I have tried 3 times in the past 3 days to make mozzarella and it has just about bested me. I followed the 30 minute recipe on cheesemaking.com.
My ingredients:
New England Cheesemaking Supply 1 X Liquid Animal Rennet 2 oz
Milliard Citric Acid - 1 Pound - 100% Pure Food Grade NON-GMO
1 gallon whole milk
I have tried 3 different types of milk thinking that I was buying milk that hadn't been pasteurized as it was labeled (NONE of them said UP), until finally buying a gallon from my local dairy.
I didn't follow the recipe exactly because it states to let the rennet and milk mixture sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes the mixture was still quite runny so I let it sit for 10. It was still not looking as it should, but I moved forward. After reheating my curds they were very broken up, I stirred VERY slowly and carefully after learning I stirred too quickly during attempt #1.
I still pressed on and tried to use a slotted spoon to separate the curds, they were extremely too weak and watery. I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm about to throw in the towel. Help!
The first picture is after reheating the curds to 105. The second picture is after microwaving my separated "curds" for 1 minute.