy , mass-produced mozzarella is primarily bought to be used as an ingredient for lasagna or pizza. Di bufala means of the water buffalo , and it was the milk of this animal that was first used to make mozzarella. These days, most mozzarella is made from cow's milk, but mozzarella di bufala is still sold.
It can be slightly harder to find and is usually more expensive. Water buffalo milk is richer than cow's milk, and you can taste it in this cheese. The flavor of mozzarella di bufala is a little bolder and a little sweeter with a slight grassiness.
Burrata looks like a regular ball of mozzarella until you slice into it and a decadent center filled with thick cream is revealed. Tiny shreds of thin mozzarella curd are also mixed in with the cream.
The result is a super-creamy version of mozzarella that's fantastic simply spread onto bread with salt and olive oil.
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