Mozzarella is probably the cheese most frequently made by home cheese makers, due, in part, to our 30 Minute Mozzarella Kit. We were the first of many companies to base a kit on the quick and easy way to make this popular cheese. We share our recipes for both the 30 minute (click here) and the traditional (click here) ways of making Mozzarella in our book Home Cheese Making and on our website.
We encourage folks to modify our recipes for their own purposes and David Jacobs from Bishop, California has done just that:
“I started by getting into smoking store-bought cheese. I was curious about making my own cheese to add to the cheeses I smoked. I ended up getting a cheese making kit and trying to make a cheddar, which horribly failed. 5 months later I tried again, turned out a good Colby. Since then, I’ve been making a lot of mozzarella, a few Colby and gouda’s.
I’m big into outdoor sports. Hiking, backpacking, camping all with fishing in the high alpine lakes. I also paraglide, either with driving to a launch spot or hike up a mountain then fly off it. I also like to bake – all kinds of different breads, cinnamon rolls, soft pretzels, bagels.”
David’s Mozzarella
I’ve been using cheesemaking.com for recipes and buying ingredients and equipment for a little more than a year now. I’ve had mixed luck with my hard aged cheeses, but I’ve got my mozzarella making down pretty good. I’ve moved away from any one recipe for this cheese and use things from a few different methods that I’ve read up on.
The picture above was the last batch I made from 4 gallons of store-bought vitamin D whole milk. The top 3 are about 1 1/2 lbs and the bottom about 3/4 lb. They each have different additions to them: top left has roasted garlic, Italian herbs, dill. Bottom 2 are tomato and basil, artichoke hearts and roasted garlic. I didn’t get a picture, but the next day I smoked the large roasted garlic along with the first gouda I made.
I have double and tripled this recipe with no issues. I use double strength liquid rennet, so single strength will need double the amount. This recipe is different because I don’t let the curds form a large mass, so I don’t have to cut the curds. The constant stirring makes for a nice firm cheese.
Ingredients:
1 gallon store-bought whole milk
1 1/2 tsp citric acid
10-12 drops double strength rennet
~ 1/8 tsp lipase
Directions:
Sanitize all equipment being used.
Mix 1/2 cup water with 10-12 drops rennet.
Mix 1/2 cup water with 1/8 tsp lipase.
Mix 1 cup water with 1 1/2 tsp citric acid and add to cold, empty pot.
Add milk and warm to 86F, then remove from heat.
Add lipase, stir 1 minute.
Add rennet, slow gentle stirring until curds start to form. Then stir enough to keep them from matting together.
Heat to 105F, remove from heat and let rest for 15 minutes.
Transfer curds to microwave safe bowl (I use my ladle to get the bulk of them, then pour the whey through a fine strainer to get the rest).
Nuke 1 min, drain whey and work with spoon.
Nuke 35 seconds and work the curds, drain whey, repeat this step until no more whey comes out.
Add 1-1 ½ tsp salt and herbs (I started with 1 tsp, then increased until I found what I liked), finish kneading and stretching to mix salt and herbs in.
Shape then add to bowl of ice water to cool the cheese.
Pat dry and it’s ready to eat or wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge.
Ric :{) says
What does the lipase do? The 30 min recipe I have does not use it, just the citric acid and rennet. Does it change the flavor and if so, how?
Thanks.
David Jacobs says
It adds a little more flavor. I don’t always use the lipase. Think of it like one of those experiments, try it and see how it tastes to you. If you don’t like it or you don’t taste much of a difference, don’t use it next time.
~ = about
Smallest measuring spoon I have is 1/4, so my measurement is about 1/8 tsp
In the recipe of ingredients you mention ~ 1/8 tsp lipase. What does the ~ mean?
How hot is the cheese when it is at the stretch phase, or do you stretch it?
I’m not sure the exact temp, but hot enough I use those yellow dish washing gloves to protect my hands when stretching. I kind of play with it, I don’t always stretch it.
Thanks for taking the time to provide a working recipe. One question. What do you mean when you say “work with a spoon” in the instruction where you say Nuke 1 min, drain whey and work with spoon”?
The cheese gets kind of hot, if you don’t have some kind of gloves to protect from heat you can use a spoon to press and fold the cheese.
I am lactose intolerant. Can I make cheese Mozzarella or other using lactose free milk {Lactaid}?
Here’s some information from our website (Learn section, Milk):
LACTOSE-FREE MILK
Unfortunately, we have yet to find a brand of lactose-free milk that is not ultra-pasteurized. If you have found one, please let us know and we will add it to our list of good milks.
If I have lactose-free milk that is not UP, can I make cheese?
With a lactose-free milk, that is not ultra-pasteurized, you will be able to make our 30 Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta. However, you will not be able to make other cheeses. The process of cheese making is based on the bacterial cultures converting the lactose in milk to lactic acid. This process drives the conversion of liquid milk to curds, which eventually becomes cheese. This conversion also causes the moisture (whey) to be released. Without lactose in milk there is no food to support the bacterial cultures.
How much lactose is there in cheese?
The good news for the lactose-intolerant is that there is much less lactose in cheese than in milk. A cup of cow’s milk contains about 10-12 grams of lactose. An ounce of Swiss or Cheddar cheese contains less than one gram of lactose. Most of the lactose found in cheese is removed with the whey during the cheese making process. The rest is consumed by the culture in the first few weeks of aging.
Is there less lactose in cheese I make myself?
Yes. Soft cheeses and yogurt have more lactose in them than the aged cheeses, but when you make your own, there is less lactose than in store-bought. When you make cheese yourself, you use real cultures. These cultures consume a lot of the lactose. Also, there are no additional milk solids added to your own soft cheeses and yogurt, as there are in most commercial brands.
Double strength rennet? Can’t I use the regular kind and doouble the amount? I have both the animal and the vegetable.
Sorry on the late reply. Yes you can use regular and double the amount. I had to cut the rennet in half as the recipe was using regular.
Do you use vegetable or animal lipase?
I’m using animal lipase.
https://www.cheesemaking.com/lipasepowderlambsharp.html
Do you use vegetable or animal rennet and where do you get double strength rennet?
We sell all kinds of rennet including double strength organic vegetable rennet – click here
Jeri posted the exact one I’m using, organic vegetable rennet. Same place I bought it too.
I like your way to do this, I am going to try it.
I made 6 small, hard cheeses, and will wax them tonight.
4 dill, and 2 plain.
what does ‘nuke’ mean?
Thanks very much for the recipe!
nuke = microwave. There is another method by heating up water or the whey and soak the curds in that to raise it’s temperature, but I haven’t tried that method yet.
This is a very well written recipe. Also looks fairly easy. We’ll give it a try very soon. I really like the idea of adding in the herbs.
Can you please give me the amount of herbs per pound? I will use fresh herbs once my herb garden gets into production, so fresh not dried if that will work. Thanks for the recipe.
John, I found the amount of herbs you add depends on what you like. I add about 1 1/2 tsp of dried herbs. The moisture in the cheese seems to help re-hydrate the dried herbs. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.