How to make mozzarella at home

Mozzarella is considered to be originally Italian cheese, which, according to the traditional recipe, is made from buffalo milk. However, experienced housewives brought effective ways to cook a product based on cow or goat milk. At the same time, the taste qualities of the composition remain unchanged. There are a number of features to follow. Consider the most delicious recipes, give practical recommendations, highlight the dishes that can be prepared with the addition of mozzarella cheese.

Mozzarella cheese: classics of the genre

• citric acid - 25 gr.
• drinking water - 180 ml.
• fat milk (from 3.2%) - 4.3 l.
• rennet - in fact

1. In order to give the cheese a characteristic soft texture, dilute the citric acid powder with warm water (150 ml.), Wait for the granules to dissolve.In the remaining amount of water (30 ml.) Dilute the rennet. The exact amount specified by the manufacturer on the package, as a rule, requires about 1 pinch. When the powder is completely dissolved, proceed to the next step.
2. Pick up a wide saucepan, pour the milk into it. Make sure that the component is not warm or hot. Otherwise, when adding citric acid, the product will roll up, you do not need it yet. Pour citric acid solution into the milk while stirring with a wooden spatula.
3. Set the minimum power on the hob, put the pot on the fire. Prepare a thermometer to monitor the temperature. Heat the milk to 37 degrees, do not exceed this figure. In the heated dairy product, pour in the enzyme, knead the mass until smooth. Boil for another 3 minutes, then turn off the stove.
4. Cover the container, wait 45 minutes, during this period the mixture will start to turn off. You will see a clot form from the mass. Dip your finger into the mass, the composition should not stick to the skin. Remove the resulting clot with a skimmer, fold it in a colander to make the glass excess liquid.
5. Put the remaining whey in the pan on the fire, heat to 88 degrees. Pour off 350 ml of the total volume. Add salt, you can store the final product in the resulting solution. In a common container with whey, lower the clot of cheese, which was settled in a colander.
6. After a quarter of a minute, put on thick rubber gloves, remove the cheese and mash it with your hands. Stretch the product in different directions, knead, like dough. Properly cooked mozzarella should not stick to your hands. After that, again send the composition inside, after 20 seconds, remove and mash. Repeat until mozzarella is soft and weeping.
7. After achieving the desired effect, roll the sausage from the mozzarella, chop it up into slices or roll the individual balls. Optionally, add chopped olives, capers, sausage, hard cheese, ham, paprika, favorite seasonings. Such a move will allow you to create your own author's cheese, which will be enjoyed by the whole family.
8. To prepare the serum, which will increase the storage time to one week, use the following recipe. Divide the remaining whey from cooking the cheese into equal sections.Take a third of the total, salt, and you can pepper it if you wish. Cool, send mozzarella circles inside, store in the cold.

How to make mozzarella cheese balls

1. Before starting the formation of balls, it is important to make sure that the composition is fully prepared. Wear silicone gloves, remove the cheese from the whey, cut a slice. Stretch it as hard as possible. If the composition breaks immediately, the cheese is not ready. In cases where the stretch passes easily and evenly, you can start rolling the balls.
2. You can cook any items from mozzarella, whether they are sea knots, circles or cubes. It all depends on personal preference. In short, sculpt what you like. After forming the figures, lower them into the pre-cooled serum. This step can not be skipped, otherwise the creations will lose their shape.
3. Place the prepared balls / cubes in a food container, refrigerate for 10 hours. After the expiration date, start eating, catching the amount of cheese needed per serving with a slotted spoon. Mozzarella can be consumed both in fresh form and in dried form.It is important to remember that dried cheese eventually becomes yellow.

Practical recommendations

To make mozzarella cooking without unnecessary trouble, follow practical advice. Experienced housewives brought tricks that will facilitate your task.

1. In the process of cooking, use only filtered water. The fluid that flows through the pipes has a large amount of impurities and heavy metals. Also, tap water contains chlorine, which kills beneficial bacteria and makes cheese "dead." Moreover, when using liquid from the tap, the shelf life of the finished dish does not exceed 2 days.
2. As mentioned earlier, the traditional recipe involves the use of buffalo milk. However, as is known, it is impossible to get it within Russia. Replace the ingredient homemade goat or cow's milk, the quality of the cheese will not change. The main thing is to choose a product with a maximum degree of fat. In no case do not cook mozzarella on the basis of UHT milk. Some housewives will pasteurize the product themselves; in this case, the half-hour heating temperature should not exceed 60 degrees.
3. When you come to the stage of heating the cheese mixture on the stove, in the absence of this option, you can use a microwave oven. To properly manipulate, take a cheese clot, place it in a glass bowl. Set the device to about 1000 W, warm up the product for no longer than 70 seconds. The mass should be heated evenly, do not allow boiling. The duration of heating depends on the temperature characteristics of the device; at 700 W, the composition should be braked for 90 seconds.

Salad with mozzarella and red fish

• cheese - 120 gr.
• salt and pepper to taste
• seasoning is at the discretion
• cherry tomatoes - 8 pcs.
• purple onion - half head
• fresh parsley - 10 gr.
• fresh dill - 15 gr.
• mayonnaise or sour cream (for dressing) - in fact
• salmon or salmon (weak salting) - 80 gr.

1. Wash the tomatoes, chop them into 2 pieces. Water the red fish with excess salt. Cut the salmon or salmon into thin slices, place in a deep bowl to the tomatoes.
2. If you have made small balls of mozzarella, do not grind them. Send the entire composition to other components.Otherwise, the cheese will have to chop into cubes.
3. Wash parsley and dill, chop, mix with sour cream / mayonnaise (you can replace the dressing with olive oil). Chop the sweet onion. If there is bitterness in it, pour boiling water over the product.
4. Combine all the ingredients in one mass, salt and pepper to taste. Add your favorite seasonings, serve as a standalone dish or stuff with tartlets salad.

Salad with basil and mozzarella

• Table vinegar concentration of 6% - 25 ml.
• liquid honey - 10 gr.
• cherry tomatoes - 8 pcs.
• fresh basil - 1 bunch
• Mozzarella - 220 gr.
• olive oil - 30 ml.
• pepper, salt - to taste

1. Wash the cherries, chop them in half, mix with mozzarella balls. If the pieces of cheese are large enough, cut them into cubes. Wash a bunch of basil, dry, cut along the leaves.
2. Next, make a sauce of olive oil, table vinegar and honey. Optionally add 20 grams. natural yogurt. Beat the mixture with a mixer or blender. Mix all the ingredients together (except for the sauce), put it on a flat dish.
3. You can add olives or olives to the salad. Salt, pepper, pour sauce.Serve cold, supplement the salad with loaves of bread or fill with a mixture of tartlets.

The technology of making cheese is not difficult, but mozzarella requires certain storage conditions. Do not lay out the product on a plate and send it in the fridge. The composition is stored only in salted chilled whey. In this state, the cheese will lie for 3-7 days, but it must be eaten as soon as possible.

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