How To Make Fresh Mozzarella Cheese{with Images+ No Rennet}
If you are wondering how to make fresh mozzarella cheese at home, you have found the right recipe, which is easy and uses only two ingredients to make fresh mozzarella.
Yep, you heard me right, only TWO ingredients, and you won’t go wrong with this recipe.
This is a recipe without rennet, and it is so much easier and quicker; you will be shocked at the results.
I have been making mozzarella cheese for some time now, and the results have been great. The cheese is delicious and stretchy.
If you have never had fresh mozzarella, then it is time to change that right now. It is so easy to make that you would never buy fresh mozzarella from stores anymore.
I use this homemade mozzarella cheese on Neapolitan Pizzas, and the melt was outstanding!
Table of Contents
Is it worth it to make mozzarella cheese at home?
This question comes from fear of failing, so let’s address that!
The only times I have failed is when I used milk that didn’t have enough fat. Another aspect can be the temperature, but most of the time, in my opinion, it is the milk.
1. Milk Quality- I always prefer using Full-fat Buffalo milk that I get from a dairy nearby. It is cheap and convenient, so make sure you get your hands on some full-fat milk.
I have never had ANY issues with this milk and always got the best mozzarella cheese from it!
This recipe would not work with skimmed milk or low-fat cow’s milk(it can work, but you don’t get good-quality cheese from it).
Having the right kind of thick and creamy milk is crucial for this recipe. If you use thin, watered-down commercial milk, you will have a crumbly sort of mozzarella-like cheese, which you can still use.
You can blend that crumbly outcome in the blender with some milk and make cream cheese, or mix salt and pepper in it and use it as a filling. However, that is not what we are aiming for in this recipe.
Do not use ultra-pasteurised milk for this recipe.
2. Temperature- If the temperature is too high, this could form a different kind of cheese, not mozzarella.
Luckily, the temperature should be in a given range for mozzarella cheese to be made, so it is okay if you are 10 degrees above or below the perfect temp for mozzarella.
My point is, either way, nothing will go to waste in this recipe. Now that I have you convinced and stress-free let’s start making some homemade mozzarella cheese.
How To Make Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
1. Take full-fat raw buffalo milk and put it on the stove. Heat it up on a low flame and make sure to stir it so the temperature of the milk is even throughout.
2. Once the temperature of the milk reaches a point where when you dip your finger(wash your hands, please), the milk is warm to touch, but when you keep it in the milk for longer than 5-6 seconds, it gets a bit uncomfortable(not burning hot, if it feels like your finger is burning let the milk cool for 2-3 mins and check again), and you want to take it out then you know it is the right temperature.
If you are a beginner, then use a thermometer and heat up the milk to 120F.
If the milk is too hot, you will not get mozzarella cheese but grainy feta cheese, so if you heat up the milk too much, wait for it to cool down a bit. NEVER boil the milk.
3. Add 80 ml of vinegar to this milk mixture and stir it. Let it rest for 5 minutes, and you will see the cheese separating from the whey. If you think you need a bit more vinegar, you can add 10-20ml more.
You would see the milk curdling, forming a huge cheese mass; take that out and strain all the excess water.
4. Now, take out the cheese in a bowl. There are two ways to do this from here.
You can use a microwave, which, in my opinion, is the better option, or you can reheat the whey or the leftover liquid in the pot and use that to melt the cheese and stretch it.
Using a Microwave
5. If you are using a microwave, then place it in it for 30 seconds. Take out the cheese, and with a spoon or ladle, fold the cheese. You can do this with your hands too, but it will get very hot. Squeeze all the water out and place it back again in the microwave. Use gloves if it is too hot.
6. Repeat this three times so you are going to place the bowl of cheese in the oven, take it out, massage it using a spoon, and then place it back again for another 30 seconds.
7. Now, if you feel the need to do it once again, you can, but I got my shiny mozzarella ball after the third time(do not do this way too many times, or else the cheese can get way too hard).
8. Once you have shaped your mozzarella cheese into a ball, you can dunk it in cold water to harden it.
9. Your mozzarella cheese is ready.
Using the Whey Pot
1. If you are not into using a microwave, then you can use the same pot with the leftover milk liquid, also known as whey, and add some salt to it. Turn on the stove to medium-low heat so the whey doesn’t start boiling or heat up a lot.
2. Now dunk the cheese ball into the liquid and let it sit for 2 minutes. Now, take it out and start to squeeze out all the water from the ball.
3. Again, dunk it and squeeze the water out. Do this for a few times until the cheese is stretchy. The cheese will be hot, so you can use gloves if you can’t handle the heat.
