Making mozzarella

Dan got some cheesemaking supplies for his birthday BEFORE MINA WAS BORN.  Ha. We finally got those out to make some home made mozzarella that turned out to be really fun, easy and quick to make. 

Heat a gallon of milk to ~55 degrees.  Add 1.5 teaspoons of citric acid dissolved in a half cup of water. 

Continue heating. When milk reaches ~95 degrees, add 1.5 teaspoons of rennet dissolved in a half cup of water, and stir gently. Keep heating until the mixture reaches ~105 degrees.  The milk solids start to separate and will form a thick layer.  

Once the when is clear and not milky, pour through a strainer.  We have tried multiple methods of straining now, including the traditional cheesecloth or nutbag.  After doing this a few times, I find that pouring directly into a fine strainer will work just fine and is the least messy for a large amount.  Running the strained whey through a fine mesh nutbag actually showed that there wasn't much left behind.  Squish out any excess liquid.  Heat up the solids in a microwave (30 sec to a min) until it is almost too hot to touch.  Then massage the cheese until it becomes stretchy and has a smooth, glistening sheen to it. 

We haven't quite figured out how to stop ALL the fluid from leaving the cheese; our mozzarella balls turn out to be quite low moisture which makes it tough to use as a pizza topping.  But it still tastes great, and has a fine texture to each on crackers or on its own.