How to Make Great Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Step 18 CHEESE!!!!!!!!

You now have some Great Home Made Mozzarella Cheese.

Comments

[CheeseGobler]

Jeez-o-man People!!! Stop fighting and just make,eat,and enjoy the damn Mozzarella cheese!!! Make it however you please,microwave,double boiler method, whatever!!! Life is too short to argue about it, the guy just wants you to enjoy his homemade cheese!

[hunnybaby]

How much cheese does it make? have you weighed it? I am curious because I am looking for a cheaper way to get cheese from the supermarket. Wondering if it is cheaper to make it at home or to buy at the supermarket? I KNOW homemade mozzarella will taste better but is it less expensive? Where I am from its $7 - $9 for about 500gr of cheese. Coming from a family that loves its cheese and PIZZA with lower income we wait for cheese to come on sale so we don't have it often. Would be nice to have it more often :)

Thanks for the instructable. :)

[HiFiMan]

It all depends on what the milk costs in your location.You should be able to yield about 1-2lbs of cheese/gallon.

[OleNavy]

I learned how to make mozzarella by acident. I took my lunch to work and heated it up in the microwave. I forgot I had large curd cottage cheese and upon trying a bite I found it became more and more gummy as I chewed it. I tried again later with a container of cottage cheese and reproduced the same results while working it with a spoon as it cooled. I am low sodium so I didn't consider putting any salt in it.

[thomas9666]

Inbetween step 17 and the final step 18, you should place your mozzarella ball into cold water to set its shape and prevent it from, em.... running about the plate like in the photo.

[bstapler]

That's a good idea. I was thinking there was another step, but this is still a good way for beginners to learn. Of course, it works best by looking at the recipe and also the comments for suggestions and what works best for them. Another option is to check other ways people make it to see the the differences. I'm a believer in all suggestions are welcome as long as they are constructive, as yours is.

[diybrewing]

I use the stovetop method because I can control the temperature better then a microwave. All you to do is bring your water to 150-170F and add your curd to it. You can used the double boiler method but I don't because I have hi-temperature gloves that can withstand 300F so I just reach in with them. Put your curd in then when the internal temperature reaches 130F you will need it like a piece of dough for about 30 seconds then return the curd back to the water until the temperature reaches 130F again and need like a ball and try to stretch. If it stretches then stretch until it either looks plasticy or is unstretchable. If it is unstretchable then return to water until the internal temp is 130F again and then stretch again. I usually find I have to return the curd to the water about 3 times to get it to stretch. For storage you want to wrap the mozz in plastic wrap and eat within 7 days. If you put it into water or oil it will get slimy quickly because of the fact you did not let the curd sit for 24 hours.

[StrangeRover]

This looks fantastic and I'm quite excited to try it. What can I do in lieu of the microwave? we don't have one (and won't). thanks

[easyrider1]

second that on not having/using microwave.  why irradiate food? Bad!

[Saturn V]

Microwaves work by using a magnatron to "shoot" high powered radio waves, causing the water particles to vibrate. Friction created by this vibrating generates heat, which cookes the food. Bottom line: Radio waves are 100% safe. Very little to no radiation is produced by them in microwaves.

[tabbique]

I just finished making this for the very first time and it was great!!  In leiu of the microwave I just did a double boiled approach and it was fine. mmmmm raw whole milk mozz!

[mikemwa]

The recipes I have seen that don't use a microwave have you heat the Whey or else plain water to about 170 degrees and put it in there in smaller balls to warm up and get it to stretch that way. It is a whole different recipe so I can't vouch for how or if it works.

[tabbique]

thanks for the info - I too don't want to use the microwave...I went to the trouble of finding raw unpasteurized whole milk locally and want to keep it as wholesome as possible!  :)

[dbell]

What the heck is "unwholesome" about microwaving it?!?
It's merely another way of getting heat into the cheese, albeit less traditional.
Are you using a wood stove? Milk your own cow (or water buffalo)?
Use and enjoy the conveniences we have, and don't sweat the unimportant issues!

Dave

[easyrider1]

would you get an x-ray every day? it's the same effect on food but many times worse. you may want to read up on the subject before making uneducated comments.

[schmasey]

No, it's actually not the same effect at all... an x-ray is a high-energy photon, this photon delivers all its energy to a single electron; this high energy electron can then bust free creating an ion. This can disrupt and damage molecules (such as DNA) themselves, and create free radicals, which mess up even more molecules. (gamma rays and high energy UV can do the same). Of course, your body has repair mechanisms which can take care of this damage, to a point, so infrequent x-rays aren't likely to kill you.

A radio wave on the other hand is a low-energy photon (about 1 trillionth of the energy of an x-ray); this photon delivers its tiny little energy to a single electron but it is not enough energy to create an ion (even if you have a ton of radio waves! it's energy per photon that matters). It causes the electron (and thus atoms and molecules) to vibrate faster which is generally noticed as heating up - without disrupting the molecule itself.

So in summary: x-rays damage molecules! this is bad! radio waves jiggle molecules faster! this makes things hot, cancer-free!

Also - there is no nuclear radiation involved, so "nuking" your food does not create radioactivity of any sort at all. There, now none of us will make any uneducated comments... right?

