A Youtube tutorial I found recently shared a recipe to make mozzarella cheese using milk and vinegar.  I was curious what would happen if I tried it with dried milk.  I’ve made mozzarella from scratch using dried milk (using rennet) in the past and I’ve made ricotta cheese using evaporated milk.  (And yes, I also have freeze dried mozzarella cheese in my storage.)  The question here was whether or not a simple two ingredient recipe using dry milk could produce a favorable result.

For added practice, I decided to use my butane stove for cooking and our end of winter weather conditions outside for the refrigeration at the end of the recipe.

What I discovered was this:

• Just like my ricotta recipe, this recipe also required two passes at the curdling process.  After I finished retrieving all the curds the first time, the whey was still not clear (meaning there was more curds to extract), so I added one more TBS of vinegar and heated the whey again at which point the remainder of the curds separated from the whey.  I ended up with two balls of cheese that I then ended up combining.
• The result is actual cheese.  It slices, shreds and melts.
• It needs more salt for flavor.
• This basic recipe gives me one more thing I can use my dry milk for – if needed – in an emergency.  Yes, I have freeze dried mozzarella, but it’s expensive.  This recipe yields just enough cheese and it wasn’t hard to make.

 

Two Ingredient Mozzarella

Ingredients

6 cups milk (6 cups water to 1 cup dry milk powder)*

5-6 TBS vinegar

 

Instructions

Heat milk to lukewarm (hot, but yet still bearable when tested on skin).  In small amounts add 4-5 TBS vinegar and stir well.  Place a lid on the cooking pot and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes.  While waiting, position a small fine meshed colander over top of a glass bowl.  Once done, use a slotted spoon to remove the curds from the whey and place the curds into the colander.  Using a spatula, press the cheese against the wall of the colander to extract the whey.  After this, squeeze the cheese ball using your hands to get any remaining whey out.

Add 1 TBS vinegar to the milky whey which is still in the cooking pot.  Heat the pot, stirring, until you see the separation happening and then turn off the flame.  Remove curds to the colander, the same as previously done and repeat the process of using a spatula to press and then using hands to squeeze out the remaining whey.  You should now have two cheese balls.  Combine the two into one larger sized cheese ball using your hands.

For flavor, add 1 TBS salt to the remaining (now clear) whey in the cooking pot and heat so it is hot but not boiling.  Transfer the whey to the glass bowl and immerse the cheese ball for 8-10 seconds.  Pull it out and squeeze out the whey.  Repeat this process four times.

Wrap the cheese in cling wrap and refrigerate for two hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we can see the separation of the curds and whey happening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfer to a colander and squeeze out remaining whey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repeat the process, adding 1 TBS vinegar to remaining whey in the cooking pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add salt to the whey and heat to hot but not boiling.  Transfer to a glass bowl and immerse cheese ball for 8-10 seconds.  Squeeze out whey.  Repeat this process four times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to stretch it (like the original recipe made with regular milk), but this cheese doesn’t stretch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside to refrigerate for two hours (temperature outside is 27 degrees, so a little extra cold).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End result:  it slices, shreds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and melts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m happy with it!

 

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• Still, my favorite dry milk is Country Cream.  I continue to have people ask me about it so here is an updated Amazon link (non affiliated) for it.