Today, I made homemade creamy, delicious mozzarella cheese. To me, cheese making is a mix between science, art and love as is true for most things I make in my kitchen. 🙂
A couple years ago, I asked for a cheese making kit for Christmas. Yes, you read that right. Russ is always so great at treating me to my crazy requests….and my cheese kit was found, with a bow on it, under our Christmas tree. Since then, I have made cheese a few times.
One of my cheese making events included a family affair. I invited my sisters, Trisha and Sue and our Mom over to enjoy an evening of cheese making. It really was a great girl bonding experience…one I highly recommend!
My cheese making kit is from Ricki, the cheese queen, and it makes cheese making fool-proof and yummy. Here is the link so you, too, can make yummy homemade creamy mozzarella.
First start with milk. Whole milk makes a tasty, creamy cheese.
Add a small amount of rennet to spring water. Rennet is an enzyme used in cheese making to help coagulate the milk—into solid curds and milky whey.
Adding citric acid seems to help curdle the milk more and helps the mozzarella stretch or at least that’s what I have read…
The milk curdles up nicely….separating into yellow liquid (whey), where the milk sugar, lactose is found, and the protein rich curds. That is why most cheese is low in lactose! Unless it’s really wet and contains more of the whey like cottage cheese.
After about 5-8 minutes the mixture is ready to be drained.
Squeeze out as much of the whey as possible before you knead the cheese.
Mozzarella gets kneaded like bread and stretched for smoothness.
Of course, cheese pairs nicely with some salt so adding in some special cheese salt {that comes with the kit} works well.
When shiny and well-kneaded, it’s ready to eat.
I store mozzarella with oil or a bit of cold water. Refrigerate or eat right away.