How to: Make Homemade Fresh Mozzarella in 30 Minutes

makecheeseinc in How To

10/25/11

[updated: 1/5/21]

This article may contain affiliate links, learn more.

Aged cheeses are the products of artisans – years of tradition, techniques and cultures passed down through generations, carefully crafted environments that all the milk to become all it can.

Fresh cheeses, on the other hand, are an entirely different story. They’re created from fresh milk, acid, rennet, and salt, and can be produced easily at home. They’ll likely be tastier than supermarket brands, probably less expensive, and certainly way more fun.

A few days ago, ManMade showed you how to create your own fresh curded cheese at home (queso fresco, paneer, feta), and today, Ella from Make Cheese demonstrates an easy way for fresh, handcrafted and handstretched mozzarella cheese.

Mozzarella in 5 Steps:

Stretching your own curd can be described as “ridiculously fun.”

(FYI – this picture wasn’t taken on a saturday night. Why do you ask?)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

Rennet (1 tablet)
1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid
milk (any kind except ultra pasteurized),
salt (just a dash),
1 cup of non-chlorinated water

Equipment: You will findeverything you need in your own kitchen however, you may need to get yourself a thermometer that reads from 60F to 200F.

Step 1 – Dilute 1 ½ tsp of citric acid into half a cup of water (non-chlorinated water). Add solution to pot containing 1 gallon of milk. Stir and heat milk solution to 90F.

If the milk curdles a little don’t fret. It’s normal.

Step 2 – Dilute ¼ tablet of rennet into ¼ cup of water (non-chlorinated water). Add rennet solution to milk. Stir for no more then 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Let your milk sit for 5 minutes to 10 minutes. Check to see if a knife can cut into the curd cleanly without the curd sticking to it.

It will look like tofu.

Step 3 – Cut the cheese!;) With a long knife cut a checkerboard pattern into the curd mass. Cut all the way to the bottom of the pot. Slowly, heat the curd cubes to 105F. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Scoop your cubed curds out into a colander. Your curds won’t hold their shape entirely so don’t worry. Cut the curd mass into 3 sections.

Great work! You will now have curds (solid) and whey (yellow liquid).

Step 4 – Heat up the pot of whey to 175F. Dip 1 curd section into the hot whey for 1 minute using a slotted spoon. You want to fully submerge the curd in the hot whey.

Your goal here is to heat the curd section so you can stretch it in step 5.

Step 5 –Remove the curd section from the hot whey. Please remember to dip your hands into the cold water –The curd is hot! Now knead the curd section in your hand. This will release some whey from the curd and you will feel the curd start to stiffen up. It’s common to dip the curd into the whey a second or third time until you get a stiffer, shiny, stretchy curd. You’ll be able to feel it take shape in your hand. Braid it, roll it into any shape. Set your mozzarella aside and repeat step 10 with remaining curd sections.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST MADE FRESH MOZZARELLA!