[dbell]

"There, now none of us will make any uneducated comments... right?" BWAH-hah-hah!! I'm afraid facts won't stop uneducated commentary... That was a very good description of the difference between ionizing (bad) and non-ionizing (good) radiation. Hopefully, it actually will help! Radio waves - microwaves - actually heat food by applying torque to molecules (primarily water) that are polarized, that is have a positive "end" and a negative "end", like the poles of a magnet. These molecules also have a natural frequency of vibration, like a tuning fork. When the radio waves are near that frequency, they cause the most motion and the greatest heating... Dave

[Honestinwilkesbarre]

Oh my God! You're worried you food might get cancer?
Stop worrying, unless you're Klingon, your food is most likely already dead.

[tabbique]

Well, a lot of things are "wrong" about microwaving....http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.html  for a start but really just google "dangers of microwave" and see what turns up.  I do occasionally use a woodstove and my milk comes from my neighbor who milks by hand.  It's ok to use conveniences as long as you are ok with the potential problems.  After all that's on of the reasons we are in such a bad place with the environment...people placed convenience over health/doing the right thing/moral issues, etc.  Just something to ruminate over :)

[Ducky_2010]

NO. This article is blatant misinformation, I'm sorry. It ignores the laws of physics for start and blatantly misinterprets "facts." My favorite, being a biology person, is the blood transfusion story. OF COURSE microwaving a blood unit could kill somebody because it would cause the proteins to unfold, leading to a loss of function at best and cause them to aggregate and clog capillaries at worse! But it didn't "poison" the blood, it cooked it in the same way you would cook meat or eggs or vegetables and to the same result. Also, an argument based on "mother's intuition" isn't an argument at all.

[Audios Muchacho]

Oh Schmasey, save your science for people who don't believe everything they google on the internet.

For those who are scared of low intesity radio waves, put on your aluminum foil hats and find a fallout shelter.

Turn on your AM/FM radio, if you get a signal, then you can be sure that your whole body is subject to waves of similar intensity that a mircowave produces, albeit a different wave length

Microwaves are fast, but do not heat uniformily; boiling water is slow but heats uniformily, choose for yourself based on information that a culinary pro would look at.

Using either a microwave or boiling water, cheese is good!

[Earle.D]

Why doesn't everyone just stick to making cheese?

[btodoroff]

That article is hilarious! Yes, heating food causes chemical changes in the food, which is commonly called cooking - if you don't want your food to change, than don't cook it. And most every food on the planet contains carcinogenic substances in some amount. Just because heating food creates a substance that is bad for you when ingested in pure form from 50 gallon drums doesn't make the food poisonous. It always reminds me of an infomercial when pseudo-scientific articles like that have to reference fringe publications as their best sources. Just because a website wrote it or someone xeroxed it doesn't mean it went through any sort of quality review cycle. I can get dozens of sites to publish my article proving how Santa Clause is real and working for the aliens, I can even create a nice pretty book and put it on Amazon.com for chump change, but none of that makes it true. Please apply some critical thinking before you belive what you read. Thanks for the laugh!

[mxt144]

articles you find on the internet may not be scientifically accurate. i can find articles that dismiss microwaves as dangerous (like this one: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/microwave-radiation-ovens-460709). something from that one that sounds plausible is that
microwave cooking prevents the accumulation of char in food - which is carcinogenic. which is why grilled food is not great for you. but which articles are right and how would you prove it?

i tried to look up actual studies about this and could only find ones regarding occupational exposure (ex. in the navy)  to radar, which is apparently a type of microwave. so i don't know what that says about microwave safety. they're safe or its just not being investigated.

im not an expert or anything but i think microwaves are fairly safe. i wouldn't cook every meal in them, but heating up some curds for a few minutes does not seem like it would be a problem.

[dbell]

While that (globalhealing) page does have some accurate, basic information about microwaves and microwave ovens, things like this utterly meaningless statement greatly reduce the credibility of the article:
"By comparison, microwaves from the sun are based on principles of pulsed direct current (DC) that don't create frictional heat; microwave ovens use alternating current (AC) creating frictional heat."
The author need to go back to school and learn some basic physics...

WRT your comment about our placing convenience over health, propriety, and morals, I sadly agree with you!

Dave

[fleursdelis]

I would like to try it but I don't have a microwave (on purpose). What do I need to do instead of?

[dromano]

The recipe looks great ! I will be trying it this week. One question, What is the yield from a gallon of milk?

[mikemwa]

You should get 12 - 18 ounces of cheese from it. If you continue and make the Ricotta from the Whey you should get 4 - 6 ounces of that.

[mtjohnson6]

Ok...so maybe I am BLIND!! I just read step 19. I know how to store it now...but I still need help with the oil and seasonings.. Thanks!

[mtjohnson6]

Hi... Once this "goodness" is finished, how do you store it? I have seen it packed in oil in the stores with spices. Got a recipe for that?? If so, PLEASE share!! I sometimes make Caprese(spelling?) mini kabobs and the fresh seasoned cheese makes all the difference!! Thanks

[evg08]

It takes water buffalo's milk to make the authentic mozzarella cheese.
It is produced only in two spots of the Campania region in southern Italy, all other products are to be cosidered as anything but mozzarella.
http://www.vannulo.it/index-1.html

[Janus Horus]

Very excited too.I am french,the country of 350(+) cheeses