More or maybe less mozzarella

(click on images to enlarge)

Mozzarella has a high yield factor, all things being equal, which they never are, the yield is about 30 % more than Cheddar. Still, many mozzarella makers like to spike the recipe with large amounts of MPCs and various other ingredient.

The Leprino box photo above is interesting. Multiple claims of quality appear and yet the “storage procedures” suggests something else. This is a frozen product which must be used with two weeks of receipt.

My local supermarket has a store brand of mozzarella which has a current expiration date of May 7, 2010 – and that is not frozen.

Just type “Leprino” into the search box at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office and there are 30 patents for Leprino.

An example is:
U.S. patent number 7,579,033 August 25, 2009

16. A method for preparing a soft or firm/semi-hard ripened or unripened cheese, comprising: a) providing a slurry that comprises a molten blend of a cheese curd and one or more ingredients selected from the group consisting of a starch, a dairy solid, a gum and a cellulose agent; and b) shaping and cooling the slurry to form the soft or firm/semi-soft cheese, wherein the concentration of the starch, the dairy solid, the gum or the cellulose agent in the slurry is sufficient such that the soft or firm/semi-hard cheese that is produced has one or more of the following characteristics (i) a starch concentration of at least 0.1 wt. %, (ii) a dairy solid concentration of at least 0.1 wt %, or (iii) a gum or cellulose agent concentration of at least 0.1 wt %.

Who knows what is in the product which came in the Leprino box? However, two weeks is definitely a very short time for frozen mozzarella. Take a look in your supermarket at expiration dates.