How to Make Mozzarella Cheese
ByWant to know what makes me excited (besides little plastic drawers)? The fact that with only two gallons of milk…I can squeeze out THREE great dairy products. With the two gallons of raw milk you see pictured below, I was able to make three eight ounce balls of mozzarella cheese…a half pound of butter…and about a cup of ricotta cheese.
Talk about milking something for all it’s worth! (Whoa…very cheesy joke.) (Which I feel is appropriate because this post is about making…cheese. Cheesy-ness abounds.) Anyway…
Even if you don’t think you’ll ever make your own mozzarella cheese…you may still have fun reading about how it’s made!
To make Mozzarella Cheese you will need:
- Two gallons of milk (I use raw, organic) (As far as I understand, you can use pasteurized and homogenized milk too…although you won’t get the butter and ricotta out of it since the cream doesn’t rise to the top.)
- 2 teaspoons citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup cultured buttermilk
- 30 drops vegetable rennet mixed with 1/4 cup water (I get my rennet from Azure Standard or Wilderness Family Naturals.)
- 1 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- Large stock pot
- Long knife
- Food thermometer
- Strainer
- Tea towels
Okay, ready to make cheese? You’ll need to block out about two and a half to three hours of time…but most of that time is wait time, not work time!
First, if you’re using raw milk…skim off the cream. You know I’m usually big on leaving in the fat…but the fat separates itself out of the cheese while you’re making it for some reason. So, skim it off, put it into another jar and save it for making butter!
Pour the milk into a large pot (I use my big stock pot). Stir in the buttermilk and citric acid mixed with water. Heat to 91 degrees. Remove from heat, put the lid on and let it sit for one hour.
Add the rennet mixed with water to the milk. Allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes, or until the milk solidifies slightly and it able to be “sliced”.
Use a long knife to “cut the curd” into one inch squares.
Let the curd sit about five minutes.
Heat the curd to 91 degrees. Remove from heat, place the lid on the pot and allow it to sit for one hour. After one hour, the curd and the whey should have separated.
Place a strainer into another large pot and cover it with a tea towel.
Pour the curds into the strainer/tea towel…straining out as much whey as you can. Save the whey!!
Rig up something fancy like this to hang your curds, making sure you have a bowl underneath to catch more whey that will drip out. I usually leave mine overnight as it takes several hours for all of the whey to be removed.
In the morning…remove the tea towel. Wow, a big hunk of cheese! Now…the fun part begins!
In your large pot…heat one gallon of water mixed with 1/2 cup salt. (Hint: I use Redmonds Real Sea Salt and it can be too chunky if I don’t try to dissolve some of it first. Therefore, I put my water and salt into a jar and shake it well, then pour it into the pot. The residue from the salt remains in the jar, leaving only salty water…without chunks!
Heat the salt water to 170 degrees. Meanwhile…
Cut the cheese (oh, my boys think it’s SO FUNNY when I say that…) into 1-2 inch squares.
Once your water reaches 170 degrees, remove it from the heat and dump in your cheese. Kind of stir it around for a minute or two until the cheese softens and begins sticking together.
Use a big wooden spoon to catch the cheese from the water. It should start sticking together and forming a blob on your spoon. Stretch the cheese. This part is SO COOL!! Dip it down into the hot water every once in a while to reheat the cheese so that it will continue to stretch, but try not to keep it in the water too long. Keep on stretching and dipping the cheese until it is shiny. This stretching process will take about 8 minutes. (Every once in a while I get a batch of cheese that just won’t stretch. It’s a bummer. The cheese still tastes fine…it just doesn’t look as pretty, shred as well, or melt as nicely. We eat it anyway!)
After you’ve stretched your cheese and it has formed a big long shiny wad, take it out and put it onto a plate.
I divide my cheese into three blobs. Squeeze out the excess water and shape the cheese into nice balls.
Place the balls into a bowl of cold water. This will take out the heat and help them hold their shape.
Tada!!! Mozzarella Cheese!
I’ll take time during my next two Frugal Friday posts to share how I make butter with the leftover cream…and ricotta cheese with the leftover whey!
