30 Minute Mozzarella Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Gallons of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
- 1.5 tsp Citric Acid
- 1/4 Rennet Tablet or 1/4 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet
- 1 tsp Cheese Salt (adjust to taste)
Equipment
- Good Thermometer
- Knife to Cut Curds
- Spoon or Ladle to Stir Curds
- Large Colander
- Large Bowl
- Instructions
- 30 Minute Mozzarella Info
- Reviews
- Q & A
Choosing the Right Milk
- Make sure the milk you use is not ultra pasteurized.
- You can use homogenized or non-homogenized milk.
- Farm fresh milk is a great option if you can find it locally.
- Low fat milk will work, but the cheese will be drier and less flavorful.
-
Prepare Work Area
Do not prepare any other food while you are making cheese. Put all food products away.
Move all sponges, cloths and dirty towels away from your work surface, wipe your sink and stove with soap and water. Finally use your antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all surfaces.
-
Prepare Rennet
Crush 1/4 tablet of rennet and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cool non-chlorinated water, or add 1/4 tsp single strength liquid rennet to the water. Set your rennet mixture aside to use later.
-
Mix Citric Acid & Milk
Add 1 1/2 tsp. of citric acid to 1 cup cool water, pour this into your pot.
Now, pour cold milk into your pot quickly, to mix well with the citric acid. This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later.
-
Heat Milk
Heat the milk slowly to 90°F. As you approach 90°F, you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temp.
Note: If you're having problems with milk forming a proper curd, you may need to increase this temp to 95°F or even 100F.
-
Add Rennet
At 90°F, remove the pot from the burner and slowly add your rennet (which you prepared in step one) to the milk. Stir in a top to bottom motion for approx. 30 seconds, then stop.
Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.
Check the curd after 5 minutes, it should look like custard, with a clear separation between the curds and whey. If the curd is too soft or the whey is milky, let it set longer, up to 30 more minutes.
-
Cut & Cook Curd
Cut the curds into a 1" checkerboard pattern.
Place the pot back on the stove and heat to 105°F while slowly stirring the curds with your ladle (if you will be stretching the curds in a hot water bath, rather than using a microwave, heat to 110°F in this step).
Take the pot off the burner and continue stirring slowly for 2-5 minutes. (More time will make a firmer cheese)
-
Transfer & Drain Curd
With a slotted spoon, scoop curds into a colander or microwave safe bowl (if the curd is too soft at this point, let it sit for another minute or so).
Once transferred, press the curd gently with your hand, pouring off as much whey as possible. If desired, you can reserve the whey to use later in baking or as a soup stock.
-
Heat Curd & Remove Whey
If in a colander, transfer the curds into a heat safe bowl. Next, microwave the curd for 1 minute.
If desired, add 1 tsp of salt to the curds for added flavor.
You will notice more whey separation from the curd. Drain off all whey as you did before. Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch (rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point).
Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each, and repeat the kneading as in the last step to aid in more whey drain off and ensure even heating of the curds. Drain off all of the whey as you go.
-
Knead & Stretch Curd
Now the fun begins, knead quickly now as you would bread dough. Remove curd from bowl and continue kneading until it is smooth and shiny. Return it to the microwave if needed (if it begins to cool before it's ready to stretch). Add salt near the finish. At this point, if hot enough, the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch, and stretch, and stretch some more (like taffy). This is what makes it Mozzarella
We hope you have as much fun with this as we do.
-
Eat & Enjoy
Now knead your cheese back into a big ball until it is smooth and shiny
Your Mozzarella is ready as soon as it's cool enough to eat. To cool quickly place it in a bowl of ice water and refrigerate. When cold you can wrap in plastic wrap and it will last for several days, but is best when eaten fresh.
The Right Milk for Mozzarella
Our best advice to date is to buy a LOCAL milk one that has not had to have the extensive Long Haul treatment For more details on finding a milk that works for you click here.
A problem is that milk is being shipped cross country after being processed by huge processing plants. In order to do this the milk must be processed at higher temps and then held at cold temps for long periods of time while going these long distances to markets. This is especially true for our so called "organic milks" Many of the milks not labeled as UP are in fact heat and cold damaged and will not make a proper cheese curd for this Mozzarella, if your cheese is not working try our dry milk powder and cream recipe.
Not Ultra Pasteurized Milk
If you have any concerns on your milk quality or you can not form a nice curd like you see in the following recipe click here for more info on Ultra Pasteurized Milk.
This is an example of curds that are not forming properly because of Ultra Pasteurized milk. Don't worry, they will still be really yummy, they just wont turn into Mozzarella. As explained in the link above, drain these curds in butter muslin and enjoy them as they are or add some salt or herbs. This will make a great spread for crackers.
Making Mozzarella Without a Microwave
If you would like to try this recipe without a Microwave please click here.
A Few More Tips
- A substitution of reconstituted dry milk powder and cream is a great option if you can not find the right type of milk.
- Lipase can be added to the milk to provide a more robust Italian cheese flavor
- If you want a softer texture, do not let the curd set as firm and work less when draining and kneading, this will make a moister cheese.
Customer Reviews
- Reviews
- Questions
- recipe
- mozzarella
- milk
- curds
- store
- attempt
- gallon
- tempertaure
- couple
- microwave
Mmmmmmozzarella wow
I had a lot of fun making this mozzarella recipe, it's fun and not too long to go. And what about the taste, it's really good. All my friends want me to teach them how to do it. Only negative comment, it does not take 30 minutes, it took at least 1 hour and 30 minutes, just when the milk reached the right temperature it took 30 minutes and the coagulation time was 25 minutes. But compared to other cheeses it's simple and fast. Thanks for this beautiful discovery. J'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à faire cette recette de mozzarella, c'est amusant et pas trop long à faire. Et que dire du goût, c'est vraiment bon. Tous mes amis veulent que je leur enseigne comment en faire. Seul commentaire négatif, ça ne prend pas 30 minutes, ça a pris au moins 1 heure 30, juste le temps que le lait atteigne la bonne température ça a pris 30 minutes et le temps de coagulation a été de 25 minutes. Mais comparé à d'autres fromages c'est simple et rapide. Merci pour cette belle découverte.
The Cheese that never stops giving.
I made my cheese and used my homemade Basil salt to season it, it came out and tasted and looked just right. So the whey was used to make Ricotta , the remains of the whey as then used in potato soup. And just to use even more I retained some whey and made Ricotta and lemon pancakes. So one pint of milk gave me 18os mozzarella , 6oz ricotta soup and pancakes. Next week its cheddar cheese time my mind is thinking of how to make it give me even more lovely meals.
Never fails!
As a cheesemaking novice, this recipe was very easy to follow, and I have used it about eight times now. It never fails to produce a high-quality cheese. My second attempt was making a cheddar cheese, which also turned out beautifully, but took almost all day to make. Perhaps I am just new to it. LOL
First time making mozzarella and it came out awesome
I doubled the recipe, using 2 gallons of ordinary store bought milk, and it came out great. I skipped cutting the curds in step 6, as they weren't that solid, but step 9, kneading, they all came together. Looking forward to trying it with raw milk from local farms.
First Cheese With Ease
So this was my first attempt at making a harder fresh cheese. My one gallon of whole milk yielded a little less than one pound of mozzarella. Took a couple of times in the microwave to get the correct stretching tempertaure but my cheese eventually had that smooth look and it tastes great. Seems like one of the biggest challendes will be to find “good milk.” Good recipe instructions and photos.