Burrata cheese

Burrata cheese is an Italian cheese known for its softness and creamy filling.

Burrata was created in the early 20th century in Apulia when local cheesemakers sought ways to utilize leftover mozzarella and cream.

Burrata looks like a ball of mozzarella, but inside it has a creamy mixture of cream and soft pieces of mozzarella called “stracciatella.”

Milk Pasteurization

First, it is necessary to pasteurize the milk by heating it to 68 degrees and maintaining this temperature for 10 minutes.

Then cool the milk by placing the pot in cold water in a sink.

Adding Citric Acid

Heat 10 liters of milk. Mix 13 grams of citric acid with 130 grams of water. Add the water with citric acid to the milk while stirring.

Adding Starter Culture

Add thermophilic starter culture according to the manufacturer’s guidelines (sprinkle on the surface, wait 3 minutes, and then stir the milk).

Mesophilic will not work as we will heat the milk to 75 degrees.

Continue heating the milk to 37 degrees.

Adding Rennet

At a temperature of 37 degrees, turn off the heat and add the rennet. First, dissolve it in 50 ml of water, then pour this water into the milk while stirring well to ensure the rennet is evenly distributed throughout the milk. Stop stirring and wait for 20 minutes.

Cuting the Curd

Check for a clean break to see if the curd is ready. For this, cut it with a knife and lift it. If the edges are smooth and the whey separates clearly, the curd is ready.

Cut the curd into 3×3 centimeter cubes. First, cut vertically, then horizontally.

After a few minutes, make horizontal cuts, either with a knife at an angle or with a bent skewer.

A few minutes later, turn on the heat and gently begin to stir. Heat until 40 degrees.

Upon reaching 40 degrees, turn off the heat, stop stirring, and wait for another 2 minutes.

Separating the Cheese Mass

Separate the cheese mass from the whey through cheesecloth.

Tie the cheesecloth and press down to allow the whey to drain better and the mass to compact.

Working the Stracciatella

Meanwhile, heat water to 75-80 degrees. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for 2 liters of water.

Prepare cold water separately. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for 2 liters of water.

Cut a portion of the cheese mass and transfer it to a bowl. Cut the cheese mass into cubes. Pour a little hot water over the cheese mass to cover all the cubes.

Put on thick gloves, then rubber ones over them.

Using a spatula, begin to mix the cheese mass from all sides, warming it up. Periodically pour some of the water back into the hot water and re-add hot water (since the water has cooled from the cheese mass).

You can even place the bowl of water and cheese mass over a low flame to keep the water warm.

Work the cheese mass with your hands. Stretch and fold it many times to achieve the layered texture of the cheese.

Make a hole in the center of the cheese mass, form a ring, and rotate it so that part of the ring is in the hot water while the rest is on the surface (like in Chechil).

When the ring becomes significantly larger in diameter, fold it in half and continue to twist. This should be done by folding it in half 5-7 times. Then you can place the resulting cheese circle into the prepared cold salted water for brining.

After that, take the next portion of the cheese mass and repeat all the steps. This is how we make the stracciatella, which we will use to fill our cheese. It is enough to make 2 such circles.

Preparing the Filling

After the stracciatella has cooled, cut the rings into strips. That is, cut the ring from one side, and then divide the resulting long strip into 3 equal parts.

Separate each strip into thin strands. The thinner, the better. Do not separate a few strips, as they will be used later for tying.

Once all the stracciatella is divided, cut it into shorter strips, mix them, and place everything in a bowl. Taste for salt, and if needed, add more salt.

Pour 30% fat cream over the stracciatella.

Working the Burrata

Now we prepare the burrata cheese itself. We do everything exactly as we did with the stracciatella. Take the cheese mass, place it in a bowl, cut it into cubes, and pour hot water over it. Begin kneading, then folding. However, instead of forming a ring, we make a pancake out of the cheese and place our stracciatella inside it. Then we fold the edges of the pancake together, forming a pouch. In other words, it turns into a khachapuri shape made of cheese, inside which there is also cheese in cream.

Place our khachapuri in cold salted water and make the next one.

After all the burrata is ready, let it sit for another 30 minutes in cold water for brining. After that, remove it and tie decorative knots on the pouches using the strips of stracciatella that we set aside.

Storage

To prevent the burrata from drying out in the refrigerator, losing its shape, and becoming slippery, it can be stored wrapped in stretch film.