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| Creamy, soft, and hand made. You can't buy better |
The Recipe:
1 gallon whole milk...it's OK to replace a cup of milk with a cup of cream. Yummy! Just make sure you don't get Hyper- homogenized cream. Same with the milk. It will cause problems with curd formation.
1 1/8 teaspoon citric acid divided. 1/2 is dissolved in water and the other one is sprinkled directly into the milk. (The citric acid is what gives the cheese it's stretch
1/4 tablet rennet, crushed (where do you get this? Try a health food store. Online is easy)
1/4 cup warm water
EQUIPMENT: cheesecloth; kitchen string
Heat milk and citric acid to 88°F in a 7- to 8-qt heavy pot over low heat, stirring occasionally, then maintain a temperature of 88 to 91°F on an instant-read thermometer, returning to and removing from heat as necessary, for 1 hour. (Mixture will begin to curdle.)
Dissolve rennet in warm water, then stir into milk mixture. Let stand, uncovered, maintaining 88 to 91°F, until the consistency of soft pudding, 15 to 20 minutes.
Using a long knife, make cuts across stiffened milk mixture at 1/2-inch intervals, reaching down to bottom of pot, then make similar cuts in stiffened milk mixture to form a crosshatch pattern (small squares) on top. Let stand, undisturbed, 5 minutes. Keeping temperature between 88 and 91°F (reheat when necessary over very low heat), gently stir curds every 10 minutes for 30 minutes, then let curds stand, uncovered and undisturbed, maintaining temperature, 30 minutes more.
Line a large sieve with cheesecloth and set over a bowl. Using a ladle or slotted spoon, transfer curds to center of cheesecloth. Don't just dump the curds into the sieve. Pull sides up over curds to form a sack and tie sides together with a long piece of string as close to curds as possible but without squeezing curds. Suspend sack from a knob or cupboard handle, using string, at least 4 inches from bottom of bowl (sack should not sit in any whey that accumulates; if necessary, discard whey as it accumulates). Let hang 3 hours at room temperature.
Heat a large pot of heavily salted water (1/3 cup salt for 5 qt water) to 170°F. Place one fourth of the curds in a shallow bowl, then ladle about 6 cups hot water over curds and let stand until curds start to meld together, about 2 minutes. Gather curds together with a slotted spoon and remove from water. Working over the bowl of hot water, gently fold the mass of curds over itself in your hands, stretching as you fold. Reheat in hot water as necessary (3 to 5 times) to maintain temperature, folding and stretching until curds become a smooth and elastic disk. I wear a pair of food service gloves for this step. The water is pretty hot.
Form into a ball by tucking outside into center, then pinch edges together. Place mozzarella in cool water to cool completely before eating. Make the rest of the cheese the same way, reusing hot salted water for subsequent batches.
NOTES:
Curds can be made and drained in cheesecloth (3 hours) 1 day ahead, then chilled in a sealable bag.
Mozzarella is best the day it is made but can be kept, covered with water, in refrigerator up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving. Just a side note...cheese is ALWAYS BETTER AT ROOM TEMP.
Don't throw the whey out! Use it to make bread. It really WILL be awesome bread.
The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company has a starter kit. Which I bought and love. You only need to buy the kit once. It’s great and makes more +/- 40 pounds of cheese, and you get everything in the kit but your milk. The kit tells you all the different kinds of milk you can use. The kit is called: 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit.
ENJOY!
