A favorite for pizza topping or snacking, mozzarella made with goat milk is extra special!
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 gallons whole goat milk
- 1 direct-set mesophilic starter
- 1 tsp. lipase powder
- 4 tsp. citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup unchlorinated water
- 1 tsp. liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool, unchlorinated water
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a large cheese pot, slowly heat 2 gallons of the milk to 86°F.
- Once the milk has reached temperature, add the starter by sprinkling it over the surface of the cheese and allowing it to rehydrate for 1 full minute. Stir it in using smooth, steady up-and-down motions. Add the diluted lipase using the same methods.
- Cover the milk and allow to ripen for 45 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 86°F throughout.
- Chill the remaining milk to 35°F in a freezer or by putting it in a plastic or glass container and packing it in ice. Once the temperature has dropped to 35°F, add the diluted citric acid and stir well.
- Add the chilled milk to the ripened warm milk and bring the temperature back up to 86°F.
- Add the diluted rennet to the warm milk by pouring it through the holes of your cheese spoon and into the milk, then stirring it in with the cheese spoon using steady up-and-down motions for 1 full minute. Let the milk set for 15 minutes undisturbed, until the curd gives a clean break.
- Cut the curd into 1/2-inch cubes and allow them to rest for 15 minutes. Pour them into a clean colander and allow them to drain for 15 more minutes. Heat a large pot of water to 145°F meanwhile.
- After allowing them to drain, cut the curds again, this time into 1-inch cubes. Prepare a medium-size bowl of ice water to chill the stretched curd in now before continuing on to the next step.
- Scoop a ladleful of curds into the heated water. Let them soak there in the water until their temperature reaches 130°F. Next, using your hands, begin stretching the curd using swift upward motions until it becomes smooth and shiny. Try to work swiftly, dipping the lump back into the hot water if it loses its elasticity. Shape the lump of cheese into a smooth ball or pear shape, and drop it into the bowl of icy water. Repeat this process – heating, stretching, shaping, and chilling – until you have used up all the curds.
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Use the filtered water and cheese salt to make a saturated brine and chill it. Soak the cheeses in the chilled brine for 1 to 3 days, covered, in the refrigerator.
Your mozzarella is ready to enjoy now, or it can continue to be stored in the brine in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Please note: Do not use calcium chloride when making goat milk mozzarella: it will prevent the curds from stretching properly.
