Hello:
I tried making mozzeralla cheese for the first time this week. I used raw milk (2 gallons), lemon juice (instead of citric acid) and rennet. I got great curds, then heated them in the microwave to 135 (as the recipe suggested). Then the recipe said to work the curds (fold and stretch) until they grew firm and got a sheen, then to shape. Instead, after working them for about five seconds, the curds separated more and more, grew crumbly and dry, and eventually collapsed into a mess resembling cottage cheese left out all day. I tossed them into a cheese press to try to salvage them, but the resulting block (two days later) was dry, pasty and crumbly. Did I overwork it? Thanks all.
