Everyone loves pizza, and real Italian pizza is made with fresh, soft mozzarella cheese.

In addition, mozzarella often appears in recipes for all kinds of fresh salads.

This is a very tasty, and most importantly, interesting type of cheese in terms of texture.

Very tender and tasty.

It is quite possible to find it on the shelves today, but its price is very high.

So try to make mozzarella at home.

It is not as difficult as it seems at first glance.

homemade mozzarella cheese recipe

So, how to cook tender and tasty mozzarella cheese at home?

Ingredients:

• 4 liters of milk (it is better to take fatty, rustic, but from a proven cow);
• 1.5 teaspoons of citric acid;
• 175 ml of water;
• (it is better to buy it in a pharmacy, be sure to read the instructions before use).

How to make mozzarella cheese at home:

So, for starters, dilute citric acid in water. Such a component is needed to give the cheese the desired consistency.

Water should be cold, preferably boiled, since bleach can kill some of the components of the acid, then you will not succeed.

So, stir the right amount of acid in 125 ml of water until completely dissolved.

Now take the remaining water (50 milliliters left), dissolve the enzyme in it.

The exact amount will be indicated on the package, but it will take a little, about a small pinch.

Stir the powder until dissolved.

Pour the milk into a saucepan, it should not be hot, the maximum temperature is 17 degrees, if this value is exceeded, then the milk will immediately curdle when the acid is added, which is not yet required.

Start gradually pouring the citric acid solution into the milk. Pour it in a thin stream, stirring constantly the milk.

Now put the pan on the stove, the fire should be weak. It is better to take a special thermometer to control the temperature. You need to heat the milk to 35-38 degrees, no more.

Pour the enzyme dissolved in water into the warmed milk, mix everything well. Stir everything for 2-3 minutes. In this case, the fire should be minimal, and then (after 3 minutes) it can be turned off.

Cover the pan with a lid, wait about 30-40 minutes. The folding process should begin. You form a clot - curd mass. In this case, the mass should not stick to the fingers.

Catch the clot with a colander or slotted spoon, shake off excess liquid.

The resulting whey (what is left after folding), heat up to about 85-90 degrees. Pour off part of it (about a glass) and salt (to taste). In this composition, you will store the finished cheese.

Dip the cheese into the heated whey. Wear thick gloves so you don't burn your hands.

After about 10-20 seconds, remove the clot, remember it, stretch it. He shouldn't break.

Cheese is one of the most delicious foods. It is eaten almost all over the world. It is perfect for both daily diet and festive table. There are many cheese flavors - sweetish, salty, tart, spicy. Each country has its own preferences for the perfect cheese.

So, Italians are very proud of their mozzarella. This cheese has an extraordinary taste, delicate, with a creamy aroma.

The history of mozzarella

For the first time in Italy, monks became interested in this product in search of the most suitable product for wine. It was then that buffalo milk was tested for the production of cheese. In the monastery of San Lorenzo, pilgrims were offered cheese and a slice of bread. The monks called the cheese "mozza".

A couple of centuries later, "mozza" was already sold in the rich markets of Naples. It was then that Bartolomeo Scappi mentioned a cheese called mozzarella in his cookbook.

Buffaloes are actively bred, mozzarella is being produced more and more for sale. And in the 18th century, the first cheese factory was built in the province of Caserta.

Description and main types of mozzarella

Mozzarella can be distinguished from other cheeses by its appearance - these are medium-sized balls that float in brine. It is considered the most delicious one-day product, but to taste it, you need to go to Italy.

There are several varieties of mozzarella - hard and smoked varieties.

Mozzarella cheese is layered in its structure, has a delicate creamy taste, reminiscent of cottage cheese. Made according to the classic recipe from buffalo milk, it is saltier and fatter than that made from cow's milk.

Due to the soft structure, it is given different forms, which is why it is called differently:

• Large balls are called bacconcini;
• Smaller balls - chileggini;
• Small lumps the size of a pea - pearls;
• In the form of a spit - trachcha (it is still often smoked).

Health benefits of mozzarella

Mozzarella cheese is good for the body, because it has a low calorie content, it contains only 20% fat. It is often used in diet food. It is rich in calcium and other beneficial substances. Recommended for children, the elderly and pregnant women.

