How to make mozzarella at home

Mozzarella is considered traditionally Italian cheese, which, according to a traditional recipe, is prepared from buffalo milk. However, experienced housewives have developed effective methods to prepare the product based on cow or goat milk. In this case, the taste of the composition remains unchanged. There are a number of features to keep in mind. Consider the most delicious recipes, give practical recommendations, highlight the dishes that can be prepared with the addition of mozzarella cheese.

Mozzarella cheese: a classic of the genre

• citric acid - 25 gr.
• drinking water - 180 ml.
• fat milk (from 3.2%) - 4.3 liters.
• rennet - in fact

1. To give the cheese a characteristic viscous consistency, dilute the citric acid powder with warm water (150 ml.), Wait until the granules dissolve. In the remaining amount of water (30 ml.) Dilute rennet. The exact amount indicated by the manufacturer on the package, as a rule, about 1 pinch is required. When the powder has completely dissolved, proceed to the next step.
2. Pick up a wide pan, pour milk into it. Make sure that the component is not warm or hot. Otherwise, when citric acid is added, the product will curl up, you do not need it yet. Pour a solution of citric acid into milk while stirring with a wooden spatula.
3. Put the minimum power on the burner, put the pan on fire. Prepare a thermometer to monitor temperature conditions. Heat the milk to 37 degrees, do not exceed this indicator. Pour the enzyme into the heated dairy product, mix the mass until smooth. Cook for another 3 minutes, then turn off the stove.
4. Cover the container, wait 45 minutes, during this period the mixture will begin to curl. You will see how a clot forms from the mass. Dip your finger into the mass, the composition should not stick to the skin. Remove the resulting clot with a slotted spoon, fold it into a colander so that the glass is excess liquid.
5. Put the remaining whey in the pan on fire, heat to 88 degrees. Pour 350 ml from the total volume, add salt, in the resulting solution you can store the final product. In a general container with whey, lower a clot of cheese, which was laid on a colander.
6. After a quarter of a minute, put on tight rubber gloves, remove the cheese and knead it by hand. Stretch the product in different directions, knead, like dough. Properly cooked mozzarella should not stick to your hands. After that, again send the composition inside, after 20 seconds, remove and knead. Repeat until the mozzarella is soft and viscous.
7. After achieving the desired effect, roll a sausage from mozzarella, chop into slices or roll individual balls. Add chopped olives / olives, capers, sausage, hard cheese, ham, paprika, favorite seasonings, if desired. Such a move will allow you to create your own cheese, which will appeal to the whole family.
8. Use the following recipe to make a whey that will increase your shelf life to one week. Divide the whey left over from the cheese into equal sections. Take a third of the total volume, salt, you can pepper at will. Cool, send mozzarella circles inside, keep in the cold.

How to Form Mozzarella Cheese Balls

1. Before starting the formation of balls, it is important to make sure that the composition is completely ready. Put on silicone gloves, remove cheese from whey, cut a slice. Stretch it as much as possible.If the composition immediately breaks, the cheese is not ready. In cases where the stretching passes without difficulty and evenly, you can begin to roll the balls.
2. You can cook any objects from mozzarella, be it nautical knots, circles or cubes. It all depends on personal preferences. In short, sculpt what you like. After forming the shapes, dip them into pre-chilled whey. This step cannot be skipped, otherwise the creations will lose their form.
3. Put the balls / cubes made into the food container, refrigerate for 10 hours. After the expiration of the period, start consuming, catching the amount of cheese necessary for one serving with a slotted spoon. You can use mozzarella both in fresh form and in dried form. It is important to remember that dried cheese gains a yellow tint over time.

Practical recommendations

To make the preparation of mozzarella without any extra hassle, follow practical tips. Experienced housewives brought out tricks that will facilitate your task.

1. During cooking, use only filtered water. The fluid that flows through the pipes has a large amount of impurities and heavy metals. Tap water also contains chlorine, which kills beneficial bacteria and makes the cheese “dead”. In addition, when using liquid from the tap, the shelf life of the finished dish does not exceed 2 days.
2. As mentioned earlier, the traditional recipe involves the use of buffalo milk. However, as you know, it is impossible to get it within Russia. Replace the ingredient with homemade goat or cow milk, the quality of the cheese will not change. The main thing is to choose a product with the maximum degree of fat content. Never cook mozzarella based on ultra-pasteurized milk. Some housewives themselves pasteurize the product, in which case the temperature of a half-hour heating should not exceed 60 degrees.
3. When you come to the stage of heating the cheese mixture on the stove, in the absence of this option, you can use the microwave. To properly manipulate, take a cheese clot, place it in a glass bowl. Set the device to a power of about 1000 watts, warm up the product for no longer than 70 seconds. The mass should be heated evenly, do not boil. The duration of heating depends on the temperature characteristics of the device; at 700 W, the composition needs to languish for 90 seconds.

Salad with mozzarella and red fish

• cheese - 120 gr.
• salt and pepper to taste
• seasonings - at the discretion
• cherry tomatoes - 8 pcs.
• purple bow - half the head
• fresh parsley - 10 gr.
• fresh dill - 15 gr.
• mayonnaise or sour cream (for dressing) - in fact
• salmon or salmon (weak ambassador) - 80 gr.

1. Wash the tomatoes, chop them into 2 parts. Pour red fish over water while removing excess salt. Cut the salmon or salmon into thin slices, put in a deep bowl to the tomatoes.
2. If you formed small balls from mozzarella, you do not need to grind them. Send the whole composition to other components. Otherwise, the cheese will have to be chopped into cubes.
3. Wash the parsley and dill, chop, mix with sour cream / mayonnaise (you can replace the dressing with olive oil). Chop the sweet onion. If bitterness is present in it, pour boiling water over the product.
4. Combine all the ingredients into one mass, salt and pepper to taste. Add your favorite seasonings, serve as an independent dish or stuff with tartlet salad.

Salad with Basil and Mozzarella

• table vinegar with a concentration of 6% - 25 ml.
• liquid honey - 10 g.
• cherry tomatoes - 8 pcs.
• fresh basil - 1 bunch
• mozzarella - 220 gr.
• olive oil - 30 ml.
• pepper, salt - to taste

1. Wash the cherry, chop them in half, mix with mozzarella balls. If the pieces of cheese are large enough, cut them into cubes. Wash a bunch of basil, dry, cut along the leaves.
2. Next, make a sauce of olive oil, table vinegar and honey.Add 20 gr. natural yogurt. Beat the mass with a mixer or blender. Mix all the ingredients together (except the sauce), put on a flat dish.
3. You can add olives or olives to the salad. Salt, pepper, pour sauce. Serve cold, add bread to the salad, or stuff with a mixture of tartlets.

The technology for making cheese is not difficult, but mozzarella requires certain storage conditions. Do not put the product on a plate and send in the refrigerator. The composition is stored only in salted chilled whey. In this state, the cheese will lie for 3-7 days, but it must be eaten as quickly as possible.

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