Ever try to make Homemade Mozzarella only to make ricotta cheese? Trust me, I was there and probably wasted 50 gallons of good milk over a years time before I gave up. At the time, I was trying to learn how to make mozzarella cheese by following the traditional recipe all over the web listed below.
1. Heat the store bought milk to 50 degrees F and add citric acid
2. Heat the milk to 88 – 90 degrees F
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of rennet per gallon of milk
4. Cover and let sit for an hour.
5. Test for clean break
6. Cut the curd into 1/2 inch squares
7. Heat the curds to 100 degrees F and let sit for 15 minutes
8. Scoop the ripened curds to a strainer and let drain
9. Place the curds in a microwave and heat.
10. Stretch and make mozzarella balls
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
I followed this universal recipe over a years time and tried many different store bought milks, it never worked. I would make it to step 5 and could never get a clean break. The funny thing is, I would see all these positive reviews from people whom claimed that they made Homemade Mozzarella the very first time and it worked wonderfully. Then I would see other reviews from people whom claimed to have the same problem as I over and over again. Sounds fishy right?
After several years away, I tried again. Fortunately, I researched further and found that there were certain things that these websites were leaving out of there tutorials which can make or break a Mozzarella Recipe. After I learned the cheese making process, I hardly ever have a bad batch of mozzarella cheese as long as the milk is the right type.
My Mozzarella Recipe using live cultures is much better that the traditional recipe using citric acid here in the Unites States. It has much more flavor and is more juicy. Furthermore, Italians use cultures to make Homemade Mozzarella, not citric acid. Therefore, my recipe is much closer to authentic Homemade Mozzarella from Italy.
If you read my recipe on How To Make Mozzarella Cheese, you will notice that it is much longer than you will find on other websites. Why? Because I explain the entire process step by step and the certain things that can cause problems. The reason being, in order make mozzarella cheese, you need to understand the process, not just the recipe. If you accomplish this, you will hardly ever have a bad batch.
