The Fork and Easel: Mozzarella

I promised a tutorial on making mozzarella, so here is it, seriously don’t be daunted by the length of this post, homemade mozzarella is actually pretty easy and totally worth it.

First you will need a large pot, and I do mean a large pot the one I use is a 12 quart stock pot. 1 gallon of milk, preferably whole though you can do it with 1 and 2% the less fat, the less cheese you will end up with, I personally prefer raw milk whenever possible, however it can be hard to find and expensive, as well as having various health concerns associated with it. The most important thing when choosing your milk is that it cannot be ultra-pasteurized, most of what you find in the grocery store will work fine though. Next you will need 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet (you can use rennet tablets but in my experience liquid rennet is easier to find) 1 ½ teaspoons citric

acid, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 ¼ cups cold water

Dissolve the citric acid in the water then

add to the milk, heat the milk to 90 degrees, but be careful not to overshoot to much or you will kill the bacteria and other bugs needed to create the cheese curd. stir gently as it heats to make sure the heat stays as even as possible

Once the milk has reached 90 degrees remove it from the heat and stir in the rennet, after about 30 seconds stop stirring, cover your pot and let sit for 5 minutes.

When your 5 minutes are up the milk will have thickened into a curd, it may not look like it at first glance but poke it with something and you will see what I am talking about. Use a knife and cut the curd into a grid, it doesn’t have to be very small, just a couple of cuts each way will do. The grid allows the curd to move and separate from the way as you stir, which is mostly necessary to insure even heating.

Grid cut in curd

Return the pot to the stove and heat to 105 degrees, again stirring to keep the heat even and being careful not to exceed this temperature.

Once the target temperature is reached, use a slotted spoon or similar utensil to remove the curd from the way, don’t be too picky about this because once the curd is removed it will begin to drain and you will still end up with way in the new bowl.

Use the slotted spoon to drain as much of the way as you can, then put the curd into a microwave for one minute, drain the way and fold the curd into itself. At this point most tutorials recommend using rubber gloves, mostly to protect your hands from the heat. Put the cheese back into the microwave and heat it in 30 second burst until it reaches about 135 degrees. it is important to get it to this temperature in order to stretch the cheese properly.

Drain the way and sprinkle the cheese with your salt, then begin stretching and folding the mozzarella, the key is to make long even strands, when it is stretched enough it will take on a glossy appearance, be careful not to overwork the cheese or it will become tough and rubbery. (if it cools down to much while stretching you can re heat it a little to make it more pliable again.