Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

Start this cheese in the evening.

Maintain the milk at 90 degrees F in a double boiler.

Mix the buttermilk and yogurt separately with a little of the milk to remove lumps, then blend into the rest of the milk.

Add the rennet solution and mix thoroughly.

Let sit until the curd sets and breaks clearly when tested with a finger - about 20 to 30 minutes.

Cut the curd into ½ inch cubes as evenly as possible.

Maintain at 90 degrees F for 15 minutes, stirring with a clean hand.

The curds are fragile because they have not been cooked, so stir very gently, just enough to keep them from matting together.

Gently pour the curds into a cloth lined colander.

When the whey has drained, the curd should be in one solid piece.

Rinse in cold water, then soak in a pan of cold water for 15 minutes.

If it is a big batch, cut the curd into several blocks, 4 or 5 inches square.

Drain off most of the water, then refrigerate the curds, or keep in a cool, 40 degrees F place.

Leave them in a colander or other container that allows drainage.

The next day, warm the cheese to room temperature so it will ripen, or become more acidic.

After an hour or so, test the cheese for acidity as follows.

Cut off a small piece of cheese and cut it into three ½ inch cubes.

Heat several cups of water in a sauce pan to 165 degrees F.

Put in the cubes and stir for 5 minutes.

Remove the cubes and mold them together like modeling clay.

Reheat the lump of cheese in the water for a minute, then remove and work or mold it together a little more.

After repeating several times, try to pull the curd apart.

If it breaks or tears, and clouds the water, it is underripe.

Wait an hour or so and test again.

When it pulls into a long rope and can be molded together again, it is ready.

It will have a glossy surface and* will cloud the water only slightly.

The whole cheese is treated somewhat like the test sample to finish it.

Cut it into small cubes and put them in a pan.

Heat water to 170 degrees F and pour enough over them, to cover the curds by about 2 inches.

Keep a thermometer in the pan and let the temperature drop to 135 degrees F.

Press the cubes together, and then knead the cheese, by stretching and pulling it, as if working modelling clay.

It should become "plastic" and stretch into long strands.

When it does, shape into half pound balls, or make a thick rope, fold it in half, and twist several times to make a decorative oblong cheese.