The effect of this product on the body is manifested in the following beneficial properties:

• The potassium contained in cheese improves the functioning of the heart muscle;
• Calcium and phosphorus strengthens nails, teeth and bones;
• Sodium stabilizes water balance;
• Skin and vision are protected thanks to vitamin A;
• Cholesterol levels remain normal due to the choline present in the composition.

Inventory for making mozzarella at home

To prepare at home, you will need the following inventory:

• Dishes for heating milk (not aluminum);
• Special square or round cheese mold with holes (to drain the liquid);
• Thermometer, preferably electronic;
• A heavy object used as a press;
• Sterile gauze.

mozzarella recipe

Before you start making cheese, you need to dissolve citric acid in ½ of the volume of cold water. The rennet is also miscible with water.

Milk needs to be warmed up a little, up to 17-18 degrees, add a solution of citric acid to it, constantly stirring the liquid. Then place on a small fire and bring the temperature of the composition to 36 degrees.

The turn of the rennet composition has come, it is also mixed with heated milk, stirred for three minutes.

After that, the fire can be extinguished, the container can be covered and left for forty minutes to form a clot that does not stick to the hands.

You need to wear gloves, get the resulting mass from the container and put in a colander. And the liquid that remains in the pan, bring to a boil, salt.

Then the cheese is lowered into the hot salted liquid for a few seconds, after which the cheese mass can be tried to be stretched in the hands. Good elasticity should be present, if the clot does not break, then the process went well.

The mass needs to be kept in the liquid for some more time, while trying to knead it better. This will give it uniformity and ductility.

Here is the mozzarella cheese. The next step is to choose a mold for the cheese. You can form balls of any size or strip, and serve.

Another homemade mozzarella recipe

Required:

• 1.5 liters of cow's milk;
• 250 ml of high quality purified water;
• Rennet - pepsin - 2 teaspoons;
• Half a teaspoon of citric acid;
• Table salt - 1 teaspoon.

We take half the volume of cold water for a solution with citric acid.

Pour milk into a saucepan, do not heat, but immediately add an acidic solution. We bring the liquid to a temperature of 30 degrees, pour out the pepsin diluted in the remaining cold water. Mix well, remove from the stove and leave for half an hour. After this time, let's look into the pan - a mass has formed there, similar to cottage cheese.

This mass must be cut into several small parts. Once again, the container is heated, the temperature should not exceed 35 degrees. The mass is constantly stirred.

Remove from heat, strain into a colander and squeeze lightly. We bring the water to a temperature of 90 degrees, put the cheese mass into it, and after five minutes the homemade mozzarella is ready. We put on rubber gloves so as not to burn our hands, knead the cheese into a ball and place it in cold water.

• Before cooking mozzarella at home, all containers must be thoroughly rinsed and poured over with boiling water. This will help to avoid the multiplication of foreign microorganisms in milk and cheese;
• According to the recipe, milk requires heating, it is better to do this in a water bath, so it will warm up evenly;
• The fat content of milk should be medium. Any will do - whole, pasteurized and even dry. But the taste of cheese directly depends on the quality of the dairy product, so it’s better not to save money and use fresh whole;
• The water in which the rennet and bacteria (or citric acid) dissolve should be clean, better distilled, not too cold, better than room temperature. The brine in which the mozzarella is placed should, on the contrary, be very cold, the colder the better;
• To increase the moisture of mozzarella instead of citric acid, you need to use a mixture of thermophilic bacteria. Then it will turn out very soft and moist;
• When preparing mozzarella, the stage where the cheese should stretch well is important. If you hurry and do not wait for this moment, the product will turn out to be hard and rubbery in taste. If overexposed, the mass will fall apart;
• After cooking, mozzarella is placed in brine and put in the refrigerator. The longer it is in the liquid, the saltier it will be;
• Before use, the cheese must be removed from the brine and dried with a towel.

Features of storage and serving

Mozzarella cheese is not subject to long-term storage, eaten immediately after cooking. But if you keep it in a salty brine for a while, it will taste more piquant. It is permissible to keep it in this brine for no more than three days. If the cheese has acquired a sour or bitter taste, it means that it has deteriorated and is no longer suitable for food. If this type of cheese is left without brine, the product will become dry and lose its delicate flavor.

The brine is quite easy to prepare:

• A liter of whey;
• 4 tablespoons of salt;
• Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.

Mozzarella cheese must be stored by placing it in brine and putting it in the refrigerator.

Serve at the table as a separate dish as an appetizer or as part of other dishes. Mozzarella cheese goes great with tomatoes and basil in the traditional Italian dish Caprese, also goes well with white wine. Mozzarella is often eaten as a dessert with fruits and sweet wines.

In Italy, cheese is used in most recipes. Mozzarella will be good in cooking pasta, lasagna and pizza. This delicate product will add sophistication to dishes.

Salad with mozzarella and arugula

You can surprise your guests by offering them such a salad as an appetizer. It will require the following ingredients:

• 200 grams of mozzarella;
• Arugula - 60 grams;
• Fresh tomatoes in the amount of two pieces (you can use cherry tomatoes);
• Basil;
• Olive oil - 30 grams;
• thyme, spices to taste;
• Balsamic vinegar;
• 2 cloves of garlic.

To prepare the sauce, mix olive oil, basil, thyme, garlic and spices. Cut the cheese into thin slices, tomatoes into rings, lay the arugula on top, pour over the sauce. In addition, shrimp, olives, mushrooms are often used. Components can be alternated at your discretion.

Delicate and light salad is ready. Bon appetit!

Cooking mozzarella at home is a simple process, and the pleasant delicate taste of this cheese will surely please and serve as a reward for your efforts.

Delicate layered mozzarella with a barely perceptible creamy taste is the basis for many dishes - various snacks, salads, pizza.

Equipment

• Pot;
• Cheese mold (can be replaced with a colander);
• Latex gloves.

Ingredients

• 7-8 liters of milk;
• 1/4 tsp thermophilic starter (for example, Uglich-TNV);
• 1/2 tsp liquid rennet;
• 1/4 tsp calcium chloride solution;
• 1/4 tsp lipases.

Mozzarella cheese set

Recipe

1. On low heat, heat the milk to 38C. Sprinkle thermophilic starter and lipase on the surface of the milk. Leave for 2 minutes and then gently mix the whole mass.

2. Add rennet dissolved in 30 ml of water and calcium chloride diluted in 50 ml of water. Gently mix the entire volume of milk. Cover with a lid and leave for 40-50 minutes to form a clot. Important! Do not remove the pan from the fire and try to maintain a temperature of 38C.

3. After a clot has formed, cut it into cubes with sides of 1.5 - 2 cm. Stir the whole mass for 5 minutes and leave to separate the whey from the curd.

4. Pour off a little whey so that the cheese grain is slightly covered with it. Leave for 1 hour. During this hour, the grain must be stirred periodically.

5. Transfer the cheese grain into a mold (or colander). When the remaining whey drains, transfer the form with grain into a saucepan, and put the saucepan in water at a temperature of 38C and leave it for 2 hours. Make sure the temperature doesn't drop.

6. Remove the cheese from the mold and cut into cubes. Transfer the cubes to a saucepan and fill them with water at a temperature of 70-75C, stir so that the cheese grain melts a little.

7. Put on gloves so as not to burn yourself, and collect the cheese into a homogeneous mass. Start stretching the cheese: stretch the mass and fold it in half, do this several times so that the structure of the Mozzarella is layered. The shape and size can be chosen according to your taste. Pull out small balls or braid a pigtail.

8. The resulting cheese must be placed in cold water with salt and left for a short time so that the Mozzarella is salted.

Mozzarella is an extractable fresh cheese, which is an indispensable ingredient in most dishes of many beloved Italian cuisine. Mozzarella is stored in brine, and it is customary to eat it fresh. One-day Mozzarella (giornata, it.) is considered the most delicious, but you can only try it in Italy itself... or cook it yourself in your own kitchen =) cases - much tastier. We will cook mozzarella in standard sizes - bocconcini (balls the size of a large cherry tomato). This recipe is traditional, not simplistic, and requires the addition of a bacterial starter culture to the milk, which has a positive effect on the taste of the resulting mozzarella. So, roll up your sleeves, put on gloves and go ahead - make your own mozzarella! =)

Ingredients

4 l.

cow or goat milk

not UHT

1/16 tsp

dry thermophilic sourdough

very well suited sourdough with extra. strain Lb. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus in the composition

1/4 tsp

liquid rennet (veal)

dissolve in 50ml water temperature 30-35ºС
or rennet in another form, at the dosage indicated on the package
use animal rennet for this recipe

1/4 tsp

calcium chloride 10%

use if using pasteurized milk
dissolve in 50 ml of water at room temperature

1/8 tsp

[optional] lipase

dissolve in 50 ml of water at room temperature, let it brew for 20 minutes

Salting brine

750

medium sea salt

not iodized

2.2 l.

boiled water or mozzarella whey

1/2 tbsp

calcium chloride 30%

1/2 tsp

white vinegar

After cooking you will receive: mozzarella balls with a total weight of 400 g.

Equipment

5 l.

pot

enameled or stainless steel, for heating milk

pot

for a water bath , sized to fit the main pot

3 l.

bowl or saucepan

for kneading cheese mass, ceramic, glass, enameled or stainless steel

food thermometer

long knife

for cutting a clot

wooden spoon

[optional] set of mini measuring spoons

[optional] set of measuring cups

thick rubber gloves

you will need to work with hot cheese mass, so you may need to put on another cloth under rubber gloves so as not to burn your hands

colander

Sterilize all equipment before making cheese. You can wash it and pour boiling water over it

Mozzarella Cheese Schedule (from start to finish)

• 3.5 hours to prepare cheese grain
• 2-3 hours to build up acidity
• 30 minutes for molding
• [optional] 2 hours for salting in brine

Mozzarella cheese step by step recipe

1. Heat the milk in a bain-marie to 38°C, stirring slowly so that it heats evenly. Turn off the heat. Add calcium chloride, stir.
2. Sprinkle the starter powder on the surface of the milk, let stand and absorb moisture for 3 minutes, then mix thoroughly, distributing the starter over the entire volume of milk.
3. Cover the pan with a lid, wrap and leave for 60 minutes to activate the culture and create the desired level of acidity.
4. Stir the milk, then slowly pour in the diluted enzyme, constantly stirring the milk from top to bottom to distribute it as much as possible throughout the milk.
5. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 50-60 minutes to curdle the milk.
   [optional] To accurately determine the required clotting time and obtain a clot of the desired consistency and calculate the clotting time using the formula K = F * M (multiplier = 3.5, F - flocculation time in minutes). After the calculation, cover the pan with a lid and leave the clot alone for the remaining number of minutes.
6. Swipe. If the clot is not dense enough, leave for another 10-15 minutes.
7. First, cut the calla (clot) vertically along and across. Cut interval - 5 cm. Do not cut horizontally yet!
8. Let the clot rest for 5 minutes and only then cut it into cubes with a side of 1.5-2 cm. The smaller the cube, the less moisture will be in the resulting cheese. After cutting, stir the clot.
9. Next, you need to leave the clot for 1 hour. During this time, the clot will settle to the bottom of the pan. Stir it every 5-10 minutes so that the grains do not stick together. Don't stir too often or the mozzarella will come out too dry.
10. With a large slotted spoon, we move the cheese grain into a colander (do not throw away the whey!). At this stage, it is important to maintain a fairly high temperature of the clot, as there is an active work of bacteria and an increase in acidity. And the right level of acidity is the key to successfully stretching mozzarella.
11. To maintain the temperature, fill a sink or water bath with water at a temperature of 38-39 ° C, put an empty pan in which you cooked the cheese grain, and already in this pan - a colander with a clot. Leave the clot under these conditions for 2 hours.
12. [optional] While the future mozzarella is resting in the warmth, you will have time to cook from the remaining whey. Do not throw away the whey left after the ricotta, we will need it later. Cool down to max. 82° N. P.S. whey can be replaced with water at the same temperature if you don't want to cook the ricotta, but we'll stick to tradition in this recipe).
13. [optional] Pour also 2.2 liters of whey (while it is hot) and prepare a brine based on it in the proportions indicated above. Place the brine in the refrigerator. Instead of whey in brine, you can use ordinary filtered boiled water.
14. After 2 hours, it is necessary to test the cheese mass for extensibility. Pour some of the whey or water from step 13 into a small bowl. Cut off a small piece from the mass and place it in this bowl for a few minutes. Take out a piece and pull it by the edges in different directions, trying to stretch it 2-3 times. Stretches and does not tear? Okay, then your cheese mass is ready. If not, repeat the test every 15-25 minutes (may take up to 3 hours).
    Attention! This test is very important and you should not proceed to the next step until you are sure that the future mozzarella pieces are stretching properly. Hurry up - and then nothing will work. If you overexpose the cheese mass for acidity, then it will not stretch, but break into small pieces, so start stretching as soon as the melt test is passed.
15. As soon as the mass begins to stretch, move it to a cutting board and cut into columns with a side of about 2 cm.
16. The most interesting, but not easy part will follow. Be careful, it will be hot! Don't forget the gloves =)
17. We take a pan in which the final part of the mozzarella cooking process will take place. We shift the chopped cheese mass there.
18. Pour 2-3 cups of hot water or whey (87 ° C) into the pan so that the liquid slightly covers the clot. Pour carefully, being careful not to pour hot water directly onto the cheese mass.
19. Slowly stir the clot with a wooden slotted spoon. Gradually, the pieces will begin to lose shape and merge together. If this does not happen within 5 minutes, add a couple more cups of hot liquid (water or whey) until you see that the pieces have turned into a single plastic mass.
20. Lift the mass with a wooden spoon, it will stretch under its own weight. If the mass begins to stretch worse, add another mug of hot liquid.
21. When our mass began to resemble melted toffee, lift it again with a wooden spoon and wrap it around it to make a single lump.
22. Drain the water and use gloved hands to stretch and squeeze the mozzarella ball several times. Pull hard, but don't overdo it and break the mass.
23. To give the final shape to our mozzarella, divide the mass into several balls of the size of your choice. In our case - the size of a tangerine (if this is your first experience with mozzarella, divide the mass into 2 equal parts, it will be easier).
24. Take one of the pieces of the mass. It must be made smooth and round, spherical. To do this, we take it with both hands and, as it were, begin to wrap it inward. It's like kneading dough. We repeat this action until it looks like a small ball, smooth and round on top and with a small "navel" on the bottom. Gently pinch the bottom of the ball with your fingers. We repeat the procedure for the rest.
25. Pour ice water into a cup and place the resulting mozzarella balls in there to harden them. Then take them out and dry them, then store them in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
26. You can prepare a brine (the proportions are indicated above). Place the mozzarella in the brine for 2 hours. The longer the mozzarella is in the brine, the saltier it will become. If you want to freeze mozzarella, take it out of the brine and pat dry before freezing.
27. Everything, on this our mozzarella is ready. The tastiest, of course, is fresh mozzarella giornata, but this cheese tolerates freezing well, so it can be stored for a long time. It is most convenient to freeze it, after dividing it into portioned pieces. You can also store mozzarella in mild whey brine (a tablespoon of salt per liter of whey). To prevent the cheese crust from being washed out, you can add a little (literally a few drops) of vinegar and calcium chloride to the brine.

Some have only heard about the Italian product, others had the opportunity to try it, but few people really know what it is. You can learn about all the intricacies of production only by making mozzarella cheese at home, making it will not take more than an hour, but it will give excellent results. In the future, many hearty dishes can be prepared from cheese delicacy, because the refined taste of a semi-solid product will decorate any of them.

It is difficult to completely repeat the original cheese recipe in the realities of our country, primarily due to the fact that in Italy (where the product comes from) Mozzarella is made from buffalo milk.

We can hardly find it, so homemade, in fact, as well as industrial, cheese of Italian origin is made from cow's or goat's milk. But the cheese delicacy will not be tasteless or far from the original, since it is easy to reproduce the elasticity of the consistency and the tenderness of the taste using just the right technology.

Ingredients

• - 2 liters + -
• - 0.2 sachets + -
• — 250 ml + -
• Pepsin - 1 sachet + -

Making mozzarella from milk

Homemade cheese fermentation stage

During this time, a clot should form, if this does not happen, you still need to wait. It is important to wait for complete fermentation.

Checking the completion of fermentation is simple: dip a clean finger into the milk mixture, if it gets dirty, then fermentation did not occur, if the finger remains clean, we can proceed to the next stage of preparation.

Curd ripening stage

We cut the finished milk clot into squares with a knife right in the pan. The approximate size of each square is 5X5. To get a similarity of squares, you need to cut the mixture also at an angle.

It is best to make mozzarella in a water bath, but you can warm it up on the stove. It is not necessary to heat more than up to 42-43 ° C.
At the same time, do not forget to stir the mixture all the time so that the pieces of already formed cheese do not stick together.

• With a slotted spoon or with your own hands, we shift the mozzarella into a colander with a small hole or into a specially prepared sieve.
• Drain the rest of the whey, slightly pressing down on the cheese mass. However, you should not press hard, as you can push the cheese through the holes.
• Transfer the mass from the sieve to a plate. The texture of the cheese should be similar to dough.

How to make homemade mozzarella brine

The whey that remains in the pan is divided into parts.

1. Pour 1/3 part into another container, add salt to it to taste, stir the whey until the salt is completely dissolved, then cool the mixture.
2. The remaining 2/3 of the serum is heated to 70-80 ° C.
3. We separate the piece we need from the total cheese mass and lower it into a saucepan with heated whey.

For 15 seconds, whey and cheese are continuously mixed. Then we check if the cheese pieces are ready.

To check the readiness of mozzarella, you need to take a silicone glove (the thicker the better) and remove a small piece of cheese from the pan.

Try to stretch it, if it breaks, then you need to continue heating the cheese. If not, we stop heating the cheese mass, and proceed to the formation of cheese balls.

You can make semi-solid “dough” not only balls, but also any other figures, for example, knots. In a word, sculpt the way you like.

We dip the blinded pieces into the chilled whey. This is necessary, otherwise the “sculpting” will lose its shape.

We remove the pieces in the serum overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, home-cooked Mozzarella cheese can be consumed.

There is an Italian product can be both fresh (that is, freshly extracted from whey) and dried. However, remember that dried cheese will gradually turn yellow.

Cooking homemade mozzarella: the secrets of success

It is pointless to talk about how to cook delicious Italian cheese at home if you do not initially choose the right ingredients for cooking. In order not to doom your culinary venture to failure in advance, follow simple recommendations for choosing and preparing products.

It is very important for cooking to take water purified from chlorine and various impurities, since pepsin “dies” under the influence of chlorine.

You can also use distilled water, but in no case take water from the tap.

Tip number 2: use homemade milk for future mozzarella

For any cheeses prepared at home, only natural ingredients are needed. Mozzarella is no exception.

Milk, on the basis of which the cheese product will be prepared, must be home-made, in extreme cases - farm. UHT milk is not recommended.

If you will pasteurize milk with your own hands, then make sure that its temperature during heating (lasting 30 minutes) does not exceed 60 ° C.

At the stage of making cheese, which requires heating the cheese mass on a stove or in a water bath, you can use a microwave oven. To do this, place a lump of cheese in the microwave and heat it for no more than 1 minute at a power of 1000 watts.

It is very important to warm the cheese mass evenly, but at the same time it does not boil. Please note that if your microwave has a different power, the warm-up time will also be different. The lower the W, the longer the lump will warm up, and vice versa. The main thing is to follow the changes in the cheese mass, it is from it that you need to determine the specific time for warming up.

As you can see, it is not at all necessary to spend a lot of money to taste your favorite Italian product. Anyone can make Mozzarella cheese at home.

By following all the recipe steps and choosing the right ingredients, you will be able to make a great cheese treat that is easy to prepare pizzas, casseroles, sandwiches, salads, sandwiches and many other delicious dishes.

Good luck with your cooking and, of course, bon appetit!