Stretch it Out! Handcrafting Fresh Mozzarella

Have you tried making Emma's simple paneer cheese recipe on a previous post? If not, you better fetch it from the archives. Well, get your A game together to try your hand at crafting a freshly stretched mozzarella. If you do this right then you will be king or queen of the world! Well, king of your own cheese kingdom, and queen of the caprese salad. (You can use up some of those crazy ripening tomatoes from your garden). You must have about a bushel of those things laying around! Put them to good use.

Mozzarella is pretty simple, although sometimes it takes a few tries to get the cheese to stretch just the way you like it. If it doesn't stretch, worse case scenario you have some delicious ricotta like cheese, that you can strain/drain in a cheese cloth then slice.


Fresh Mozzarella (water-bath method)
Yields 3/4 lb.

Ingredients

1 gallon of milk (not ultra-pasteurized-raw is best if you can get it!)
1 1/4 cup cool water (chlorine free, which can be accomplished by letting it sit out over night)
1 1/2 tsp. citric acid
1/4 rennet tablet (1/4 tsp if using liquid rennet)
1 tsp cheese salt (optional)

Equipment

1 gallon stainless steel pot or any non-aluminum or non-cast iron pot
dairy thermometer
colander
slotted spoon
long knife
rubber gloves (optional)

Directions

1. Dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet into 1/4 cup of cool, chlorine-free water. Stir and set aside. Wrap the remaining pieces in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.
2. Mix 1 1/2 tsp citric acid with into 1 cup cool water until dissolved. Pour into your pot.
3. Pour 1 gallon of milk into your pot and stir vigorously mixing the solution & milk.
4. Heat milk to 90 degrees F while stirring slowly
5. Remove the pot from the burner and slowly stir in the rennet & water solution in an up and down motion for approximately 30 seconds.
6. Cover the pot and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes.
7. Check the curd. It should look like custard, with a clear separation between the curd and the whey. If the curd is too soft or the whey is milky, let set for a few more minutes. If your milk did not curd at all, you may have picked the wrong milk!
8. Cut the curd w/ a knife that reaches to the bottom of the pot. Making 1/2 incisions vertically and across.
9. Place the pot back on the stove and heat to 110 degrees F while slowly moving the curds around with your spoon.
10. Take off the burner and continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes. More time=firmer cheese.
11. Pour off the floating whey (I save mine, recipes to follow)
12. Ladle your curds into a colander. Fold the curds gently as you drain off the whey.
13. Repeat several times until the curds becomes a little denser and a bit less moist.
14. Fill a pot or bowl with hot water or whey (175-185 degrees F). Place the curds in it. Put on your rubber gloves.
15. Fold the curd under the hot liquid several times until it starts to become elastic and stretches.
16. Remove the curds from the liquid and stretch. If it does not stretch like taffy, return to the hot liquid. The curd must be at 135 degrees F to stretch properly.
17. Add your salt while stretching. (1 tsp or less) and or herbs and work into the cheese. Stretch until smooth and shiny. Note that the more you work the cheese, the firmer it will be.

The cheese will conform to the shape of whatever container you place it in, or saran wrap it. You can even freeze it. It will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

**As far as the whey goes--I use this in bread making, or I put a little in my dog's food and he loves it. Whey has milky flavor, and many purposes, so don't pour it down the drain! There are many resources online for recipes with whey.

For diagrams, additional information, recipes, whey recipes and the microwave method please see http://www.cheesemaking.com/