Mozzarella Help

[Suzieqzie]

So Mozzarella was my first ever attempt at cheese and it almost worked!

A few things...
I'm Canadian so it was Homogenized Milk. I used 2L of Neilson Prganic 3.25% and a simple recipe warming to 120 and adding 3/4 cup white vinegar. It seemed to curdle beautifully and gave me a good consistency ricotta when it was strained and squeezed through cheese cloth. Then into microwave for 30 seconds and pulled and formed. Did this 3x and then placed it in my whey (which o added ice to) to cool.

It tastes nice but, the consistency is more like a very firm cream cheese instead of mozzarella so my question is... is this fixable ... thinking maybe it needed more massaging pr is this the best I'm going to get because my milk is not raw?

Pictures for reference.

https://imgur.com/a/dMYG8Vp

[MacGruff]

Many sources point people to Mozzarella as a good starting point for cheesemaking because it's quick, but that's a mistake in my opinion as there is a lot of technique involved and it's too easy to fail.

I suggest you go over to the Serious Eats website and look up their recipe. It is a really good one that takes a bit longer than the microwave version, but repeatedly works.

I would also suggest you try an easier cheese to start with. Something like a Farmer's Cheese, or a Paneer that can give you results in a few hours and is much simpler that Mozzarella. Most importantly, enjoy the journey!

[B e n]

I agree with MacGruff, Mozz is tough. I will add to his list: Feta is a good soft cheese to start with that can be eaten fresh or aged a bit, requires little equipment and can be developed into something perfect for your personal tastes. Tomme is a pretty straight forward semi-hard cheese if you want to do something in a mold that can age a while as well.