You can also use a spoon and massage it in the intervals that you take it out from the water.
4. Do this until you get a shiny, smooth mozzarella ball.
5. Once you get the mozzarella ball, dunk it in cold water to harden. Now, enjoy your cheese.
How to store Fresh Mozzarella Cheese?
You can store the fresh mozzarella in whey water and use it within a week. You can add fresh water if the whey evaporates.
In my house, 2-3 days is a pretty good enough time, and most of the cheese is over by then. But sometimes, it lasts about 5-6 days safely in the fridge. Keep it in an airtight container.
But if you think you cannot finish the cheese within a week, then you should definitely freeze the mozzarella cheese to make it last longer.
Does Fresh Mozzarella Melt The Same As Regular Mozzarella?
Yes, if made right, fresh mozzarella melts the same way as regular or dry mozzarella that you get in supermarkets.
Honestly, the fresh mozzarella has a nice milky texture to it, and it tastes even better than the dry mozzarella, the only issue being the fresh mozzarella has a lot of water content.
The water content in fresh mozzarella is higher, and you need to dry the mozzarella before you use it on pizzas.
If you don’t, then you end up with pools of water on the pizza or sandwich, and that makes a mess.
Dry mozzarella/regular mozzarella, on the other hand, is in a dried form with less water content, making it easier to use on pizzas.
How to use fresh mozzarella on pizza?
You can shred it, or you can tear off some pieces and place it on top of the pizza. Either way, the pizza is going to taste amazing.
If you shred the cheese, getting an even layer of cheese on top of the pizza gets easier. The bits of pieces scattered evenly on the pizza will look more like a classic Neapolitan pizza.
Either way, the pizza is going to taste great!
How do you tell mozzarella is bad?
I have had mozzarella go bad in the refrigerator because I stored it there for over seven days.
And if that was not enough, I didn’t store it in an air-tight container. There would be more hope for that cheese in an airtight container.
Just freeze the mozzarella cheese after the seven-day mark. Period.
The signs that it went bad were it got very mushy and smelt slightly funky. I’m guessing it just started going bad, but the texture was almost creamy, which gave me off. Had to throw the whole thing!
How to shred fresh mozzarella?
First, drain the mozzarella cheese in a strainer so it can release all the excess water. You can also dry the entire block of cheese with some paper towel afterward.
Now, take a shredder and shred some of the cheese. It is not as tricky as it sounds.
Should You Store Fresh Mozzarella In Water?
Fresh mozzarella has no long shelf life, and it is best to consume it on the day you made it or purchased it. Storing it should be in brine or in whey to preserve the taste and texture of the cheese.
If you throw the whey of the fresh mozzarella, you can store it in water.
Place the cheese in a container and then pour cold water over it.
Place the container in the refrigerator.
This will preserve the fresh mozzarella for up to 5-7 days, but I recommend consuming it before the third day arrives to get the best of its quality.
I hope you like this post on how to make fresh mozzarella at home!
Homemade Mozzarella Cheese with 2 Ingredients
Equipment
- 1 Gloves (This is if you cannot handle the heat or use a spoon to fold the cheese.)
Ingredients
- 2 litres Buffalo Milk
- 80 ml Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Salt – Optional
Instructions
- Take raw buffalo milk in a pot and heat up on a low medium flame till it reaches 120F. Or if you do not want to use a thermometer then make sure that when you dip your finger in the milk you can comfortably keep it in there for 5-6 seconds before it starts getting too hot for your finger and you want to take it out.
- Turn off the heat. Add the 80ml of vinegar in milk. You will see the cheese curds separating from the milk and wait for 5 minutes for this process to complete.
- Now take out the cheese curd and put it in a microwavable bowl(if you cannot use a microwave then read the procedure above to see how to do it in a pot).
- Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds and then take it out and fold it in using a spoon, ladle or even your hands. If you are using your hands and cannot deal with the heat then make sure to use gloves.
- Put the bowl, back into the microwave again for 30 seconds and take it out to fold in the cheese. Repeat this process till you get a smooth ball of mozzarella cheese. It takes me 3 times to do this to achieve a nice smooth ball of cheese. Do not do it more than 4-5 times else the cheese can get a little rubbery.
- Once you are done shaping the ball and forming the cheese, dunk it in cold water so it can harden and you cannot change the shape anymore after this step.
- Finally, take the whey(leftover water from milk after cheese is extracted) and put it in the bowl along with the cheese ball so it doesnt get dry.
- Enjoy your cheese.
