You will need:

1 gallon of milk (Not Ultra-Pasteurized)

1 packet of thermophilic culture (C201 if you buy from cheesemaking.com)

Rennet 1/2 tsp or 2.5 ml liquid rennet (single strength) or 1/2 rennet tablet dilute in 1/4 C water

A good thermometer

A knife to cut the curds, and a spoon or ladle to stir the curds with.

A colander to drain curd

A sturdy bowl or pot for heating curd

Rubber gloves for stretching curd (to save your hands from the hot curds and water).

A wooden spoon

Another pot for heating water. This does not need to be stainless steel.

As much salt as you would like in your cheese.

Normally I like about 1 tsp but it is not essential to the process as in other cheeses and Yes, you can make this salt free.

Optional:  1/2 tsp of citric acid diluted in 1/4 cup of chlorine free water

Everything needs to be clean and sanitized.

 

Step 1: Acidifying and heating the milk:

Step 1 A. Optional.  You may want to help ensure your milk properly acidifies by using a small amount of citric acid in this step.  I have found this can help your batches be more consistent in forming into mozzarella in the final step.  If you are using raw milk, I would suggest doing your first batch without this optional step.  If your batch is successful, you won't need this optional step.  If you are using pasteurized milk or your batches are failing, incorporate this optional step into your process.

 

Slowly heat milk to 86F.  Briskly stir in citric acid mixture (about 30 seconds to 1 minute).  Once incorporated, continue to slowly stir milk while it heats.

 

Step 1B.   Continue heating the milk to 100F. You do this by placing the milk in a pot on the stove, heating the milk slowly and stirring it well as it heats

 

Once the milk is at this target temperature, sprinkle the powder over the surface of the milk and then allow about 2 minutes for the powder to re-hydrate before briskly stirring it.

 

Run facet on hot until water reaches max temperature, place pot (covered) in sink and fill sink until1/2 way up the outside of pot.  Let pot sit in hot water for 60 minutes.

 

 

Step 2: Coagulation with rennet:

 

Drain water in sink. If using non-homogenized milk or raw milk, do a brisk quick stir and then "quiet" milk.

 

Dissolve rennet in 1/4 cup of filtered water, add to milk and stir slowly top to bottom for about 30 seconds.

 

Cover pot and place in sink.  Refill sink 1/2 way up pot with hottest tap water to keep it warm during this step (it cannot be heated on a stove top because of the curd formation).  Let it sit UNDISTURBED for 45-60 minutes.

 

Step 3: Cutting curds and releasing the whey:

 

Drain water from sink. 

 

Cut curd at 1 inch intervals and then make the same cut spacing at right angles to the first cut. Allow this to rest 5 minutes then cut the rest of the curd into walnut or hazelnut sized pieces (1" - 1/2" ). The smaller the pieces the more whey will be released and the drier the cheese.  Do a brief stir (push) 

 

Cover pot, put in sink, and refill sink with hot tap water 1/2 way up pot.  Let pot sit for 60 minutes and at every 15-20 minute interval, stir the curds.  At 30 minutes, add some hot water from a kettle to water bath in sink to keep water warm. For a drier cheese, a more frequent-constant stir will cause more whey to be released.

 

 

After an hour, drain sink.  Pour out whey and place curd into a colander. The whey is allowed to run off and may be collected for other uses. This whey is sweet enough to make into Ricotta since the acid has not been fully produced yet.

 

Step 4: Ripening the curds:

 

At this point it is essential to keep the curds warm because the bacteria is now producing the acid that is so important for a good stretching Mozzarella. The easiest way is to fill your pot 1/3 full of hot tap water, place colander on top of pot (but curd may not touch water) and put pot lid over colander.  Put pot in sink and fill sink 1/4th way up pot with hot tap water. Allow to sit undisturbed for 2 hours.

 

After 2 hours, cut a small piece of curd from the large curd mass and place it in a cup of the hot water tempered to about 180F. Allow this to sit for a few minutes and remove from the hot water. If it stretches, then you are ready for the final hot water stretching phase. If not, continue the warm rest for another 15-20 minutes and repeat the test until you see a good stretch. The stretch should be about 2-3 times the original length of the sample without breaking.

 

Once the curds show that they are stretching, the curd mass is placed on a cutting board and chopped into 1/2-1" cubes. At this point, you may freeze the curd if you are not immediately going to stretch it.

 

 

Step 5: The stretch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where we all get to be kids again! Have fun with it but not too much.

 

Place cut curd into a colander and place colander into a bowl or pot (the colander must sit on the bottom of the bowl or pot). Heat 12-16 cups of water to 185F.

 

Add hot water to bowl by pouring at the edge of the curds (not directly on them) until water completely covers curd.  Use the wooden spoon to gently move the curd around for heating. Gradually they will begin losing their shape and melding (not melting) into a smooth mass. If this is not happening after 3-5 minutes add another 2 -3 cups of hot water until you see the curd mass forming into a stretching mass.

 

With the wooden spoon you can begin the stretch by lifting this curd mass and allowing it to stretch from its own weight. If the curd mass begins to cool and the stretch become less, add more hot water. After doing this a few times and the curd begins to look like taffy, you can lift the curds while turning the spoon and winding into a smooth mass.

At this point you can dump the water and give the stretching curd a few of long pulls, folding it back on itself and the finally rolling it all into a ball. Be careful to not get too carried away with this because it is a lot of fun but you could dry out the cheese excessively if overdone.

 

During this stretch, add the salt as per your preferences or any other additions to your Mozzarella.

 

For the final form, hold the warm Mozzarella with thumb and forefinger of one hand using the other hand from underneath 

to push the curd up inside itself. Continue working the curd in this manner until the ball of cheese becomes smooth and shiny.

 

 

Chilling and finishing:

 

Now it is just about finished.  Drop the curd into a small draining mold to hold the shape and place the form and cheese into a very cold pot of water to chill and hold its shape. An hour or so of this and it is ready to be eaten or wrapped in a breathable Saran Wrap and kept in the fridge.

 

For those who really love Mozzarella, you can make a huge batch of the curd mass, cut it into single use (1 lb) portions and freeze it. When ready for more fresh Mozzarella, just place the frozen portion in the fridge to thaw overnight and the next day heat up the water for stretching and Voila .. Fresh Mozzarella.

 

You should know that most of those shops that sell the fresh Mozzarella do exactly that. They buy the frozen curds in bulk then thaw and heat for the finished fresh Mozzarella every day.