A Cozy Kitchen » 30 Minute Mozzarella

30 Minute Mozzarella

By Adrianna, July 1, 2009

My past few posts have been pretty labor-intensive: 3 hr. Bolognese; Hand-rolled Pici Pasta—I hope you guys don’t think I’m trying to slave you to death! So this time I decided to give you a recipe that seems like it would take a super long time, but is actually totally doable. If you make this, you might be met with dinner party guests saying: “Oooolala, homemade mozzarella?! Man, you’re super cool.” They’ll think you’re a total rock star, which you are—so let’s make this recipe and have everybody thinking you’re like Jimi Hendrix on the base.

I love cheese. Come to think of it, I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t like cheese. Nothing is better than melted cheese on, well, anything; accompanied by a nice, thick red wine, or even a nice crisp rose (I don’t discriminate). Man, I’m getting pumped just talking about it.

Caroline and I love cheese so much that we wanted to learn how to make the stuff, so we headed over to Breadbar for a mozzarella class where we actually learned how to make three different types of mozzarella—each one having a different time length. I thought the 30 Minute Mozzarella was the one to share with you guys.

30 Minute Mozzarella

Recipe from Daniela Galarza at Breadbar

Print this recipe!

1/2 rennet tablet

1/4 cup cool, chlorine-free water

1 gallon milk (2%, 1% or skim)

2 teaspoons citric acid

Salt

SUPPLIES

6-8 quart stainless steel pot

candy thermometer

mesh strainer or slotted spoon

Crush the rennet into the water and stir to dissolve. Pour milk into a non-reactive pot (stainless steel is best). Place over medium heat. Sprinkle with citric acid over the milk and stir a few times. Heat milk to 88 degrees F. Milk will begin to curdle.

At 88 degrees, add the rennet solution and continue stirring slowly every few minutes until the milk reaches 105 degrees. Turn off the heat. Large curds will appear and begin to separate from the whey (the clear, greenish liquid).

With a slotted spoon or mesh strainer, scoop the curd into a large glass bowl. (If it’s still to liquid, let it set for a few more minutes). Press the curds gently with your hand and pour off as much whey as possible. Microwave curds on a high for 1 minutes, then drain off all the excess whey. With a spoon, press curds into a ball until cool.

Microwave curds on high for 1 minute, then drain off all the excess whey. With a spoon, press curds into a ball until cool. Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each, and continue to drain the whey and work cheese into a ball. In the meantime, place the whey over medium heat and let it heat to about 175 degrees.

When cheese is cool enough to touch, knead it like bread dough until smooth. When you stretch it like taffy, it is done. You can sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons into the cheese while kneading and stretching it. The cheese will become stretchy, smooth and shiny. If it is difficult to stretch and breaks easily, dip it into the hot whey for a few seconds to make it warm and pliable. Then pick it up again and stretch it into a long rope. Fold over and stretch again. Dip in hot whey as needed to make the cheese pliable.

When the cheese is smooth and shiny (this takes a few minutes), it is ready to eat. Shape it into a long or golf-size balls, then store in a brine of 2 teaspoons salt and 1 cup water.