I am not a cheese making expert. I have experimented and have had success and failure with making cheese. The first time I tried this "30 Minute" style of mozzarella I screwed it up big time. Over heated the milk and created a giant yucky mess. Live and learn. Lost 1 gallon of milk.
If this recipe doesn't work for you all I can say is we can troubleshoot through the internet and take a look at your exact steps and try to figure what went wrong.
You will need
1 gallon of whole milk (make sure it is not ultra pasturized or you cannot make cheese from it due to the proteins being destroyed in the heating process)
1/4 tablet rennet dissoved in 1/4 cup cool water
1 1/2 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water.
Slowly heat milk to 55 degrees F. At this temp add the dissolved citric acid.
As you stir you will see the milk begin to curdle.
Continue to heat slowly to 90 degrees F. At this temp add the dissolved rennet.
In a chopping up and down motion stir in the rennet. You will see it clump and begin to pull away.
There will be a lot of whey in the pan, as it clears the cheese curd is ready. If the whey is milky wait another few minutes and let the chemistry work and the whey will become clear -yellowish clear.
With a slotted spoon remove the curd to a microwave safe bowl. Press out as much whey as you can. I never have had success with just my hands. I pour it into cheese cloth and press the liquid out the best I can.
Put the dish of cheese curd intro the microwave for 1 minute. Take itout and knead the curd like bread. Pour off any liquid that comes out of the curd.
Return to the microwave for 35 seconds. Take it out and knead the curd. The cheese will get very hot, almost too hot to handle.
You may have to repeat this a few more times to get the curd up to 145 degrees so that it begins to melt together and become a little stretchy.
Once the cheese comes together (like taffy) shiney and smooth form it into a ball. Use now or refrigerate in a little cool water or whey until you need it.
When you separate the whey from the curd do not through out the whey. This is like liquid gold. You can make so many other things from it. I poured mine into a milk jug, added buttermilk culture and it will sit on my counter in the warm kitchen for about 12 hours. In the morning I will have cultured buttermilk. The same stuff they charge way too much for in the dairy case at your local grocer.
Think about buttermilk biscuits, pancakes, waffles all sorts of wonderful bread and cakes or even chess pie (buttermilk pie). Don't waste anything if you can help it.
Note here that my whey in the jug doesn't look clear. It is. The milky color of the jug obstructs the view of the whey.
If your attempt at cheese is a loss don't through it out. You can feed it to your chickens. I wouldn't suggest feeding to other larger animals (like goats or sheep, etc) it will give them the scours. Not nice.
Happy cheese making everyone!
*This mozzarella cheese recipe is from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll.
