String cheese is a mozzarella cheese and it’s stringy characteristic is built into the way this particular cheese is made. Mozzarella is part of a group of cheeses collectively known as pasta filata, or stretched-curd cheeses.
This category of cheeses is one where the curds are cooked and then allowed to mat together as they cool. They can be kept this way for some time before the next step. In fact, some home cheese-makers will buy ready made cooked mozzarella curds from their local deli so that they can do the final step at home.
This final step includes breaking apart the matted curds and immersing them into a hot-water bath. If the curds have not been salted, salt is added during this step by immersing them int a hot salt-water bath. The water is just off boiling, as a result, this can be a pretty warm exercise.
The hot water softens the mozzarella curds, and while they are soft they can be manipulated and stretched into shape. You’ll know when you’re ready to shape when the cheese develops it characteristic stretch. This is called working or stringing the cheese.
The easiest way to do this is to add a cup or two of curds at a time to the hot water. You’ll let the curds heat for a few moments in the hot water, then squeeze to see if it is ready to work. If it is still a little hard in the middle, it is not ready yet. While they are softening, use a large perforated ladle to move them constantly around the container.
Note: Some people like to soften their curds in the microwave and work them that way. This is certainly an effective way to do it, however, using the hot water method results in a better “fresh” mozzarella texture. Using the microwave can leave the cheese a bit rubbery.
Do not allow the curds to rest too long in the hot water…they will become stringy on their own and the cheese will be ruined.
From this point forward, work the curds very gently so that you don’t separate the cream out of the cheese. Working the curd means to fold the mass of cheese over itself repeatedly. As you work it, the cheese will begin to stretch, and it is this method you want to employ, the stretching method, rather than the “kneading” method.
Stretch it by holding the lump of curd on one end and allow gravity to stretch the cheese, catching it in your other hand. It’s a bit like pulling taffy. You’ll see that the cheese becomes smooth, satiny, and very elastic. Place it in the warm water one more time, and then place it in a mold or you can make your own “string” cheese or cheese balls by wrapping bits of the worked cheese in plastic food wrap, tie with string much like making sausages between each log or ball of cheese.
When you use the cheese, the stringiness will still be quite evident. So you see, marketers did not “invent” string cheese…instead they recognized an appealing characteristic and marketed it properly. String cheese…you’ll never look at it the same way again.
