Monday, April 20, 2009

How to make Mozzarella - step by step

1. 2 gallons of cool milk, either fresh & raw or pasteurized and cooled.
2. Citric acid powder. 2 1/2 very level teaspoons of citric acid powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of cool tap water. Mix into the cool milk for 2 minutes.
3. Heat milk to 88 degrees F. This is not an error. You are not trying to pasteurize the milk. If you get it too hot or too cold, the rennet will not take make curds.
4. Rennet: 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet (or 1/2 tablet regular rennet OR 2 junket tablets). Dissolve rennet in 1/4 cup cool tap water. Add this into the milk and stir for 14-20 seconds. Cover your pot with a lid and allow milk to remain still for 12-15 minutes while it coagulates.

5. Cut the curd into cubes, around 1/2 inch in size. Let cut curds remain undisturbed for 5 minutes.
Apply low heat and stir gently so as to keep curds separated. The curds will shrink as the whey is expelled from them in this step. Slowly heat the curds to 108 degrees over about 10-15 minutes time. Then shut off the heat and continue to stir every few minutes for an additional 20 minutes.

6. Drain curds in a colander for about 15 minutes. You can dip or pour them out of the pan and save the whey to make ricotta if you wish, or save it for the pigs or chickens, or throw it out. After the curds sit for 15 minutes, they will be stuck together in a colander shaped clump.
Cut this into strips about 1 inch by 1 inch cross section. Lay the strips in a criss-cross fashion in a large bowl.
7. Mix 1/4 cup salt in 1/2 gallon of water and heat to 170 degrees. I always heat this water up while I am stirring the curds for that 15 minutes in step 5 above. Add the salt water to the bowl with the curds in it, make sure it is enough to cover the curds.

8. Using a wooden spoon or a pair of them, begin to stretch the curds in an upward motion (sort of like stretching taffy only stretch it with the spoons). It will begin to get stringy and will look plastic and shiny. Stretch it for about 10 minutes, then place the whole thing on a board and knead it just like you would bread dough, shaping it into a ball. This takes the excess moisture out of your cheese. Place the cheese in a plastic mold . You can place your plastic mold in a bowl of cold water until it's firm and cold or just put a lid on it and place it in the refrigerator overnight. It's now ready to eat. You can eat it in chunks or slices or grate it and cook with it.
To store, place in zip-lock bag or plastic wrap and refrigerate.
As you can see through the pictures, the tools that I use are not the latest and greatest, but simply what we have on hand:) Trust me, you don't need to have fancy equipment to make this simple but very tasty cheese! I make it using our Fresh Raw Goat's milk, but you can use Fresh Raw Cow's milk as well...go here to find out why Raw milk is better for you, what the regulations are in your state, and information to contact farmers in your area~
If you decide to try this recipe, let me know how it turns out:) I think you'll be pleased!!
*Recipe from Sugar Mountain Home*

13 comments:

Rebekah said...

Very cool! That would be fun to do sometime...

Sherry in MI said...

Jenna - can you tell me how long this takes from start to finish?

Sincerely,
Mrs. Miedema

Jenna said...

uh...a little over 2 hours?? I think I started around 7 and got done at 9:15 ish.

When I've got the milk I do 2 batch's at a time (in seperate pots - can't double this recipe) and that works well!!

~Jenna

SaChay said...

I'm doing good, just been busy. Your post is so neat! I've always wanted to make cheese! I've been looking for raw milk in my area for a few years and haven't been able to find it yet. I've just been buying the best I can find at the grocery store.

Mrs. E said...

Jenna,
What an amazing post!! ;)
I love making cheese but have never
attempted to make mozzarella!!!
THANK YOU... for posting this!
I am very grateful indeed.
Hope you are having a blessed day!

Love in Christ,
Jen

Jenna said...

SaChay,
Did you look on the website www.realmilk.com for your area's listings?? Maybe that will help you?!

Jen, I'm glad that this post helped you:) It is pretty fun to make...I'm going to make it again tonight or tomorrow but with cow's milk instead~

Blessings,
Jenna

SaChay said...

Its illegal in my state. :( Unless its your own animal or you own a share in it.

CuthFamily said...

Sounds like fun! We are currently buying cheese from the Graveldinger's raw milk. They give it to some cheese place who makes it into cheese. It is really good!
Have fun eating it!

Elizabeth

P.S.
Hope you like the raw milk!

veronica elise said...

Neat! I guess it never occured to me before that you can make cheese that easily at home.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Where do you get your rennet and mesophilic powder? I've always bought through New England Cheese Making Supply, but was wondering if I could get a better deal else were.

Jenna said...

I got rennet from Hoeggers supply (the link is on my side bar) and then I got my Citric Acid from our local health food store.

Blessings!
Jenna

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Thanks! That is definitely less than what I've been paying. I'll try them the next time I need to order rennet or mesophylic powder.

Blessings!

Valerie said...

Hello Jenna,

I am your newest follower. Your blog is lovely and very informative. Thank you.

XO,
Valerie