So…have you ever made cheese before? Do you think this process looks like something you could do? You wanna come over and make cheese with me some time? (Then we can say “cut the cheese” together and laugh like we’re really funny.)
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Thanks for sharing this Laura! I found a way to make your own vegetable rennet that is free to nearly free if you have access to stinging nettles. (I have TONS right in my back yard!) http://www.ehow.com/how_6787149_homemade-vegetable-rennet.html Can’t wait to try it! :)
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Laura Reply:
October 11th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
This is so cool…thank you!
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Hi.. Just wondering if I want to be able to use the whey for making Ricotta afterwards, can I use raw milk that is not full-fat? The reason I ask is that I can buy raw milk from the local Sprouts Market that is either whole milk, cream or skim milk.. I’m assuming if I go with skim milk then butter is out of the question, but is Ricotta? If it helps, the milk is produced by http://www.organicpastures.com/
P.S. My wife is lactose intolerant and has painful bouts after eating cheese and milk products.. I ran across this while searching for something else and thought it might be of interest in favor of ditching pasteurized milk products :
http://rayshealth.com/milk-lactose-pus-steroids-facts/
Now I just need to find out about making my own cheddar since you’ve covered most other dairy products we use (sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese, etc)
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Laura Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
When I make ricotta from the whey leftover from making mozzarella, it is with skim milk. I always make mozzarella from milk that has the cream skimmed off.
Yeah, I wish I knew how to make cheddar too!
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Rick F. Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Thanks for the reply.. Perhaps I’ll try my hand at Cheddar.. A quick
search turned up this site among others :
http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/cheese-making/making-cheddar-cheese-home.php
Definitely a longer term process as it may take >6 months for a nice
sharp cheddar!
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Rebecca Reply:
March 23rd, 2012 at 10:05 am
I buy raw milk sharp white cheddar cheese at the grocery store made by Organic Valley. It is the only cheese that I really use since it is made with raw milk. Just a suggestion since it would be easier and quicker than making your own :)
Hi! I was wondering how long the mozzarella would keep in the fridge once it is made? Also, do you know if you can freeze it? Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
November 20th, 2010 at 8:57 am
It should keep for about two weeks. I’ve not tried freezing it so while I assume it should freeze just fine, I don’t know first hand.
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mary Reply:
February 27th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I see this is an older post, you may have already tried it, but yes it feezes great. We vacuum pack ours…but it really never lasts long enough to get it in the freezer at my house.
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can you substitute lemon juice for citric acid?
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Laura Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Yes, I’ve never done it this way myself, but I don’t know why you couldn’t!
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Rich Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Adding citrus juice, lemon juice makes roseoto. Cheese I believe, it’s what they put in lasagna and it will not form a ball or melt of stretch, the best way to make this cheese is with viniger
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I just read your blog post and laughed my tail off because today I just made Mozzarella for the first time, (this was before ever reading your post) with 2 gallons of raw milk and I got exactly the same yield as you: 3 medium balls o mozz, 4 cups of cream to make butter later tonight and 8 oz of ricotta…so you’re not the only one “milking it for what it’s worth” :-)
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I am wondering about the use of the buttermilk. First I made mozzarella with thermophilic culture, not citric acid, and while it smelled really good, it did not make a blob of cheese. So next I made it from raw milk with citric acid, and while it made a nice stretchy cheese, it doesn’t have much flavor. I was considering a recipe using the citric acid and thermophilic culture, but then I saw yours with buttermilk. Now I think that I will have to try your recipe to see what the flavor is like.
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Laura, I tried this recipe last fall, and had the no-stretch problem. Just now, debating enzymes and dairy and digestion with a friend, I ran across this article, which is a little over my head, but I saw this:
“Mozzarella cheese made from late lactation milk, which contains higher amounts of plasmin, has inferior stretchability and melting ability. ”
Well, that makes sense, as the cow was dried up in November and will calve this month! I had ‘late-lactation’ mozzarella! ha!
http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/dairynet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=216
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Hello,
Just a little FYI. We are in the process of making the mozzarella cheese and are having a hard time finding the citric acid. I called all our local health food stores and they all said they don’t have it. Luckily we happen to know someone who knows their way around the health food stores. She told us you have to ask for the pill people (the ones in charge of vitamins and supplements). Sure enough, we called back and two of the stores that said they don’t have it, do. I always like to share new pertinent information when I learn it. Happy mozzarella making.
