Mozzarella

 This is my easiest mozzarella recipe yet!  Sometimes I start it in the morning and I dont finish it till the evening.

Mozzarella

makes very roughly a pound, depending on how much milk you use

Citric acid, for a gallon of milk you need 1.5 t, for a gallon and a half 2 1/4 t, for two gallon 3t

Rennet, for a gallon of milk you need 1/4t, for a gallon and a half you need1/4t plus 1/8t, for two gallon 1/2t

Kosher salt, for a gallon of milk you need 1t salt, for a gallon and a half you need 1 1/2 t salt, for 2 gallons you need 2t salt

Grab your biggest pot.  Add in a solid splash of cold water.  Then add in citric acid and swish it around to dissolve.

Add in your milk, either a gallon, a half gallon, or two gallons.

Turn on your burner and bring it up to 90 degrees or 95 max.  

While the milk is heating, prep your rennet.  Put it in a little cup/glass/bowl with a solid splash of water.

Remove your pot from the burner when it reaches 90.

Add the rennet water mixture with a wooden spoon in an up and down motion.  The goal is to mix it in but not agitate the milk too much.  Stir for just 30 seconds.

Let sit for 10 minutes minimum OR longer.  Sometimes I dont get back to it for hours.

After your wait time, you'll see a clear separation.  Using a slotted spoon or similar, scoop out the solids into a large bowl (this step is easier if you have waited longer than 10 minutes).  After you have all the solids, you can carefully pour some of the whey back into the pot.

If you have a microwave, heat your curds in the microwave for 1 minutes.  Then use your wooden spoon to kind of lift up your mass of curds.  It likely wont stretch but will break.  Heat it for another 30 seconds.  Try again. Eventually you will get to a point where it stretches.  Use your wooden spoon to lift up the curds and lift it up high so it can hang down and stretch.  Pour the whey back into the pot as it develops.  Keep repeating until the curds start to look shiny and smooth.  You might need to heat it up again.   When it's shiny, add in your salt.  Then heat it up one more time and stretch it to mix. (If you stretch your curds too much and remove too much whey, then your mozzarella will be a bit dry.  It still melts really well though.  It dont stretch it enough then it's too soft and will release whey while it bakes, which isnt really a problem in something like lasagna but not ideal in a sandwich.)

If you dont have a microwave, then you will do a similar technique to above but heat your whey to around 120-140 and either dip your curds into the whey or spoon some hot whey into your bowl to heat the curds till they stretch.

Form a ball, using a similar technique to making bread.  I do this step in the bowl but in the sink so I can run a little cold water to cool down my hands.  Once you have a nice ball, fill that bowl with cold water (ice optional) and let sit till cool.

Next you can make ricotta with the whey.  I have mixed success with ricotta from whey.