Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Recipes

30 MINUTE FRESH MOZZARELLA CHEESE HOMEMADE

Steps:

• Crush the rennet into the water and stir to dissolve.
• Pour milk into a non-reactive pot (no aluminum or cast iron).
• Place over medium heat. Sprinkle the citric acid over the milk and stir a few times. Heat milk to 88°F; milk will begin to curdle.
• At 88°F, add the rennet solution and continue stirring slowly every few minutes until the milk reaches 105°F Turn off the heat. Large curds will appear and begin to separate from the whey (the clear, greenish liquid).
• With a slotted spoon or mesh strainer, scoop the curd into a large glass bowl. (If it's still too liquid, let it set for a few more minutes). Press the curds gently with your hand and pour off as much whey as possible.
• Microwave curds on high for 1 minute, then drain off all the excess whey.
• With a spoon, press curds into a ball until cool.
• Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each, and continue to drain the whey and work cheese into a ball.
• In the meantime, place the whey over medium heat and let it heat to about 175°F.
• When cheese is cool enough to touch, knead it like bread dough until smooth. When you can stretch it like taffy, it is done. You can sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons salt into the cheese while kneading and stretching it. The cheese will become stretchy, smooth and shiny. If it is difficult to stretch and breaks easily, dip it into the hot whey for a few seconds to make it warm and pliable. Then pick it up again and stretch it into a long rope. Fold over and stretch again. Dip in hot whey as needed to make the cheese pliable.
• When the cheese is smooth and shiny (this takes just a few minutes), it is ready to eat. Shape it into a log or golf-size balls, then store in a solution of 2 teaspoons salt to 1 cup water.

HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Combine 1/4 cup water and rennet in a small bowl; mix well.
• Combine remaining 1/2 cup water and citric acid in another small bowl; mix until dissolved.
• Pour milk into a large pot set over medium heat. Stir in water-citric acid mixture. Heat milk, stirring occasionally, until it registers 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes.
• Remove milk from heat and stir in rennet mixture in a figure-8 motion for 30 seconds. Stir counterclockwise for 30 seconds to still the milk. Let stand, covered, until milk sets into curd, 5 to 10 minutes. Press edge of the curd gently with a palette knife or the back of a spoon to check for firmness.
• Slice vertically into the pot to cut curd into 3/4-inch cubes with a palette knife. Stir curds gently, but leave cubes mostly intact.
• Return pot to the heat; cook over medium heat, stirring curds gently, until temperature reaches 109 degrees F (43 degrees C), about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Ladle curds into a colander set over a large bowl using a slotted spoon. Press curds gently to extract liquid whey. Pour drained whey back into the pot.
• Heat whey to 185 degrees F (85 degrees C), about 5 minutes. Wearing gloves, tear off a piece of curd and place on a slotted spoon. Dip curd into hot whey for 5 to 10 seconds. Stretch, fold, and knead the curd. Repeat until mozzarella is smooth and elastic. Knead in salt and form curd into a ball. Repeat dipping and kneading process with remaining curd.
• Allow mozzarella to cool. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator.

HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Pour milk into a non-reactive, 5-quart pot. Heat over medium heat until it reaches 85°F. Stir it regularly.
• Dissolve citric acid into 1 cup of water and stir into the milk. Continue to heat slowly until the milk reaches 100°F.
• Dissolve rennet into 1/4 cup water and stir into milk. Stir the milk for 30 seconds, continuously, in an up and down motion. Curds will begin to form. Continue to heat the milk until it reaches 105-110°F. At this point, remove the pot from the heat, cover the pot and let it sit, undisturbed, for 10 minutes.
• Once curds have formed completely, use a slotted spoon to transfer the curds gently to a colander. Try to get as much of the curd as possible without breaking it up too much. Let curds drain in a colander, and press them lightly with your hands to press out as much whey as possible. Be careful not to push the curds through the colander, though.
• Transfer curds to a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 75 seconds. Use a metal spoon to stir and fold the curds over until they turn silky smooth. The curds should be pretty hot to melt together. You might need to microwave the cheese for another 30-60 seconds to get the right consistency.
• Continue to fold curds over with a spoon until it forms a smooth ball. As you work the cheese, sprinkle in the salt. Drain off the whey that pools occasionally.
• When cheese curds are smooth and silky, use a hand to lightly knead and fold the curds. It helps to wear a rubber glove to protect your hand from the heat. If the curds aren't easy to work with, microwave for another 20-30 seconds to heat them up.
• When the cheese reaches the consistency you like, form a smooth ball out of the cheese. If you're going to refrigerate the cheese, dunk the ball into ice water to set it in shape.
• The cheese can be eaten immediately or refrigerated for up to a week. To refrigerate, place the mozzarella in a small container. Mix a cup of cool whey with a teaspoon of salt and pour the mixture over the mozzarella. Cover the container and refrigerate.

HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Pour the milk into the non reactive pot.
• Stir in the your choice of acid
• Set the pot over medium-high heat and warm to 90°F, stirring gently.
• Remove the pot from heat and gently stir in the rennet solution and count to 30, stop stirring, cover the pot, and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
• After five minutes, the milk should have set, and it should look and feel like soft silken tofu.
• If it is still liquidy, re-cover the pot and let it sit for another five minutes.
• Once the milk has set, cut it into uniform curds: make several parallel cuts vertically through the curds and then several parallel cuts horizontally, creating a grid-like pattern.
• Make sure your knife reaches all the way to the bottom of the pan.
• Place the pot back on the stove over medium heat and warm the curds to 105°F.
• Stir slowly as the curds warm, but try not to break them up too much.
• The curds will eventually clump together and separate more completely from the yellow whey.
• Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring gently for another 5 minutes.
• Ladle the curds into a microwave-safe bowl with the slotted spoon.
• Microwave the curds for one minute.
• Drain off the whey.
• Put on your rubber gloves and fold the curds over on themselves a few times.
• At this point, the curds will still be very loose and cottage-cheese-like.
• Microwave the curds for another 30 seconds and check their internal temperature.
• If the temperature has reached 135°F, continue with stretching the curds.
• If not, continue microwaving in 30-second bursts until they reach temperature. The curds need to reach this temperature in order to stretch properly.
• Sprinkle the salt over the cheese and squish it with your fingers to incorporate. Using both hands, stretch and fold the curds repeatedly.
• It will start to tighten, become firm, and take on a glossy sheen.
• When this happens, you are ready to shape the mozzarella.
• Make one large ball, two smaller balls, or several bite-sized bocconcini. Try not to over-work the mozzarella.
• The mozzarella can be used immediately or kept refrigerated for a week. To refrigerate, place the mozzarella in a small container. Mix a teaspoon of salt with a cup of cool whey and pour this over the mozzarella. Cover and refrigerate.

HOMEMADE FRESH MOZZARELLA IN UNDER 30 MINUTES

Steps:

• Mix 1 ½ teaspoons of citric acid with one cup of lukewarm water, stir until dissolved, and set aside.
• Mix ¼ teaspoon of liquid rennet or crushed rennet tablet with ¼ cup of tepid water and set aside.
• Pour the gallon of milk into the stockpot and add the citric acid mixture. Stir well and heat over med-low heat. Stir gently every few minutes until the milk reaches 90 degrees. Remove the milk from the heat.
• Add in the rennet mixture and stir gently for 30 seconds. Cover the milk and let the rennet do its magic for five minutes.
• After five minutes, curd should form. You can test by slipping the wooden spoon in at the edge of the pot. The curd should pull away from the side, kind of like milk gelatin. If it's still a liquid, cover the pot again and let it sit for another five minutes.
• Once your curd is set, take your knife or spatula and make slices, all the way to the bottom of the curd in a cross-hatch pattern.
• Place the pot back over the heat, set to low, and bring the curds up to 105 degrees. You want to stir them occasionally being very gentle. Try not to break up the curds.
• Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for about 5-10 minutes. Put a sieve or strainer over a bowl and using the large slotted spoon scoop out the curds and into the sieve. Gently press the curds down to squeeze out the whey. Once you've removed all of the curds to the strainer, let them drain for about 10 minutes. At this point, the curds will mostly be in one large mass. Remove the curd to a clean cutting board and cut into two or three similar-sized masses.
• While you're waiting, put the pot with the whey in it back on the stove and add the tablespoon of salt. Heat over medium heat to 180 degrees. Pour some of the hot whey into a bowl and add one of the curd blobs. Put your gloves on and get ready to stretch some cheese!
• Pick up the curd mass and check the temperature when it reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees begin to pull the cheese. Slowly pull your hands apart and let gravity do the work. Try not to tear the cheese; it should be smooth, silky and elastic. Between 3 to 5 stretches should do the trick.
• Wrap the cheese curd in on itself, forming a ball and tucking the edges up under the bottom.
• To set your cheese, you can place it in a bowl of ice water for 2-3 minutes or put it in a bowl of room-temperature salted whey for 10-15 minutes.
• Pat dry and enjoy!

HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Pour milk into pot, sprinkle with citric acid and stir well. Milk must be cold or the citric acid does not work well.
• Heat milk to 88F - 90F over medium heat. If you overheat - just let it cool back down!
• Pour dissolved rennet into the milk while stirring.
• Turn off the heat.
• Stir slowly and after a few minutes, the milk will begin to thicken. Globs of white curd will separate from the liquid (whey). If it doesn't coagulate immediately, let the milk sit for about 30 minutes.
• Once the milk has coagulated and the whey separated, turn heat to high and heat milk to 110F.
• Place a colander over another pot and pour or spoon out the curds into the colander.
• Continue to heat the whey.
• Press whey out of the curds in the colander.
• Place the curds back into the pot of whey and heat until 120 F.
• With a spoon, lift the curds out of the whey - cool a few seconds, if necessary, and begin pulling and stretching it into a rope. The cheese will break apart at this point if it is not hot enough - just put it back into the whey and let it heat further.
• After stretching it into a rope, return it back into the whey to heat back up.
• Once heated again, stretch it again. Continue this process several times until it takes on a shiny, soft and smooth appearance. It should be ready by the time the whey reaches 150F - 160F. (If the whey gets too hot, the cheese will melt into it.) As the whey heats to higher degrees be sure to protect your hands and use gloves - it is hot!
• You will know the mozzarella cheese is done when it no longer breaks and tears during the stretching process - it also becomes shiny and smooth in appearance.
• Once stretched enough, pour 4 tsp (may use more if desired) salt on the counter.
• Remove mozzarella from the whey and place it on the salt. Knead the salt into the cheese but work quickly as it must be hot to absorb the salt.
• Place the cheese back into the whey briefly until it is hot.
• Remove and roll into a log or place in the desired container.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• Use as desired - grated, sliced...