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Dawn Reply:
January 15th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I found citric acid at the cake makers specialty store. I used it to make homemade gum for my daughter’s science fair project. Good luck! I am loving making cheese!!!
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Tammy Beaman Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 9:46 am
I buy citric acid at the wine/beer making store. I live around
Atlanta and it is a common hobby to homebrew beer and wine so it’s
not hard to find one. Some of them even carry cheese supplies
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Katie Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 8:59 am
You can buy Vitamin C crystals in the vitamin section at most stores. If you look at the ingredient list it says “citric acid granules”.
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Theresa Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
You can find the citric acid in canning supplies
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Dumb question, will the cheese balls be to soft to grate? Like to use for pizza. Thanks I LOVE your site!
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Jason Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Alicia. I’ve not made it yet, but in my. Hunt I found someone who says fresh it is stretchy and soft. Refridgerate it and it becomes harder and can be grated.
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Laura Reply:
February 6th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
It should grate just fine. :)
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ughhh. i couldn’t get all the cream skimmed off and i added the rennet before i let it sit for an or hour, have i totally failed or can it be saved?
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Laura Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:03 pm
It’s probably still okay! Just pick up where you left off and keep at it!
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Hi Laura. Thanks so much for your mozzarella cheese making instructions. We also get raw milk and so far I’ve made yogurt and ice cream (our special treat :-). I currently happen to have some very “old” milk (about 2 months old) in my refrigerator that I don’t want to throw out. I’ve been searching the Internet looking for something to do with it. Of course it has soured and the cream has separated and I think has solidified (going to be interesting trying to get it out of the glass bottles, but maybe I’ll be heating it which will help??). Do you know if I can make cheese or anything with this (e.g., cultured butter or sour cream with the cream, ??? with the whey)?? Any thoughts or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. All the best! Kristin
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Kristin Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Still not quite sure what I’m going to do with my “old” milk, but I did find this: http://recipecircus.com/recipes/sheberry/Dairy/uses_for_sour_milk.html
Sincerely, Kristin
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Laura Reply:
February 20th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I’m thinking sour cream with the cream…and I THINK the skimmed milk will still make mozzarella…but not sure since I’ve never used old milk for this. Is the milk not stinky? I know raw milk lasts longer than milk from the store, but in my experience, milk that old has gone sour…too sour to drink or cook with at this point.
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Laura:
I get two gallons of raw milk a week and have tried your mozz recipe and make butter da da dah and now I have gallons of whey which I have been making delicious smoothies. However I do watch my weight and cannot find a source to find out the caloric count of whey that comes from mozz then ricotta cheese. Calorie King doesn’t show that it is from a natural source or unsweetened. Would you know where to look? Martha
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Laura Reply:
March 1st, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Does this help? http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/100/1112/Food.aspx
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Can you use nonfat powdered dry milk to make the mozzarella???
We only have homogenized milk around here, so I buy non-homogenized (Organic Valley) nonfat drty milk.
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Laura Reply:
March 1st, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Oh boy…I don’t know if it would work or not with dry milk. I wish I knew how to answer. I’ve never tried it with dry milk before!
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Rich Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 11:35 pm
You must add cream to powdered milk to make it work. Just use home milk it works well if I cannot find whole of raw milk,make sure if I use organic milk that it ain’t super pasteurized also it won’t work for ya
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Wow, it is great to find this! thanks Laura. I bought our first hand milking dairy cow last year, and I practiced with easy butter, a few cream uses etc. I cant wait until she calves next week, so that I can get back to my new favorite hobby. I am also adding two dairy goats to my dairy habit- tat. lol Your directions look so easy. if you have simple instructions for other dairy goodies, I would love to see them
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Laura Reply:
March 1st, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Here is the page listing all of the links to the dairy products I love to make!
