Making Mozzarella

Yesterday we learned to make mozzarella cheese. We’d been meaning to get to it as the refrigerator shelves filled with more and more milk over the week, but when we were hindered by a lack of proper equipment. A few trips out to the Wilson Farmers Co-op, Tractor Supply, and the Kitchen Collection store at the local Outlet Mall were necessary to gather enough large stainless steel vats for the task.


The recipe we used calls for four gallons of goat’s milk. Two gallons need to be heated while two gallons are chilled. This meant we needed at least two 9-quart vats to hold the milk, plus two larger vats to hold the heating water or the ice water bath. Just when I thought we were ready, I read the instruction that called for combining all four gallons of milk into one vat and reheating the lot—and back to the Kitchen Collection I went for their 20-gallon stainless pot.

The refrigerator disgorged the heavy glass jugs with relief, practically sighing each time one of these weights was removed, the bottle emptied and tipped up to drain, then washed clean. While our Operations Manager is urging me to purchase a second refrigerator just for dairy, I’ve been pinching the purse strings shut—preferring to make cheese in order to lessen the load, and fearing that more space will just mean more chances for spoilage.

While the separate vats heated and cooled, I measured and mixed the lipase powder, citric acid, and rennet mixtures. While I do not yet thoroughly understand the roles of each of the ingredients, I am becoming less intimidated by them. When it came time to pour all four gallons together for reheating, I found that the 16-quart stainless pail was filled to the brim—before any thoughts of mixing or stirring—so I ladled off about a pint to please the resident cats and dogs.

When it came time to drain off the whey, I realized that our one colander was NOT going to be enough, and quickly called our oh-so-helpful next door neighbor. She was quick to come to the fence to trade her colander for some cheese-milk for her cats. Thank you, Theresa!

Once all of these little hurdles had been surmounted, I was faced with the most daunting task although I did not realize it until I tried stretching the cheese. The book instructions I was using would have me placing a handful of cut curds into hot water, then removing the lot to stretch the cheese until shiny, then balling the shiny cheese mass and setting it into an ice bath to chill. It was the stretching part that stymied me. I kept trying to follow the directions, and could sometimes see a bit of shine in stretching cheese, but mostly I was just squeezing off excess moisture and I had a bad feeling that this would result in dry cheese.

Thankfully a video on Gourmet Sleuth demonstrated the technique and instructed cooks to avoid losing any of the liquid butterfat that could be retained. The last few cheese balls came out looking somewhat more shiny and less lumpy and dry. Plus, the white cheese goat’s milk produces no longer looks quite so odd to me; for yellow cheese one must add coloring.

For a first batch, the results are not too bad. Indeed, the cheese is usable, even tasty. And the vast quantities of whey will serve to feed the dogs for a few days to come.

Cheese success!