We used a kit that she bought years ago. It provides ingredients to make 30 batches of mozarella so can last a long time. I brought a gallon of whole milk to contribute to the project.
First we dissolved vegetable rennet in unchlorinated water.
Then we dissolved citric acid in a separate container with some of the unchlorinated water.
Next we poured the citric acid into the milk that was waiting in a big pot on the stove. Then we heated the mixture to 90 degrees.
Then we removed the pot from the heat and slowly stirred in the rennet.
After it rested for 5 minutes we uncovered the pot to reveal nicely separated curds (on top) and whey (underneath the floating curds). With a long knife my friend cut the curds into cubes, being sure the knife cut the whole way through.
Then we stirred the curds slowly and reheated them to 105 degrees.
Then the curds were separated from the whey with a slotted spoon.
Next we heated the curds in the microwave to a specific temperature, 135? I forget now exactly. Oops. See the giant bowl of whey behind the cheese curd?
Then comes the fun part... stretching the curd until it gets shiny. Magically it became mozarella cheese.
My friend rolled it into a large delicious ball and we and our kids enjoyed pulling off pieces to eat. My kids couldn't get enough...you'd think I never feed them!
It tasted great on our sandwiches at lunch too.
We split the cheese and the whey. Next I will attempt to make pizza dough with the whey. The kit offered many other recipes including instructions on how to make your own cheese sticks. I think it will be fun to make this with my kids when they are older. It's like a little chemistry project with all the measuring and heating.
And, it's yet another thing to add to my list of homesteading/domestic accomplishments with thanks to my friend, without whom probably none of it would have happened.
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