How to Make Organic Mozzarella Cheese at Home

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By Misslucinda
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Many people love the taste of fresh, organic mozzarella cheese, but co-op price tags can leave a bad taste in your mouth! Save some money and wow your friends and family by learning to make mozzarella for yourself using this simple recipe.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

1 gallon of fresh, pasturized milk from grass-fed cows
Citric acid
Liquid rennet
Salt
Bottled or unchlorinated water
Food thermometer
Measuring cups and spoons
Large metal pot
Slotted spoon
Microwave-safe mixing bowl
Microwave

Step 1

Head to a local co-op and pick up a gallon of pasteurized milk. Most milk at co-ops is already certified organic, but for the best-tasting mozzarella you want milk from grass-fed cows. It's a little more expensive, but you'll get your investment back tenfold in taste (and good karma)!
Step 2

Pour your milk into a large metal pot and put it on the stove with the heat on medium.
Step 3

Measure out 1.5 teaspoons of citric acid into 1/4 cup of bottled water. Stir very well, making sure that the citric acid is completely dissolved into the water. Pour the citric acid mixture into the milk and stir it in with the slotted spoon.
Step 4

As your milk and citric acid mixture heats up, your may notice that the texture of the milk changes - this is exactly what you want to happen! Use a food thermometer to find out what temperature the milk is. When it gets around 80 degrees F, you're ready for the next step.
Step 5

Measure out 1/4 teaspoon of liquid rennet and stir it into 1/4 cup of bottled water. Then measure your milk's temperature again. Once the milk hits 88 degrees F, add the rennet and water and mix it into the milk, stirring up and down instead of around in a circle. Heat the milk until it's about 100 degrees F.
Step 6

You should notice some major curdling at this point - once you see that happening take the milk off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. The cheese should start pulling away from the edges and conglomerating into the center of the pot, leaving a thin clear-to-slightly-milky liquid around it. Remember Little Miss Muffett? This liquid is the whey!
Step 7

Once the cheese has been allowed to clump together for a few minutes, fish out the cheese pieces from the whey using your slotted spoon, and dump them into your mixing bowl. Throw the rest of the whey down the drain.
Step 8

Knead your cheese like bread dough until it starts to cool (careful - it's going to be HOT!), pressing out and throwing away all the whey that comes out. Then stick your cheese in the microwave and heat it on high for 30 seconds. Repeat kneading and whey-pressing process until it cools. Then re-heat again for another 30 seconds and knead/remove whey again.
Step 9

At this point, add salt to taste. I like about 1/2 tablespoon of salt in my cheese, but it's YOUR cheese - so start small and add a little at a time. Pull and stretch your cheese to get the salt completely mixed in. If your cheese won't stretch very well, you should do the microwave heat and knead one more time.
Step 10

Tada! You made cheese completely from scratch! Feel free to grate it up and nibble in handfuls all day, or just eat it in little pieces in salads or on pizza! Best to wrap it well in cling wrap and eat it within a few days.