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/recipes-2/dairy
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Anyone who is interested in watching a video of this process, I posted one on YouTube. I used this recipe to make it! Thanks Laura! Love your site. My wife using it all the time.
Here’s the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbaTPCP59Cw&feature=player_embedded
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Sandy from MN Reply:
March 25th, 2011 at 9:34 am
Hey Jason, Nice video and adorable kids. Looking forward to trying Laura’s recipe, you made it look easy. :)
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Doug Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
I noticed you used a lot more water mixture (citric acid, buttermilk), that
than the heavenly homemakers version (1/4 cup dissolved citric acid;
cup buttermilk, and that’s for 2 gals. milk. You only used one gal.
milk.
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Jason Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
In looking over the recipe above, you are right. I must have made a mistake in reading because it lists “1 Gallon of Water” and “2 teaspoons of Citric Acid”. I thought they went together. Opps. As you saw in the video, it still seemed to work, but I’m not going to use so much water next time.
The reason for the 1 gallon of milk – I “halfed” the recipe. I don’t have a big enough pot for 2 gallons of milk. So all the measurements in the video were cut in half. HOWEVER, I did not half the rennet drops because Laura says to use 30 drops of vegetable rennet and in reading online, I learned that vegetable rennet is double the strength of animal rennet. So I figured 30 drops of vegetable rennet = 60 drops of animal rennet and thus 30 would be half (someone correct me if I’m wrong).
It’s interesting reading some of the comments lately about the cheese not stretching. I’ve tried to make cheese 5 times now. The first 3 times worked perfectly (as in the video), but the last 2 have not stretched for me either. Laura did say above that once in a while she gets a batch that doesn’t stretch too, so I’m hoping that 3 of 5 is ok and we’ll see what happens with batch #6 next week.
Something that “might” have to do with the cheese not stretching is… On my last batch (that didn’t stretch), I did the first step out of order because I was rushing. I heated the milk up to 91 degrees, THEN added the Citric Acid. I think that was a mistake because the milk started to look like cottage cheese immediately and that had not happened before. I still got cheese out of it, but it wasn’t pretty. I think the key is to add the Citric Acid while the milk is cold, then warm it up slowly to 91.
Does that help? Someone let me know if I’m off.
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I am having the worst time with homemade mozzarella. I bought a kit, and the recipe is much simpler than this, but I have been following it (and a couple others) to a T and every single time, my mozzarella won’t stretch. It looks beautiful, like I’m right on track, until you reheat it to start the stretching, and then it suddenly separates and looks like cottage cheese and there’s no saving it. I want to try your recipe but I am very discouraged – do you know what could cause it to be that way?
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Jason Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 8:25 am
What kind of milk are you using?
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Laura Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:22 am
Making cheese is pretty tough. Even though I’ve made it many times, it doesn’t always work for me everytime either. :( Try not to be discouraged!! It’s not an easy thing to make!
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Amy Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I had this same thing happen to me! Beautiful looking mozzarella,
and then when I added it to the hot water it disintegrated before my
eyes! I was using “Farmer’s All Natural Milk” Whole milk from Sprouts-
it doesn’t list whether it was pasteurized or not but an employee told
me it wasn’t. What did we do wrong?
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I guess we’re failures at mozzarella making. Spent last night making they mozzarella, hanged overnight. Tried to stretch, first batch disappeared into the water, second batch just wouldn’t clump together. Ricotta was a failure too. We tried the 30 min. mozzarella kit, we failed at that too. :( At least we’re keeping the farmer happy.
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Laura Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:23 am
Bummer…yeah, this mozzarella business isn’t as simple as making many other things in the kitchen. Even though I’ve made this many times, sometimes mine won’t stretch either…or it all falls apart in the water. :(
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Thank you for posting a mozz recipe that does not require a microwave! Even though I see in the photos that you do have one. I have made mozz before with the 30 minute kit from Ricki the cheese lady with limited success. It made a good tasting cheese but the wrong texture, very solid, not with the strands you can peel apart like mozzarella should have. So next time I will try it your way.
