Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- **Add vinegar to milk, then warm it.**Gently stir the vinegar into the milk before the heating begins. Heat the milk gently on the stove, while stirring often to a lukewarm temperature of around 32ºC (90ºF).
- **2. Add rennet**Dissolve the rennet in around 1/4 cup of water, stir it constantly and then quickly and thoroughly mix it through all the milk for a minute or two in an up and down motion. Stir for two minutes, then leave the pot alone for 5 minutes.
- **3. Cut curds**Check to see if a curd has formed (this usually takes around 5 to 10 minutes). When the curd forms and breaks cleanly, cut it into one inch cubes.
- **4. Heat and stir**Put the pot back on the heat and heat it to around 43ºC (110ºF) while stirring the curds. Remove it from the heat and continue to stir the curds for two to five minutes, until they are slightly springy when pressed.
- **5. Drain**Drain the curds into a colander, catching the whey with a bowl underneath and then putting it back in the pot.
- **6. Heat whey**Add 2 tablespoons salt to the whey and heat it until it reaches a temperature of at least 175ºF (80ºC) but is not boiling.
- **7. Stretch **Take handfuls of the drained curd, place on the slotted spoon, and lower into the hot whey for a few seconds, then use the slotted spoon with a second spoon to stretch and knead the curd several times, to develop strings, lowering it back into the whey in between kneads and stretches, before forming into a ball shape. The amount of stretching to give it is completely up to you - sometimes I barely stretch at all (see the note below for more on this), other times I stretch until my hands are quite far apart with a long string of mozzarella stretching between them, which is closer in mind to what the mozzarella purists want, but a bit more time consuming to achieve. The two important things about stretching are firstly, that it really does not matter that much, your cheese will be tasty and edible whether it stretches or not, and secondly not to break it. Allow it to soften enough before you start stretching, and it starts looking like it’s about to break and you want to keep stretching, put it back in the whey before trying again. If it isn’t stretchy enough for you and keeps wanting to break, try to put it in the hot whey for a bit longer before stretching again, or increasing the whey temperature. At some times of the seasonal milk cycle, mozzarella just doesn’t stretch as well; it will still taste great though. Continue the heating and stretching for the rest of the curds, draining them as you go.