Mozzarella is probably the cheese most frequently made by home cheese makers, due, in part, to our 30 Minute Mozzarella Kit. We were the first of many companies to base a kit on the quick and easy way to make this popular cheese. We share our recipes for both the 30 minute (click here) and the traditional (click here) ways of making Mozzarella in our book Home Cheese Making and on our website.
We encourage folks to modify our recipes for their own purposes and David Jacobs from Bishop, California has done just that:
“I started by getting into smoking store-bought cheese. I was curious about making my own cheese to add to the cheeses I smoked. I ended up getting a cheese making kit and trying to make a cheddar, which horribly failed. 5 months later I tried again, turned out a good Colby. Since then, I’ve been making a lot of mozzarella, a few Colby and gouda’s.
I’m big into outdoor sports. Hiking, backpacking, camping all with fishing in the high alpine lakes. I also paraglide, either with driving to a launch spot or hike up a mountain then fly off it. I also like to bake – all kinds of different breads, cinnamon rolls, soft pretzels, bagels.”
David paragliding. He had flown off the mountain in the background and when he finally came in to land, his friend on the ground took this picture.
David’s Mozzarella
I’ve been using cheesemaking.com for recipes and buying ingredients and equipment for a little more than a year now. I’ve had mixed luck with my hard aged cheeses, but I’ve got my mozzarella making down pretty good. I’ve moved away from any one recipe for this cheese and use things from a few different methods that I’ve read up on.
The picture above was the last batch I made from 4 gallons of store-bought vitamin D whole milk. The top 3 are about 1 1/2 lbs and the bottom about 3/4 lb. They each have different additions to them: top left has roasted garlic, Italian herbs, dill. Bottom 2 are tomato and basil, artichoke hearts and roasted garlic. I didn’t get a picture, but the next day I smoked the large roasted garlic along with the first gouda I made.
I have double and tripled this recipe with no issues. I use double strength liquid rennet, so single strength will need double the amount. This recipe is different because I don’t let the curds form a large mass, so I don’t have to cut the curds. The constant stirring makes for a nice firm cheese.
Ingredients:
1 gallon store-bought whole milk
1 1/2 tsp citric acid
10-12 drops double strength rennet
~ 1/8 tsp lipase
Directions:
Sanitize all equipment being used.
Mix 1/2 cup water with 10-12 drops rennet.
Mix 1/2 cup water with 1/8 tsp lipase.
Mix 1 cup water with 1 1/2 tsp citric acid and add to cold, empty pot.
Add milk and warm to 86F, then remove from heat.
Add lipase, stir 1 minute.
Add rennet, slow gentle stirring until curds start to form. Then stir enough to keep them from matting together.
Heat to 105F, remove from heat and let rest for 15 minutes.
Transfer curds to microwave safe bowl (I use my ladle to get the bulk of them, then pour the whey through a fine strainer to get the rest).
Nuke 1 min, drain whey and work with spoon.
Nuke 35 seconds and work the curds, drain whey, repeat this step until no more whey comes out.
Add 1-1 ½ tsp salt and herbs (I started with 1 tsp, then increased until I found what I liked), finish kneading and stretching to mix salt and herbs in.
Shape then add to bowl of ice water to cool the cheese.
Pat dry and it’s ready to eat or wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge.
