How to make mozzarella at home?

On the shelves of modern supermarkets you can often find unique and healthy products from all over the world, among which Italian cheeses occupy a special place. They can be consumed either independently or used to prepare many delicious and original dishes. Most of the cheeses can be made yourself, including the popular mozzarella.


What it is?

Mozzarella is a young cheese that was originally made from black buffalo milk. The birthplace of this product is the Italian region of Campania. You can find several varieties of mozzarella on sale:

  • balls of various diameters in brine;
  • hard form of cheese;
  • smoked.

Modern versions of this cheese are made from the milk of cows or goats with the addition of special enzymes that cause the ripening of the raw material. The product has a delicate, fresh taste and tight consistency. It is actively used in salads, in the preparation of traditional Italian dishes and in desserts.



Recipes

Making mozzarella is not difficult, the main thing is to follow the proportions indicated in the recipe and also choose fresh ingredients.

To make this type of cheese, milk that has not been pasteurized is suitable.

In addition, an important ingredient without which mozzarella cannot be made is rennet. This is a substance that is obtained from the stomach glands of some mammals. Thanks to this enzyme, milk curds. Before you start making cheese, you need to purchase this product at a specialty store or pharmacy.

There are a great many recipes for homemade mozzarella, which differ not only in the quantity and composition of ingredients, but also in the manufacturing technology.



Recipe No. 1

To make cheese this way, you will need:

  • milk – 2 liters;
  • water – 100 grams;
  • coarse salt - 2 tablespoons;
  • ½ lemon;
  • rennet – ¼ teaspoon;

You can add aromatic herbs and spices such as basil, thyme, oregano.

Preparation progress:

  • You need to squeeze the juice out of a lemon using tools familiar for these purposes, for example, a special citrus press;
  • dissolve the enzyme in water;
  • Heat the milk in a saucepan of suitable volume to 700° C;
  • while stirring, add lemon juice and enzyme to the milk;
  • after whey begins to form, turn off the stove and leave the pan for 10-15 minutes;
  • Using a sieve, remove the curds from the pan and squeeze them out with gloved hands;
  • put the whey remaining after separating the curd mass back on the fire, bring to a boil and add salt;
  • dip the mozzarella into the whey and boil for 4-5 minutes;
  • remove the mass from the brine, stretch and form into a ball;
  • Repeat the last two steps several times until the cheese acquires the required consistency and elasticity.

Mozzarella properly prepared in this way has a uniform consistency, without lumps or impurities. Spices and aromatic herbs are added in the last “assembly” of raw materials into a ball.





Recipe No. 2

You will need the following ingredients:

  • high fat milk (goat milk is possible) – 2 liters;
  • citric acid – 4 grams;
  • pepsin – 1 teaspoon;
  • cold boiled water – 200 grams;
  • salt – 3 tablespoons.

The preparation process contains many stages.

  • Place farm milk in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours to separate the cream. There should be 1 cup of cream collected. If you manage to collect less, you can add store-bought cream to the required volume.
  • Dissolve citric acid in half the volume of water.
  • Dilute pepsin in the remaining half of the water.
  • Add citric acid to cold milk.
  • While stirring, bring the milk to 350°C and add the rennet.
  • Stir vigorously for 10 seconds, then leave for 12-20 minutes (until a curd forms).
  • Open the lid and cut the resulting curd piece into small squares. Leave them in the brine for 5-7 minutes.
  • Reheat the pan and contents to 350°C, stirring constantly.
  • Catch the cheese in a sieve and squeeze out excess moisture with a spoon (pressing on the mass). At this stage, it is important not to overdry the raw materials.
  • Add 1 liter of water to another pan and heat to 800° C.
  • Pour 1 liter of cold water into another pan.
  • Cut the cheese mass into several parts and place in hot water for 1-3 minutes.
  • Remove the cheese and form a ball with your hands. It is better to do this with rubber gloves to avoid burns.
  • Place the mozzarella in a saucepan of cold water.
  • When the balls have cooled, pour brine over them and put them in the refrigerator for several hours.

The cheese prepared according to this recipe turns out to be very tender, and the degree of salting is easy to adjust yourself.





To make homemade mozzarella tasty and correct, follow these tips:

  • use cow's milk with a high fat content (at least 4%);
  • chlorinated tap water is not suitable for making cheese; it is better to replace it with bottled or boiled water from a natural source;
  • the material of the utensils for preparing cheese should not contain aluminum or its impurities, otherwise the taste of the product will deteriorate and the shelf life will be shortened;
  • strictly follow temperature and time recommendations;
  • To prevent burns and for convenience, you can put several pairs of thick rubber gloves on your hands.

It’s not difficult to make mozzarella at home with your own hands; just strictly follow the recipe step by step, and then you can hope for a good result.


The following video provides a recipe for making mozzarella at home.

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