Here's one a girlfriend and I are stumped by: How do you shred mozzarella cheese?
We've been shredding monterrey jack and cheddar at home, and like it so much better than buying the bagged stuff. But mozzarella is so soft, it either turns to a handful of mush, or globs up in the food processor (my friend narrowly avoided burning out the motor in hers!).
Any ideas from you briliiant (and hopefully more kitchen-savvy than me!) ladies out there?
Hand grater and fresh mozzarella kept in the freezer for a bit to firm up. Also spray the grater with PAM so it is not sticking as much. Good Luck !!!
Put it in the freezer for a half hour first. Sometimes when I'm lazy I just use the food processor.
:)
Freeze the mozzarella first if you're going to use a food processor. An hour or so in the fridge is all you need to make it firm enough not to gum up the Cuisinart. However, I think it shreds better using a hand held metal shredder. Just use the largest holes and you'll be fine.
I just use the grater with the bigger holes for mozzarella and I agree that shredded is much better than bagged.
We use a hand held metal grater. I also helps if the cheese is cold.
Make sure that the cheese is really cold before you shred it. I use the food processor, and it shreds pretty well. It does get kind of gummy, and some of the shreds are more like crumbs, but if you're going to put it in pizza or lasagne, it doesn't matter.
you have to use the hand held metal grater for mozzarella.....
Hand held shredder they have a cool one at Ikea that the chees falls into a dish as you are shredding and then it has a lid to put on when you are done to save any left overs. I think it was under $5 and I love it. Best hand held shredder I have ever owned
I shred all of my cheese in my food processor with the grating blade. It doesn't work with the regular blade.
Hard, soft, in between - it all comes out nice.
Or, I have my son do it with the hand grater. :)
Put it in the freezer for about an hour before you need to shred it. It makes it so much easier to shred it after you pull it out of the freezer. I learned this tip from Giada on the Food Network and it really works.
I agree--hand held grater...
Do you mean regular mozzarella, or fresh (buffala)? Fresh can't be shredded, just sliced. Regular shreds better if you buy the "low moisture, part skim" variety rather than the whole milk variety. You can't taste the difference when it's cooked (it's not like low-fat cheese that's rubbery).
Happy dining!