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Where do you find the right milk for this? I have tried it a couple times with store bought whole milk and I have made cottage cheese both times!!
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Krisha Reply:
April 20th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
I have been doing alot of reading on cheesemaking and I’m no expert by any means – but I have read/heard the if the milk is Ultra Pasturized, it won’t work. There are some gently pasturized milks out there. I’m going to try with that before investing in Raw Milk.
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Jason Reply:
April 20th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
I used Raw Milk on the video I made. I had not tried Pasteurized milk, but I would be very surprised if you got cheese out of it. They really mess the milk up and there is zero benefit to drinking Ultra Pasteurized milk. See: http://www.realmilk.com for more info. Laura also uses Raw Milk.
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Does anybody know if I can use kefir in place of the cultured buttermilk?
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Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers Reply:
May 11th, 2011 at 7:03 am
I think this should work just fine.
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Or cultured/acid whey?
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can I use animal rennet in place of vegetable??
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Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers Reply:
May 11th, 2011 at 7:03 am
Yes, I would imagine so.
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Just bought a kit to make mozarella and ricotta and it is much quicker. After you heat the milk (I also use raw) to 90 degrees you add the rennet, let it sit up for 10 minutes or so undisturbed, then cut it with a long knife. Stir for 2 to 5 minutes slowly, drain off the whey and put the curds in a colander to remove most of the whey. Then you put the colander in a pot of water that has been heated to 185 and continue to flip it gently, until heated to 135. The stretching begins and then you form the way you want to, adding salt and any other seasoning at that point. I found that you can put it back in the hot water to reshape. Then 5 minutes in water that is nice and cold and 10 minutes in ice water. My kit came with rennet tabs that you quarter.
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Laura.I have read your page its good to know how to make mazzarella at home.but for me its very hard to find kefer.so I can buy regular butter at the store?
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Laura Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 8:42 am
Yes, that will be fine.
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Do you know if there’s a way to make it without heating it to 190 degrees? Doesn’t that pasteurize the cheese? Thanks Laura, I love your site!
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Laura Reply:
July 9th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
When making the cheese, you only heat it to 91 degrees, which keeps it raw. Then for the stretching part, you heat the water to 170, but the cheese is only in the water for a very short time to kind of melt it down. Plus, the water begins to cool imediately after you pull it off the heat. It is my understanding that this process keeps the cheese raw.
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Thanks so much for the great recipe! I too had the “my cheese falls apart at the last step” problem. I decided in a last ditch effort to save the cheese to strain it through my tea cloth (t-shirt) one more time. After scraping the cheese out of the tea cloth (like the ricotta recipe), I had a really delicious, spreadable cheese that was awesome in lasagna and as a dip for chips. When all else fails, strain it again!
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After two failed attempts at this recipe, I decided to go online to comment and realized that your recipe uses vegetable rennet and I have animal based. Do you know what the difference in amounts of rennet would be using the animal based rennet? The first batch wouldn’t stretch at all and the second stretched only slightly, but after sitting in a container overnight it has hardened and is only fit for doggie treats! It appears that if you are using animal based rennet the amount needed is far less than 30 drops. Please reply.
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Laura Reply:
July 15th, 2011 at 10:29 am
I’m sorry that I don’t know the difference. I’ve only used vegetable rennet and am unfamiliar with animal rennet.
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A friend shared this site with me & I can’t wait to try it. I’ll have to locate the Rennet stuff before i can. But i have goats, so i get fresh raw milk every day :) And have a cream/milk separator so it’ll make separation of the cream easier (sort of as its a hand cranked machine LOL)I have made butter & ice cream, haven’t tried yogurt yet. But i am wanting to try as much stuff as i can to show that its worth while & cost affective to raise goats for milk (would prefer a cow though), but i have saved most of the other links listed & look forward to checking them out too.
Thanks :)
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My husband and I have always wondered how to make cheese. Thank you! We can’t wait to try it!
