Homemade Mozzarella Cheese with photos
This is my big pot with 4 gallons of milk in it. I had extra milk, I usually only do a gallon at a time.
I can not give you the recipe as it has a copy write, but will list the link below for you to get it.
This is what the cheese looks like when done cooking.
Getting ready to heat it, so as to get the rest of the whey out.
Draining the whey (above), kneading the whey out (below). You keep doing this until all the whey is out.
Now I am pulling and stretching the cheese to get the rest of the whey out.
stretching some more
stretching some more
stretching some more
This can get a bit messy.
When the cheese is glossy and smooth, it’s time to rinse and cool it.
Rinse until the water runs clear.
Leave in ice water about 20 -30 minutes.
Then it’s into ice box for another 30 minutes to drain.
Then I shred it and pack into freezer bags.
This homemade cheese is so much better than the store bought.
The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company has a starter kit. Which I bought and love. You only need to buy the kit once. It’s great and makes more +/- 40 pounds of cheese, and you get everything in the kit but your milk. The kit tells you all the different kinds of milk you can use. The kit is called: 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit , $24.95 ( click on name and it’ll take you to it).
For their recipe( click on name) Ricki’s 30 minute Mozzarella Magic. It will take you step by step, at the end of the page.
Recipes on other cheeses: Making cheeses.
Questions answered about Mozzarella cheese.
I really like this company. I order my supplies from them.
Now if you happen to run out of the Citric Acid, which is called for in the recipe as I did. I found a way to still make the cheese.
I tried lemon juice instead of the citric acid and it worked. The milk does not curdle as much as with the citric acid. But the finished cheese is the same.
| Citric Acid | Milk | bottled lemon juice |
| 1 1/2 level tsp. | 1 gallon | 3 oz. |
| 3 level tsp. | 2 gallons | 6 oz. |
| 6 level tsp. | 4 gallons | 12 oz. |
Keep your whey ( drain it into a big bowl) as it is great to cook with. And it makes the best breads. I keep small juice bottles in the freezer with the whey in it.
Have a cheesy Day.
Becky
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My new life as a widow, mother, and Nana. This is now about our new journey down the road of new beginnings, our ups and downs, and what we are doing and learning. And hoping to keep as much of our old ways as I can, while learning new ways along this road. We live off a fixed income and make as much as we can ourselves. We find new ways to use old things, or use them in a different way. We try to live as simple as we can, by choice. I’m hoping that this blog will help others along their journeys in life. As our journeys here on earth are changing, some changes we like while others are hard on us,but by God’s grace we will make it through them all.
The simple life, living off God’s land, one day at a time.
(Before becoming a widow)I’m a homesteading, homeschooler, farm mom and wife. I’ve been married 10+ years, kids(his ,mine and ours is 9). We raise and grow 80%+ of what we eat. I enjoy : knitting, cooking from scratch, reading, blogging, canning, quilting, and more. My husband has prostate cancer in his bones. So I’m now learning all about that and new drugs. I love learning new things. I like to find all the ways I can to stretch a dollar, it’s become a mission. I am very creative and try to make do with what I have on hand. And would like to share with others what I know. I by no means know it all. We started living off the farm more then ten years ago. Tommy said I could stay home with the kids. What a blessing. But with only one income and 5 mouths to feed, well I start homesteading, farming, gardening, canning out of have too. Now I do it because it’s just much better food. The Lord has blessed us much over the years. We have only had the Internet for a few months, we have no cable etc. We do have power but we hang clothes out side, use the power very wisely, it’s going up in cost too.
Lately, a lot of my friends have ask me how to do this or that, how to store food, what to store. So I started blogging, they can come here.
Welcome to our life on a farm.
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This is so interesting! I thought making our own cheese was out of the question. I was under the impression that it was difficult and required a lot of special equipment. Thanks for opening my eyes, Becky!
Joyce
Wow – that is so cool! I would *love* to try making cheese. This is wonderful information, Becky. As always, you are such an inspiration.
)
Stacie
I’ve made mozzarella with the cheesemaking kit (but only with one gallon of milk) and it’s so easy and so much fun, and you’re right, it’s so much better than store bought.
You are an amazing person! I have just found your blog and I am fascinated by it- I thought I was frugal using coupons- you are the Queen of this stuff!!!!
Thanks for such a wonderful Blog!!!!!
I wish I could help you in someway? Do you have a paypal addy? I left my email so you can email me- I would love to even send you a copy of More with Less cookbook – I think you would love it! Please email me- ….
Amanda
Amanda,
I am glad you like my blog. And thank you again for stopping in. And thank you for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. I do have a copy of More with Less cookbook, I picked it up at a thrift store for $.50, and love it. Thank you for being thoughtful enough to send one.
Hope you have a wonderful day. And may God bless you to overflowing.
Becky
Becky,
This is something I have always wanted to try and it’s just been one of those projects that always seems to get put off. I’m going to go check out the link to that kit you posted. Also, what type of shredder/grinder is that in the picture? It shredded all your cheese so perfectly.
Oh, one more thing. I’ve heard that some people save the whey because drinking it is a good cure for an upset stomach. I’ve never done it so I can’t vouch for it, but I’ve seen that in several places in blogland. Just thought I’d pass that along.
Would this be a good project to do as a family? We are currently reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” books and my little girl is fascinated at how Laura’s family made food. Wondering if a 6 year old could help make this cheese.
D.
The shredder did not have a name on it. I have had it for over 18 yrs. Sorry. But it works great!! You should really try the cheese it’s easy and tastes wonderful.
