Mozzarella to order is a real thing and is one of those amazing recipes that you can make in under an hour. Once you have the important additives, citric acid and rennet, it's no more expensive than the cost of milk. Serve it in your summer salads along with basil and tomatoes from your garden.
Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio Combine 1/2 gallon of non-homogenized milk with 3/4 teaspoon of citric acid in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir to make sure the citric acid is mixed into all of the milk. Blink, and you'll start to see chunks forming in the milk as it separates into curds and whey. Heat the milk until the probe thermometer reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
I used fresh non-homogenized milk for my mozzarella ball. I got it from our local farm because it wasn't available at our big box grocery store. That said, you can also use homogenized 1%, 2%, or whole milk for cheesemaking if you supplement with 1/8 teaspoon calcium chloride in 1/8 cup water at the same time as the citric acid, and add a little more rennet. as described in Step 2. Note that you'll want to avoid an "ultra-pasteurized" base milk, as milk proteins are irreversibly altered during the high-temperature pasteurization process.
Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio Mix 1/8 cup of water with 1/8 teaspoon of liquid rennet. With the thermometer in the curds and whey at 90 degrees, remove the pan from the heat, add the water/rennet solution and stir until well blended. The curds will continue to thicken as you stir the rennet. Cover the pan and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.
If you are using homogenized milk, let sit for an additional 5-10 minutes and remember that you may want to add a slightly higher concentration of rennet, such as 1/4 teaspoon mixed in 1/8 cup of water.
From:Emily Fazio Emily Fazio
Remove the lid and watch as the curds thickened and began to freeze. Use a knife or spatula to cut one-inch slices into the bottom of the pan through the cheese in both directions to enhance the surface area of the thick curds. Over medium heat, raise the temperature of the curds and whey to 105 degrees.
Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio Once the whey reaches 105 degrees, use a ladle or pour the curds and whey through a fine mesh strainer to separate the two. Separate 1/3 of the whey and set it aside (you can use it to store later, that is, if you don't eat the mozzarella in one sitting). Return the remaining 2/3 of the whey to the sauce pot and heat over medium heat until it reaches 180 degrees. Transfer the curds, once drained, to a clean container. Top with 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
Emily Fazio
Emily Fazio
Emily Fazio
Emily Fazio
From:Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio From:Emily Fazio From:Emily FazioUse a ladle to scoop the 180 degree buttermilk into the bowl where the salty curds rest. Add enough to cover the top of the curds. Wear a pair of rubber gloves (or apply a layer of 2-3 pairs if you have sensitive skin) and use the very hot whey to grab the curds. The final step in the cheese-making process is known as "pulling" or "turning" the curds (not to be confused with "kneading" or "squeezing" or "massaging"). Let the cheese do all the work! pull the thick curd out of the hot whey, it will be noticeably more like hot cheese rather than crumbled curd. Let the cheese stretch between your hands, fold it over, dip and cover with another tablespoon of hot whey, repeating this process 3-4 times. The cheese will begin to form into a shiny, elastic ball.
From:Emily Fazio Emily Fazio
Let the last cheese ball sit for 20 minutes at room temperature. dig in! If you have leftovers, cover them at the room temperature you reserved in Step 4 and store in the covered refrigerator.