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Hi I came across this site while trying to figure out what i can do differently in making mozz! last year was my first year making mozz on a regular basis and never had any trouble with it! I am using the same ingredients this year and it is just not stretching! It is a new batch of citric acid, could that be it? A couple of my failed attempts made sense….then i thought i had the answer when i realized my digital thermometer was reading higher than it was…so got a new one…so thought today it would all work…but it is not. I am using the fiasco farms recipe too. with double strength veggie rennet, which is what i have used since i started making cheese 5 years ago (3 goats and they only had their babies in may so not late lactation)….everything looks great till i go to put it in the 170 degree water and it does not stretch! what could it be??? thanks!!
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Laura Reply:
August 21st, 2011 at 6:36 am
I wish I knew so I could be of better help! Sometimes my cheese stretches and sometimes it doesn’t and I’m never sure what exactly has gone wrong. :( It always still tastes great, even if it doesn’t stretch, it just doesn’t melt well if it hasn’t stretched.
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I just got through making this mozzarella and I had the “no stretch” problem. I used raw milk and took as much of the cream off the top that I could. I got uninterrupted mid process yesterday afternoon and had to put the draining curds in the fridge (hanging from a wooden spoon over a pot) This morning I took it out and did the cutting, dipping and stretching part. I ended up stretching it by my hands ‘cuz it just wouldn’t fall off the spoon. It is also very rubbery; squeaks against the teeth. Any comments you can make on my mozzarella attempt will be appreciated.
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Laura Reply:
August 21st, 2011 at 6:33 am
Putting it in the fridge may have hurt the process a little bit, but otherwise, sometimes mine just doesn’t stretch either and I never know exactly why. Cheese making is certainly tricky!
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Renee Reply:
May 17th, 2012 at 7:45 am
sounds like you made cheese curds! We love it when they squeak. That means they’re fresh!
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I tried melting my mozzarella on a slice of tomato under the broiler and it didn’t melt; just got harder and rubberier. What kinds of things can go wrong and where can I make adjustments?
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Thanks! glad to know i am not the only one, but boy it is frustrating!!!
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I am going to try your recipe today, wish me luck :o) (I have never used buttermilk instead of an LH culture…hmmmm)Of course, with goats’ milk cant really skim much, if any, cream off the top!
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The only raw milk that I can find is homogenized. Will this still work? I’m guessing I just wouldn’t get to make butter?
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Laura Reply:
September 11th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Yes, I think that will work (I’ve not tried it myself though!).
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We made Mozzarella with your recipe last night. It worked beautifully even after we mistakenly heated up the milk to 100 degrees instead of 90. We let it cool down and continued the process.
We just bought a jersey cow a few months ago so we’ve been looking for a way to use all the milk. This is perfect.
Thanks for the great post.
Doug
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This looks great! I can’t wait to try this :) I have a question. How long does this keep and do you think it would freeze well? Great blog :)
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Laura Reply:
September 20th, 2011 at 9:30 am
This should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge. It does freeze, but does not shred well after thawing.
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I have tried three times to make mozzarella (not this recipe, but similar) and have been a complete failure all three! I finally went to a local dairy and asked the farm hands for a gallon of raw milk! I’m hoping I am just using milk that is too pasteurized and will get better results this time. I have noticed this exile calls for buttermilk, whereas the recipe I am using (and others I’ve researched) does not. Does this make a difference?
Not only have I wasted 3 gallons of milk, but the gas money I spent driving all over God’s cation looking for citric acid, rennet, and now the raw milk from the farm 30 miles away!
VERY frustrated, any advice would be appreciated!
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Laura Reply:
September 26th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
I can’t answer your question about whether or not this will work better because of the buttermilk, simply because this is the only way I’ve tried making mozzarella. I actually have very little experience, just shared the little I knew on this post. This recipe doesn’t work 100% of the time for me, but it does usually work to stretch and make great cheese. However, even when it doesn’t stretch well, the cheese is still edible, meaning I’ve never had to throw out a batch!
