Easy Homemade Mozzarella Recipes

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.

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring a gallon of water to a boil.
• In a large bowl, break up the mozzarella curd into small pieces. Coat the curd with 2 tablespoons of salt, and set aside.
• In another large bowl, salt the second gallon of water with the remaining salt and add as much ice as it can hold.
• This is where it gets a little tricky. Carefully pour the boiling water over the salted curd. As the curds begin to melt, carefully stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute. Submerge both of your hands in the ice water for as long as you can stand it, because you're about to stretch the mozzarella in boiling hot water. The curd will have settled into the bottom of the bowl, and at this point you have to work quickly or risk over-cooking the curd.
• Dip your hands into the hot water and begin stretching the mozzarella. By stretching the cheese you insure that all the curds have completely melted. The curds will become incredibly soft and have buttery shine, and also, it smells wonderful. Form the mozzarella into tomato size balls, and then drop the mozzarella into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Work quickly, as the mozzarella will start to become rubbery the longer it sits in the hot water.
• Wrap each mozzarella ball tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• Serve the cheese with the best tomatoes you can find, really fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper.

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.

Steps:

• Dissolve the rennet in the 1/4 cup of bottled water and set aside.
• In a large pot pour one cup of filtered or bottled water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid stirring to dissolve.
• Pour in one gallon of whole milk and heat to 88° over a medium burner.
• When your thermometer reaches 88° remove the pot from the heat source and add the reserved rennet mixture, stirring for 30 seconds.
• Let the curds set for 5 to 8 minutes. At this point I will press my hand down on the curds so gently to see if there is a clear yellow whey liquid - if not let it sit for another 2 or 3 minutes.
• With a long knife that reaches the bottom of your pot start cutting the curds north to south and then east to west into one inch cubes.
• Scoop out the curds carefully and ladle into a quart sized plastic bowl which is microwave safe. Press the curds and drain off the whey.
• Microwave on high for one minute and pour off the whey.
• Quickly knead the curds into a ball with your hands (wear kitchen gloves since the curds will be increasingly hot) or a silicone spatula. Pour off the whey.
• Microwave again for 30 seconds and quickly knead with a silicone spatula, pouring off whey. It's starting to get hot at this point so don't use your hands.
• Microwave a third time for 30 seconds and quickly knead with a silicone spatula and pour off the whey.
• The cheese should be nice and shiny and quite warm and nice and stretchy so wear gloves and knead and stretch the cheese like taffy. NOTE: I make the recipe with a silicone spatula and not my hands. I stretch and knead against the side of the bowl with excellent results and no scalded fingers. Add cheese salt at this point if you want. Separate into smaller balls if desired.
• Drop the ball into ice water to cool.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and eat within 24 hours. For best taste eat the same day.
• Some folks like to make a brine to keep the cheese balls in but I think it is best stored in plastic wrap and made the same day you want to eat it.
• When you become proficient you can add in yummy things at the same time you salt; try sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, what suits you. You can roll prosciutto into it and slice it for a party.
• Save your whey for Recipe #427121! It will only add a few minutes to your kitchen time!

Steps:

• Pour the milk into a large deep pan and set over a low heat until it reaches 38C on a thermometer. Remove from the heat, add the yogurt, mix well, then cover with a lid and leave for 25 mins.
• Add the rennet, stirring very gently, then cover again and leave for another 15-20 mins.
• Remove the lid and check if the curds have coagulated and separated from the whey. Use a large whisk or a knife to break up the curds very gently to create pieces around the size of a hazelnut.
• Heat a larger pan half-full with water over a gentle heat to 40C. Put the pan containing the curds into the larger pan to create a bain-marie and check the water temperature frequently to ensure it stays at around 40C. Top up the water from time to time if needed.
• After 2 hrs 30 mins, remove the curds from the pan using a slotted spoon and leave to drain in a colander for about 15 mins. Cut the curds into small pieces and put in a large heatproof bowl.
• Empty the pan of water, then refill and heat to 85C. Pour the hot water over the curds and mix with a wooden spoon for 30-40 seconds. Strain off almost all the water and again, add water at 85C to cover.
• Fold and stretch the curd in the water using the wooden spoon. Keep working until the curds start to become elastic. Now work the curds by folding and stretching by hand (the water will be hot so wear rubber gloves) until they become smooth and elastic.
• Take smaller pieces of the curd and shape into balls. Immediately put in a tub of cold water and chill in the fridge. Can be kept in water, covered, and chilled for up to a week.