Homemade Mozzarella
Ingredients:
6 cups whole milk (not homogenized and not ULTRA pasteurized; low temperature
pasteurized is okay)
1/4 cup distilled vinegar
Recipe:
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the whole milk. Stir gently to evenly warm it up for about 3-5 minutes, or until it feels warm to the touch—like bath water.
Turn off the heat and add the distilled vinegar. You should see the milk curdle immediately! Stir in the vinegar, then cover the saucepan and let it sit for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, scoop out the curds and transfer them to a bowl. The remaining liquid in the saucepan is the whey–you can save this to use for other recipes.
With clean hands, squeeze out the remaining whey from the curds and knead them together.
Place the kneaded curds back into the warm whey and let them sit for about 5 minutes.
Squeeze and knead again. Repeat this step a total of three times. For the third time, consider warming the whey on low heat for about 5 minutes to help melt the mozzarella together.
Once you achieve a smooth ball of mozzarella, transfer it to an ice bath and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to firm up.
While you can store the mozzarella in the fridge up to 2 days, I highly recommend enjoying it fresh for the best flavor and texture
