Do not despair if you are not successful the first time, as this happens. Keep trying because the satisfaction you will get out of it is incredible.

Ingredients

10 l milk
Rennet
Starter whey (made from the fermented milk)
Salt
Ice

Step 1 - The milk

Start with 10 litres of raw cow's milk (you can easily find raw milk from farmers' market or direct from producers such as Alham Wood in Somerset). If you cannot find raw milk, use a pasteurised and unhomogenised jersey milk, however, beware, if the milk has been pasteurised at a high temperature the mozzarella will not form.

Step 2 - Bring the milk to temperature

Pour the milk into a stainless steel pot (that holds 11 litres at least of liquid as you need to add your starter whey to the 10 litres of milk). Very gently warm the milk to a temperature of 37-38ºC. Stir it occasionally so the heat is evenly distributed.

Step 3 - The starter

Add the starter at a ratio of 10 litres milk to 500ml of starter (ie the whey made from the day-before the mozzarella is made) and stir. If you don't make your own whey, you can find culture starters on the web but it should not be added cold but at a temperature of around 30°C

Step 4 - The rennet

Add one teaspoon of rennet and stir, cover and leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, so that the temperature is kept at 37°C (I use blankets and old towels to wrap around the pot).

Step 5 - Curds and whey

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