Name: How To Make Homemade Mozzarella Cheese With Clabber Culture
Prep time: 240 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 990 min
Ingredients: 1 Gallon Milk; 2 Tbsp Clabber Culture Or 1 1/2 tsp. citric acid dissolved in water; 1/4 tsp Animal Rennet; 1/4 cup water; Salt

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Learn how to make homemade mozzarella cheese using a clabber culture instead of citric acid or vinegar. This old-fashioned way of making cheese gives it the best flavor and even though making mozzarella this way takes a few hours, I especially like this method because it takes very little hands on time. Making mozzarella cheese is an easy way to use up a lot of milk, and turn it into a beneficial food for your family.

This recipe calls for a clabber culture to culture the milk. If you’re unfamiliar with a clabber culture, check out How To Start & Maintain A Clabber Culture For Cheesemaking. Clabber culture is the same for cheesemaking as a sourdough starter is for bread making. It’s also made in a very similar way to a sourdough starter, and you can easily make your own clabber culture using raw milk.

What Is Naturally Acidified Mozzarella?

When you make cheese using a clabber culture, you are naturally acidifying it, meaning you aren’t adding a freeze-dried culture to the milk. Instead you are adding in some clabber culture, which brings the acidity of the milk down the right level for that particular cheese. In the case of mozzarella, the milk needs to have an acidity level of 4.9 to 5.2 in order for the proteins in the milk to allow the cheese to stretch.

Milk that comes straight from the cow typically has an acidity level of 6.4 to 6.8. So to make mozzarella you have to add some kind of an acid to lower the PH of the milk. You can use citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar to make a quick mozzarella, or you can add a clabber culture to make a naturally acidified mozzarella. Although this process takes longer, it results in a much better flavor in the cheese.

Basics of Making Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella is made by adding an acid to the milk and heating it to a certain temperature. Then adding rennet which coagulates the milk. Once the milk has separated into curds and whey, it is slowly heated until it can be stretched into smooth balls, strings or blocks of cheese. Because mozzarella has to be heated in order to get the curds to stretch, it is called a thermophilic cheese. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese, meaning it can be eaten right after it’s been salted, without having to be aged for any period of time. ideo

Traditional Mozzarella Cheese Making

Cheese-making is an old-fashioned skill that has been passed down through many generations. In the old days before refrigeration milk was preserved into cheese soon after being milked from the cow. Making cheese was a way of preserving milk, just like canning is a way of preserving meat and vegetables.

The History Of Making Cheese With Clabber Culture

If you’ve ever read The Little House On The Prairie Books, you know that in the summertime when there was lots of milk, that is when Ma made cheese. She didn’t have access to freeze-dried cultures, or boughten rennet (used to coagulate the cheese). She also didn’t have a clabber culture saved in her refrigerator or freezer because she had neither. If they hadn’t had fresh milk in awhile, she wouldn’t have had a clabber culture on her counter either.

So how did she make cheese for her family? Simple. As soon as their cow freshened (had her calf), she would take some milk and put it into a jar on her counter. Allow it to thicken and then discard and feed it every day. In a few days, she would have the culture she needed to be able to make cheese. She probably made rennet from wild plants like nettles or vegetables, more on that another time.

Raw Milk vs. Pasteurized Milk

Pasteurized or raw milk both work well for mozzarella. I prefer to always use raw milk because it is high in probiotics and beneficial bacteria, but in the case of mozzarella none of those probiotics or bacteria will survive because they will be heated during the stretching process.

My Experience

I’ve been milking dairy cows for the last fifteen years and in that time I’ve learned a lot about dairy cattle. I’ve learned how to make all of our dairy products including all of our hard cheeses. This has made a big difference in our grocery bill and has kept our family healthy and thriving. Having a family dairy cow is a lot of responsibility, but the rewards are so worth it! When learning about dairy cows, or any new homesteading skill, I suggest that you take it slow and learn one or two things at a time so it’s not so overwhelming. There’s lots to learn, but I’m here to help you and make it easier for you!

Cultured Dairy

When dairy is cultured, the bacteria that we add to the milk (i.e. clabber or yogurt culture) breaks down the lactose in the milk. It also produces lactic acid which lowers the PH of the milk, and increases the available health benefits. Culturing dairy also prolongs its shelf life, for example, yogurt will last longer in the refrigerator than milk. This is why a lot of people that are lactose intolerant, can tolerate cultured dairy as opposed to uncultured dairy (milk).

Why You’ll Enjoy Making Your Own Mozzarella Cheese With Clabber Culture

It is a “hands off” recipe, meaning you don’t have to do much with it for the first few hours while it’s culturing.
Mozzarella cheese is a fresh cheese, so you can eat it right away
It can easily be made into mozzarella balls, string cheese, or shredded for use on pizza, or in italian dishes.
Mozzarella made with clabber culture has the best flavor of any mozzarella cheese you’ll ever make.

