Quarantine Activity #4: Make your own mozzarella cheese

That's right! I made my own cheese the other day. But only after I finished making it, did I realize I could have used food colouring to make it a fun Easter pastel colour! Darn! 

Here's the recipe and instructions:

• ​4 letres / 1 gallon milk (you can use skim, 1%, 2%, or homogenized. However, the lower the fat content of the milk, the less stretchy the cheese will be.)
• 1/4 teaspoon (1/4 tablet) Rennet (available on Amazon) + 1/4 cup water
• 1.5 teaspoon citric acid + 1 cup water
• ​cooking thermometer & a large pot (bit enough to fit a gallon of milk)

​

1. Add Rennet to the 1/4 cup water and stir until combined. Set aside.
2. ​Add citric acid to the 1 cup water, combine, and add to your large cooking pot.
3. Heat the milk on your stove at a low temperature until your thermometer reaches 90 F - 95 F. This is a really low temperature! It'll barely be warm. If you heat it up to much, just turn off the heat and wait for the temperature to lower until it's back down at 90 F - 95 F. 
4. Remove the warm milk from the heat, and add in the Rennet + water mixture. Mix for several seconds until fully combined.
   
5. Cover your pot and allow to fit for 5-10 mins.
6. ​At this point, the milk will have curdled, and soft, chunky cheese curds will have separated from the liquid. It will look like mushy feta. Drag a small knife through your cheese until it's cut into 1 inch squares.
   
7. ​Put your pot back on the heat, and with your thermometer, allow it to heat to 105 F. Slowly stir your curdled cheese. The longer your stir, the firmer the cheese will be.
   
8. Now it's time to drain your curdled cheese! I scooped mine out of the pot into a bowl with a slotted spoon.
9. Now it's time to microwave the cheese. If you don't have a microwave, use this method: Place your cheese in a fine sieve, and submerge it in a pot of hot water (similar to how a double boiler would work, but with a sieve and not a pot). Use your thermometer and allow the internal temp of the cheese to raise to 135 F. Remove from heat and knead. You may have to do this a few times to keep the temperature of the cheese up.
10. ​If you are using a microwave, place your cheese in a microwaveable safe bowl, and put into the microwave for 30 seconds. Knead while it's still warm. You may need to microwave a couple more times to keep the temperature of the cheese up. 
    
11. The cheese will begin to get smooth and stretchy! Add a dash of salt as you're kneading the cheese for flavour. 
    
12. Form it into a ball, and it's ready to eat! Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge :)