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Well, Would Ya Look What Came of a Little Gallon of Milk
One of the first cheeses I ever learned to make was this mozzarella. And it was a doozy.
I started out with pasteurized cow’s milk from the store and let me just tell you right now… that does not work. I tried and tried to get it to come together and it just wouldn’t. It was like these little tiny mess of grains, all seperated, floating in the whey but they wouldn’t clump up.
Now I’m the type that gets frustrated really easy but not in a “I give up kind of way”. More like “Honey, go to the store and buy all the milk they have, I’m staying up all night if I have to” kind of gal. It haunts me when things don’t work out and I cannot stop thinking about it until I get it right.
Then we started milking our goats.
And I tried again.
This time with fresh raw goat’s milk straight from our very own farm.
And it worked beautifully! Proud moment here!
It clumped (fancy, very proper term haha!). It stretched. It came together in my hands just like it was supposed to. I remember standing there in my kitchen holding this tiny little ball of cheese up to my cheese obsessed husband proud as can be. Turns out, start with good milk and you’ll get good cheese!
Recently, a farm friend down the way started selling raw Jersey cow milk. We aren’t milking the goats just yet this season, so I’ve been buying from her, and it works just as wonderfully. Raw goat milk or raw cow milk, both make a great mozzarella.
And to make my little farm heart happy, once you stretch your mozzarella and end up with just whey, put the whey right back on the stove. That’s ricotta waiting to happen.
Two cheeses from one little gallon of milk. Not bad for an afternoon in the kitchen!
What I Use In My Kitchen
Mozzarella Cheese from Raw Milk Video (s)
Below is a playlist- on the right hand side, toggle between videos in the playlist to see all the times I’ve made them. And come join me at the farmhouse if you want!
Mozzarella Cheese from Raw Milk Recipe
Mozzarella Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 gallon skimmed raw milk (I prefer to skim the cream from both our goats milk or cows milk, not necessary but I like it better!)
- 1/4 teaspoon Rennet
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Citric Acid
- 1/2 cup Water, divided
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Start by letting the milk sit in the fridge until the cream rises to the top. This takes less time and is easier with cows milk but our goats milk also separates the same way if left a little longer.
- Add the milk to the large pot and turn the heat to medium low. Heat the milk to 100 degrees.
- While the milk heats, get two small bowls or cups and add 1/4 cup water to each. To one, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid. To the other, add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid animal rennet. Mix them with the water.
- While the milk heats, add the citric acid mixture slowly using the wooden spoon to combine in a slow manner.
- Once the milk reaches 100 degrees, remove the milk from the heat and add in the rennet mixture, mixing carefully and slowly again. Place a lid on top of the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the lid and stick your finger into the cheese looking for a clean break when your finger lifts out of the cheese. This just means that if you skim your finger in the cheese, it will break in a solid, clean line with no residue left on your finger. If it doesn’t, put the lid back on and wait another 5 minutes.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the curd into a square pattern to break it up. Return it to a medium low heat. Stir often and allow the cheese to heat back up, this helps it to stretch.
- Pull the cheese curds out of the whey and start to squeeze them together to form a ball of cheese. Stretch it in all directions. At first it will tear. But as it gets warmer, it will start to stretch further and get smoother. Be careful, it will get hot. Most people wear gloves. You can also stretch it on the wooden spoon, letting it dangle.
- Once it’s got a pretty good stretch, add salt and stretch it in a few times. Replace the cheese back into the whey for a bit if it starts to cool and struggle stretching at any point.
- After stretching several times until smooth, form it into a ball or a long rope for string cheese (the kids favorite!). I will form it into a rope about 1/2 inch thick and a foot long then cut it into roughly 6 inch pieces to make string cheese pieces.
- Use some of the whey to store the cheese in the fridge to keep it from drying out.
- Put the rest of the whey back on the stove to make ricotta!
