One thing that living in Wisconsin has taught me is that cheese is probably one of the best aspects of life, and it should be fully indulged. I had never eaten so much cheese before I got here.

However, eating cheese and making cheese are two different stories. I'd done plenty of the former. As for the latter? Well, not as much, but I recently got my hands on a mozzarella cheese kit from Northern Brewer with the goal of making cheese for the first time. And it was certainly an interesting experience.

The weekend had been good so far, and I wanted to end it with something new. The music was set, the wine was poured and I was ready to go! The kit includes citric acid, lipase powder, liquid rennet and cheese salt. It should be noted that the cheese kit includes all of the necessary ingredients for up to five pounds of cheese, but you’ll still need to get each gallon of milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized), a 6-8 quart stockpot, a cooking thermometer, a strainer and a measuring cup and spoons. I had everything, but couldn’t seem to find my measuring spoons, so I improvised quite a bit.

The instructions called for your milk to sit in your pot at room temperature while you get your other solutions together. I wanted to make one pound of mozzarella, so I only needed a gallon of milk. I prepared the diluted solutions of citric acid, lipase and rennet that were to be added to the milk. Once everything was set, I began to warm my milk to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, then added the diluted citric acid and diluted lipase solutions. The milk develops a cheesier flavor if left covered for an hour, so I followed suit and waited.

The next steps were to begin forming the curd, and this was when I believe something went left. I heated the milk to the required temperature then added the diluted rennet solution. After sitting for 15 minutes, the curd should have the consistency of jello; my curd was similar to that of jello, but not quite as firm. I didn’t know if it wasn’t firm enough because it needed more time to set, so I gave it another three minutes – no difference. With a sigh and a slight roll of my eyes, I began to cut my curd into cubes as best I could. They cut easily enough without falling apart, so I thought I was in the clear.

The next step was to cook the curd to a maximum of 110 degrees, stirring occasionally every five minutes or so. As I watched a lot of my curds break up as I gently stirred ever so often, I realized that the jello consistency is really a must. I dipped the thermometer in the water to see if it had reached the right temperature, but to my surprise and dismay, my thermometer was now malfunctioning. How in the world can you correctly make cheese for the first time without a working thermometer? I now obviously have a bone to pick with Target, but there was no time! Ladies and gentlemen, we were now wingin’ it.

The cooked "curds" were now drained from the remaining whey in the pot, which I was supposed to heat between 175-190 degrees Fahrenheit to begin the stretching process. The stretching process probably works best with actual curds ... and all I had was a glob that resembled cottage cheese.

But the show must go on!

I had no idea when the whey reached the right temperature, so I heated it pretty high but didn’t allow it to boil. I put the curd in a strainer and submerged it into the whey for 10 seconds and quickly sprinkled it with cheese salt. This is the point when you’re supposed to stretch and fold your cheese curds, then place them in an ice bath for five minutes and it’s all done. Unfortunately, my cheese was now the consistency of ricotta cheese, with the taste of mozzarella. So there was no stretching curds whatsoever for me. After letting it sit overnight for the dried off string cheese that the instructions suggest, I found a creamy mozzarella, similar to yogurt, with multiple mozzarella curds mixed in.

The whole experience was interesting; I never would’ve thought to do something like this at home. Overall, the kit was easy to use and was very detailed in its instructions. I think that maybe my measurements of one of the solutions was wrong, and maybe that’s why the curd wasn’t firm enough.

I’d most definitely recommend this as a fun activity to add to your arsenal. Sure, I didn’t get the same look of mozzarella that I’m used to, but it still tastes just like it’s supposed to! Maybe I should take one of Northern Brewer’s free cheese-making classes before I attempt this again ...