30-Minute Mozzarella

One of the quickest and easiest cheeses to make.
I use the recipe from this website.

Ingredients:

• 1 1⁄2 Level teaspoons Citric Acid dissolved in 1⁄2 cup cool water

• 4 litres of Full Cream Milk

• 1⁄4 teaspoon Lipase Powder dissolved in 1⁄4 cup cool water

• 1⁄4 teaspoon Rennet dissolved in 1⁄4 cup cooled boiled water

• 1 teaspoon Salt

Method:

Heat the milk to 12°C and, while stirring, add the Citric Acid solution, then add the Lipase solution and mix thoroughly. Heat the milk mixture to 32°C over medium to low heat.

Gently stir in the diluted Rennet with an up and down motion. Then heat to 38-41°C. When the curds are pulling away from the pot they are ready to scoop out (3 to 5 minutes).

The curds will look like thick yoghurt and have a bit of a shine to them, and the whey will be clear. If whey is still milky white, wait a few more minutes before scooping.

Scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon into a microwaveable bowl.

Press the curds gently with your hands, pouring off as much of the whey as possible. (I haven't found the most efficient way yet, to pour off the whey. This step still takes me about 7-10 minutes, until all the whey has been drained.)

This is the bowl after scooping the curds from the pot into it, and before draining the whey.

This is the bowl, after draining off all the whey.

Microwave the curds on HIGH for 1 minute. Drain off the excess whey, then gently fold the cheese over and over with your hands or a spoon. (This is a crucial step. Be gentle. Fold it over. And over. If you knead it, or are not gentle with the curds, the texture will be very dense. With gentle folding you will have these lovely soft layers in your end product.) This distributes the heat evenly throughout the cheese, which will not stretch until it is too hot to touch (60-65°C).

Microwave twice more for 35 seconds each time, adding salt to taste after the second time. After each heating, gently fold over and over again to distribute the heat.

Fold quickly until it is smooth and elastic. When the cheese stretches like taffy, it is ready.

If the curds break instead, they are too cool and need reheating.

When the cheese is smooth and shiny, roll it into small balls and eat while warm. (I don't bother rolling it into small balls.) Alternatively, place the cheese balls in a bowl of ice water for half an hour to rapidly cool the inside, then cover and store in the fridge.

This is the mozzarella after having been chilled in ice water in the fridge. Water drained off, and ready to be eaten. It does keep well in the fridge for several days.
(The yield is about 750g - 800g with milk from our favourite Jersey cow, Chocolate. Milk from other breeds can yield a cheese of between 400-500g.)