Mozzarella: What's the good stuff?

Fresh Buffalo mozzarella from Italy is the good stuff. It's made from water buffalo milk and is the creamy melty blobs on a lot of high end pizza and subs.

You can find fresh local (cows milk) mozz in most decent stores and it's a serviceable substitute. Fresh mozzarella comes in balls (like this size of a lemon or so) sometimes its in a tub in water, others it's in tight plastic wrap. You would slice this, not grate it. 

If you want to use shredded, always buy the best you can find in a block or wedge and shred it yourself. Shredded cheese in the bag starts with commodity cheese and has all kinds of anti caking agents added to it. It's garbage. 

Fresh mozzarella looks like this when you buy it:



And like this when melted on something

MisterCode said:

RRP said:

I think freshness is the key and that's why when I take the mere 30 minutes to make a ball of it that is the best money can buy. For use on a pizza I then cut some into strips and then use an egg slicer to get uniform thickness in my pieces to dot my pizzas.

Wait, you can make mozzarella in 30 minutes? From scratch (whole milk I presume)? 

Sure can!

30 Minute Mozzarella

This is a summary of a recipe from a library book entitled Recipes For All Types Of Cheese - Recipe recap and revisions by RRP - Dunlap, IL

Ingredients needed:

1 gallon whole milk that has not been ultra-pasteurized

¼ teaspoon  liquid rennet (or ¼ rennet tablet) diluted in ¼ cup cool, unchlorinated water

1 teaspoon cheese salt (optional) BTW un-idolized Kosher salt is a fine substitute.

2 level teaspoons citric acid (powder)

Method:

1. Add citric acid to milk and mix thoroughly

2. heat the milk to 88° - I used my Thermapen

3. gently stir in the diluted rennet using an up and down motion and continue heating to 105°. Turn off heat and let curd set for a few minutes – I let it go for 4 minutes - Secret here is to stop stirring - otherwise it will break up - you want it solid!

4. The curds should look like thick yogurt. If the whey is still milky white instead of yellowish wait a few more minutes.

5. scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon into a 2 quart microwaveable bowl. Press the curds gently with your hands pouring off as much whey as possible. Reserve the whey.

6. microwave the curds for 1 minute on high. Drain off the whey and quickly work the hot cheese into a ball with a spoon or your hands using rubber gloves for protection.

7. microwave two more times for 35 seconds each time draining off the whey and working the cheese OR for it to be more creamy then just one microwave period for 35 seconds is better!

8.  knead the cheese quickly like bread dough until it is smooth. Sprinkle on the salt if desired while kneading and stretching. When the cheese stretches like taffy it is done, but if the curds break you need to reheat them again.

9. when the cheese is smooth and shiny it is ready to eat. If you want to eat it later cover it and refrigerate.

Yield: ¾ to 1 pound - Use of the by product of whey is a whole other topic!!!

RRP said:

This is the cheese made from the solids in the milk - note the line of how much whey is left out of that gallon.

MisterCode said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Good stuff Ron. It's a lot of fun too and you can make ricotta out of the remaining whey if you are in to that kind of thing. And if you make your own cheese, you clearly are

Holy cow. I am definitely into that kind of thing. My wife swears by raw whole milk, non pasteurized, non homogenized. So we always have a gallon on hand. I'm definitely going to get into homemade mozzarella now! 

Bet you never thought you were headed down this path when you asked your original question . You went from shredded crap in a bag to making your own in under an hour!

IT's really fun and even more fun to tell everyone you make your own cheese. You will get some funny looks for sure. 

I used this the first time I made fresh moz now I just buy the rennet and citric acid as needed 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XLWTIO/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1482860374&sr=8-2&keywords=mozzarella+cheese+making+kit&pi=SY200_QL40

I agree with all of the above about the greatness of homemade mozzarella. It's a load of fun and easy to do.  It took me a couple of tries to figure it out - but it's worth the little bit of trouble. 

Pretty sure regular pasteurized milk is fine for this. It's the ULTRA pasteurized stuff that doesn't work well (or at all). It's heated to a higher temp. 

Carolina Q said:

Pretty sure regular pasteurized milk is fine for this. It's the ULTRA pasteurized stuff that doesn't work well (or at all). It's heated to a higher temp. 

Is this correct?  ^^^^

@SciAggie thanks for the clarification. 

Citric acid can be found in the canning aisle of most grocery stores. I buy rennet at ModernistPantry.com. You can get CA there too but it's super cheap at the grocery store. 

Sea2Ski said:

I have to try this. I have meaning to do this for about a year the last time this topic was discussed in depth, but never got around to it. I just have to do it.

What can you do with the whey? (I do not like ricotta) Is there something else? Or does that really require a separate discussion?

Use for risotto, oatmeal, rice or beans instead of pure water
soup broth for cream-style soups
soaking liquids for beans and grains
ice cream or sorbet
biscuits, bread, and pizza crust
smoothies instead of dry whey powder

SciAggie said:

GlennM said:

Carolina Q said:

Pretty sure regular pasteurized milk is fine for this. It's the ULTRA pasteurized stuff that doesn't work well (or at all). It's heated to a higher temp. 

Is this correct?  ^^^^

Yes. He is correct. It is my experience however that some milk labled pasteurized has actually been taken to temperatures nearing ultra pasteurized. The end result is not all milk labled pasteurized ends up making cheese. Sellers do this for safety concerns and longer shelf life. What this means for you is it may be necessary to try several brands of milk in order to find the one that makes cheese well. 

Not all milk that is ultra-pasteurized is clearly labeled as such.  Check the fine print on the label. UHP or UP are sometimes all that is printed on the label.