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There has been many people having problems with stretching the cheese. This video focuses on the stretching part from an experienced mozzarella maker.. It’s worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-y9X56ZlUU&NR=1
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do you know how much 30 drops of liquid rennet is to the tablet rennet? Would it be 1/2 tablet or 1/4?
Thanks.
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Laura Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I’m not sure, I’ve never done it with tablets before.
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Vegetable rennet is genetically modified, made from a GMO cow gene spliced into a bacteria, so “vegetarian” friendly “vegetable” rennet isn’t exactly accurate although they are allowed to say that legally, which is sad.
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Awesome tutorial, thanks so much. I’m about to make the veg rennet from stinging nettles… hopefully it works out.
As a chemist might I suggest adding units to your temperature… that should help avoid some of the confusion. oC or oF.
Thanks again.
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i am so sad. i drained the whey over night from my mozz, and it is all finished and in the fridge now, and i took a teeny bit… nasty! same with the ricotta i made with left over whey, nasty! the smell of whey alone is so gross to me, and thats all i can taste in both of my cheeses :( raw milk is expensive here and ive pretty much wasted it now. help :(
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Laura Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Bummer – I’m not sure what happened. :( Sounds like somehow it got sour, but I’m not sure why.
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Trying to make mozzarella today! Praying it works ;) Thank you for this post!
Nicole
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Tried it! Loved it! Thank you! God Bless!
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Hi everyone I also tried to make the cheese but mine does not stretch there has to be a science to this just don’t know where we are going wrong.the only thing I can say is that my rennet called for 20 min wait after dissolving and I waited for 10 but the curds set in I just ended with a squeaky cheese which looks like cottage cheese.why can’t anyone find a cheese expert!
I did not use raw milk I thought that may be the problem but when I read yr posts looks like people with raw milk also have the same problem.
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This is so much like making cydek (hrutka), an egg cheese which orthodox Christians make in different forms and flavors at easter:
-make double boiler with 2 stockpots.put a gallon of whole milk in the small pot; water in the big pot to about an inch up the side of the small pot. (i use commercial pasturized/homogenized.)
-add 1 dozen eggs and blend the whole mess with a electric hand blender till well blended. You can add a little vanilla and grated nutmeg to taste.
-heat pots until boiling, stirring constantly, then turn heat down to low (just so it doesnt spit.)
-keep stirring until it curds up and whey is well separated. (we like to call it “puud’ as in pudding.)
-Set up a large wire strainer over the sink or a bowl. line with 2 layers of cheesecloth. pour the curds in.
- draw the cheesecloth together to form a ball, squeezing as you twist the cloth tighter like a bag. CAUTION – do this by the sink with cold water running because you have to smooth the ball with your hands and you will have to douse them frequently to avoid burns!
-hang up overnight as you would mozzarella.
- unwrap and enjoy, refrigerate after using. you now have the makings for a cold cut scrambled egg sandwich, great w homemade bread and ham w a cream cheese shmear.
This makes on big ball (softball size+) or about 4 smaller ones.
Enjoy! jan
PS have the hanging strings precut saves frustration.
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Hi again finally I discovered why some people don’t get the stretching after a lot of trial and error and reading here is the answer – if the cheese is not acidic enough it won’t stretch the curds have to be at 4.8 to 5 acidity this can be achieved by adding citric acid to the milk or when you get the curds leave at room temperature for 24 hrs this is important otherwise the cheese will not stretch.
I made a batch today with citric acid left it for 2 hrs to set after adding rennet and then put some in hot water some in micro got good results with both even though I did not leave the curds for 24 hrs.if you don’t put enough citric acid in the milk you will have to leave curds over night.I put 1 and 1/4 teaspoons in 1 gallon milk
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/MOZZARELLA_JOYCES.HTML
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Jason G Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
NICE HANNA! Thank you for that helpful information! I look forward to giving that a try.
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hi
will anyone share the recipe to make Cheddar cheese?
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Hi ! Lara
Thanks dear for sharing with us it really helped me , I never thought this was so easy to make. My kids loved it asked to thank u
Bye Bye ! take care..
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