Yes, some people drink the whey like a lemon aid type drink and add sugar. I use it in making breads.
Becky S.,
This would be a great family project. My daughter loves to help make it, and eat it while it’s still hot. LOL
Becky
I have the same shreader/grinder that you have for the person asking about it. I can’t recall the name of it either and have been searching for my paperwork on it. I bought it at a home and garden show when I bought my cookware. The cookware is Kitchen Craft made by West Bend. I think the grinder was made by someone else, but I bought it from them and will continue to search for the name for you.
It comes with six different cones, and they are Fantastic to have. Good Luck.
Don,
Mine has 6 different cones,too. And they are still as sharp as when I first got them. I love my shearder/ grinder.
Hope you can find the name. Thank you for stopping in.
Becky
Hello Becky,
We found your site for making cheese, and we
love it, my friend has 3 cows, so we have plenty of milk.
It`s been a couple of months that we have been making cheese. You have a great site. If you find any new recipes for making different kind of cheese, you can email me. Again Thank`s for sharing your pride and joy.
Norma Clarke & Camil Cyr
I made the Mozzarella this weekend. I had to use liquid rennett as the dry cubes were not available. I use 1 gallon of mike so I used 10 drops of liquid rennet in two tespoons of water. Instead of getting the whey out like you suggested, I followed my fathers instructions (since he was standing there directing the operation) I put the cheese curds into a white handkerchief and twisted the ball until it was dry. The result was a dry glob. I kneeded the ball but never got to the glossy stretchy part. It tastes alright but it is not like yours. Do you suppose it was the liquid Rennet or the twisting that got me into trouble? Also, now that I am trying to store the balls in salted water in the fridge,the balls covered in a slimy melted cheese mess. When I wash the slim off, the cheese is fine. What should I do? This was my first attempt at cheese making. I love it.
Andrea,
http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/21.html here is the recipe I used. After draining the whey, did you reheat the cheese and knead again. This(heat up and knead) needs to be done a few times to get to the glossy stretchy look. I just store the cheese in fridge in a lidded bowl. And shred and freeze it. I have never used a salt water to store the cheese. Hope this helps some. Thanks for stopping in.
Becky
Can I use regular milk from the grocery store? And why do you have to buy the cheesemaking kit only once? I thought is was a bit much at $24.95 because I thought I would have to buy it every time I wanted to make a little bit of cheese made. Does the milk matter a whole bunch? Thanks, Donna
Donna,
Yes, you can use store brought milk. The kit tells you what kind of store milk to use,recipe for using powdered milk, other tips and ideas. That I can not list due to copyright. After you buy the kit once, all you will have to buy is the rennet, citric acid ( or use my recipe for lemon juice).I highly recommend the kit, it is worth it. You will not be sorry if you really want to make the cheese. If you really can’t afford the kit, read all the links I put in the above post. And look around the site for recipes. Then you will only need to buy the rennet. But really the kit is great and give you everything you will need.
Hope this helps. Thank you for stopping in.
Have a great day,
Becky
Thank you so much for such an amazing blog! I made cheese 3 times in my life years ago, I bought a little box in the store of something I cannot remember the name right now…sorry! But you make it look so amazing! My question is: I am a gleaner and I get sometimes lots of milk, with dates of 1 to 5 days past or same day; sometimes we are lucky and we get milk with dates in the future. Is it OK to make the cheese with milk that is not ALL that fresh and already pasteurized? Do you have recipes for American cheese?
thanks!
Marcie
Marcie,
As long as the milk does not smell and taste bad, it should be fine. It’s okay to make cheese with pasteurized as long as it’s not Ultra-pasteurized(which should be labeled on the jug.)The extra milk can be frozen in smaller bottles, to drink in the future. Or make ice cream with it and freeze it. You could can some to cook with. ( in my search box type in can milk, this will take you to the post here about how to.) I am sorry I do not have a American cheese recipe but I do have one for sharp cheddar cheese, which I have not tried yet as I am waiting in Tommy to make my cheese press. Hope this helps some. And you are blessed to get so much milk, almost like having your own milk cow, without all the work. lol
Have a great day.
Becky
-I have a question about the cheese salt. Can I use sea salt if it has no iodine? I use sea salt more than regular table salt. I’m really interested in making this Mozzarella being that I’m half Italian and would like to surprise my 97year old Italian Aunt with some fresh cheese. Thanks for any help or guidance.
Matt
Matt,
I am not sure about the salt. As I do not use salt at all. I know the recipe calls for it but the cheese is also wonderful without it. And I believe it’s only used (salt) if store in icebox for days, but here I’m lucky if it last to dinner. They eat it as soon as it’s cool enough to touch.
Hope this helps.
Becky
-So you can just use ReaLemon instead of citric acid from what I’ve read, correct? I can’t seem to find citric acid near me except for a pharmacy where it’s $15 for a 4 oz. bottle. I am lucky enough to live near arguably the largest Amish population in the world here in Ohio, so raw milk shouldn’t be a problem. Also even the local stores carry milk from a dairy that is only about an hour away. Their milk is pasteurized and homogenized, but not ultra pasteurized. And no growth hormones are used on the cows their milk comes from. Thanks for a wonderful site!
Becky, can you half the recipe and use half of a gallon of milk?
-I made my mozzarella the other day. Everything seemed to turn out fine. But one thing was the taste. It didn’t have much of a taste at all except for the flavor of the milk. Is this the way it’s supposed to be?
You can find photos on other kinds of italian cheese products such as pecorini also on our http://www.renieri.net/pecorini_e.html
Good vision and W italian cheese!