Ways We Enjoy This Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

In lasagna or baked spaghetti.
On homemade pizza
In caprese salad with balsamic vinegar and fresh tomatoes
Breaded and fried for fried cheese curds or as fried mozzarella sticks
On bruschetta
In salads
In grilled cheese sandwiches

Tips For Making This Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Recipe

If you don’t have a clabber culture, but still want to make mozzarella cheese, you can acidify it by adding 1 ½ teaspoons of citric acid per gallon of milk. Follow all the same steps in this recipe, except it doesn’t need to culture after it is coagulated by the rennet. You can move right into heating and stretching it.
The best cheese is made from fresh milk, so the fresher your milk the better
Pasteurized milk from the local grocery store works just fine for making mozzarella cheese.
Use the leftover whey in baking, to water plants, feed animals or put it on your compost pile. You can also just dump it down your drain if you have way to much and don’t need it.
Mozzarella can be made with skimmed milk, so you can use all of your cream for making homemade butter.
You can make as big of a batch of mozzarella cheese all at the same time as you’d like. Feel free to double, triple or even quadruple the recipe.
It’s important to allow the curds to heal after you cut them. Stirring too soon can cause too much moisture to escape out of the curds, making them more tough and rubbery.
Can you make this recipe without a clabber culture? Yes, you just add 1 1/2 tsp. of citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup water to the cold milk and let it warm up slowly over medium heat. After the curds are cut, check to see if they will stretch. Continue checking them every 15 minutes until they stretch (although they usually stretch right away). This is called making quick mozzarella.

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Simple Ingredients

Milk
Clabber Culture
Salt – I just use regular non-iodized salt for making cheese. I find that the Redmond salt which I usually use in other recipes makes it too gritty.
Animal rennet – you can also use vegetable rennet, but I find that animal rennet is more reliable.

Tools You May Need

Large Pot – this one is larger than you’ll need, but it’s what I use for all my cheesemaking. I suggest investing in it if you plan to make a lot of cheese.
Digital Thermometer
Measuring spoons
Large knife for cutting the curds
Large spoon
Rubber gloves for stretching the cheese if your hands are heat sensitive
Large bowl
Bucket or large bowl for brining the homemade cheese
Electric Tea Kettle – for quickly boiling water

How To Make Mozzarella Cheese Using Clabber Culture

Skim the cream from the top of the milk if it is whole milk and save for butter making.

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Add the milk to the cheese pot and slowly heat milk over medium heat to 90 degrees f.

Add the clabber culture and gently stir.

Mix the rennet with ¼ cup of cool water in a small bowl and add the rennet mixture to the milk.

Stir gently for a couple of minutes in an up and down and side to side motion to ensure that the rennet is fully dissolved in the cheese.

Allow the cheese to rest for 1 hour while the rennet coagulates the cheese.

After 1 hour check for a clean break in the curds by inserting a knife or your finger into the curds. If the curds break cleanly, move on to the next step. Otherwise let them rest for another 10 minutes or until the curd breaks cleanly.

Cutting The Curds

Cut the curds into 1 inch pieces with a knife vertically and allow them to “heal” for 5 minutes.

Cut the curds with a knife horizontally so they are in a grid-like pattern and allow them to “heal” for another 5 minutes.

Gently stir the curds by hand, breaking up any chunks as needed so that all of the curds are about 1 inch square. Stir until the curds start to feel less soft. (See video)

Add the cover to the pot and allow the curds to “culture” for 3 hours. (If you are using citric acid instead of clabber, start checking the curd to see if it will stretch after 30 minutes.)

Testing The Stretch Of Your Cheese

Heat some water to boiling and pour into a small bowl or cup.

Take a small chunk of the curds from the bottom of the pot and place it into the hot water. Allow to sit for 30 seconds.

Remove the cheese from the cup and slowly dip it in and out of the water to see if it will start to stretch. You’re looking for it to stretch to the roof without breaking off. If it doesn’t stretch to the roof, allow the cheese to set for 1 more hour before checking the stretch again.

checking to see if mozzarella will stretch

Stretching The Cheese

Once the cheese stretches to the roof, remove as much whey from the pot as you can, and add boiling water. Allow the curds to set in the hot water for a few minutes to come to temperature. You can also turn the burner of your stove on medium-low heat. You want to heat them until they stretch, which is usually between 130 and 140 degrees.

Stir the curds using your spoon occasionally as you heat them, being careful not to overwork them.

You have several options for shaping your cheese

Make string cheese by pulling a rope of cheese out of the pot and putting it straight into a bowl of cold water so it will hold it’s shape.
Form the curds into a smooth ball of cheese, similar to how you would shape a hamburger bun, but tucking the edges under gently. This gives you a nice glossy top on the ball of mozzarella
Using your spoon gently stretch the cheese into a ball, being careful not to overwork it. I often get the whole batch of cheese out of the pot and into a bowl and then gently shape it into a large ball.

There are several options for salting your cheese

For the string cheese and mozzarella balls, or any small blocks of cheese, I recommend you just surface salt them by sprinkling a small amount of salt on the top and bottom of the cheese. Do not add small chunks of cheese to the salt brine because it will be way too salty.
For the large block of cheese, surface salt the top by sprinkling just a little bit of cheese on the top and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Then flip the cheese over and surface salt the bottom the same way. Mix up the salt brine ingredients and add the large block of cheese to the salt brine. Allow it to set in the brine for approximately 2 hours per pound of cheese. Remove from the brine and allow it to dry in the refrigerator before slicing or shredding.
If you don’t want to mess with making the brine or you have small to medium chunks of cheese, you can just sprinkle salt on the cheese while it’s still hot. Fold it over itself and sprinkle some more cheese on it. This gradually incorporates salt into the cheese, without having to mix up the brine.

Shred or slice and use on pizza, over pasta, or in salads.

Mozzarella cheese can be refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to one week or frozen for up to 6 months. I hope you try making your own mozzarella cheese, and enjoy it as much as I do.