Making Mozzarella cheese

Ingredients required.

One gallon of milk (the flavor is best when mozzarella is made from whole milk, but you can use low-fat or skim mild if you really want to)
8 ounces of a thermophilic mother culture, (or 1/8 teaspoon of a direct- set thermophilic culture)
1/2 teaspoon of liquid rennet or 1/4 tablet dry rennet dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
A Brine solution

Make the Cheese as Follows:

First, heat the milk to 90°F .
After the milk reaches 90°F add the mother culture. Then, let the milk ripen for forty-five minutes.

Next, add the rennet to the milk, and stir for five minutes.

Let the milk and rennet sit at 90°F for one hour. Curds should form in the milk.

Perform the following test: Insert a curd knife into the curds and make a cut through the curds.
Check to see if a clean break results.
You should let the milk sit until there is a clean break.

Once you have a clean break, cut the curds into ½ inch cubes.
Reheat the milk to 90°F .
Maintain the milk at 90°F for thirty minutes.

Next, slowly raise the temperature of the milk and curds to 105°F.

Once the temperature of the milk and curds reaches 105°F, allow the curds to cook at 105°F for about five or ten minutes. After the cooking step, drain the whey from the curds by pouring the mixture though a cheese cloth-lined colander.

Next, place the curds into a double boiler.
Keep the water in the bottom pot at a constant 105°F .
Periodically drain some of the whey as the curds continue to cook.

As the curds are heated in the double boiler, additional whey will continue to come our of the curds.
Cook the curds at 105°F for about two or three hours, (see test below) flipping them occasionally so that they are heated evenly.
Periodically drain off the whey.

After two hours, test the pH of the curds.
It should be in the range of 5.0 to 5.3.
If it is not in this range, the curds need to be cooked longer.

Once you achieve the proper pH, cut the curds into 1/2" cubes, and drain off any excess whey.
Place the curds into 4 cups of water that is heated to 170°F.

Using Wooden spoons, work the curds into balls by pressing them together. Once you have a ball about the size of a tangerine, take the ball out of the water and work it with your hands,
stretching the curds apart and folding them over again and again. The curds will be hot, so you should wear latex or rubber gloves during this step.

You will need to knead the curds several times in order to obtain a full, soft texture in the cheese.
If necessary, you can put the cheese back into water to warm it up so that it can be stretched and kneaded further.

Once you are satisfied with the size, shape, and texture of your cheese, dunk it into a cold brine solution.
Be certain that your brine solution is cold, because you want the cheese to cool as fast as possible.
The cheese becomes tougher as it stays warm.

Let the cheese soak in the brine solution for about an hour.
After soaking, your mozzarella cheese is ready!

Congratulations, you made Mozzarella cheese.