Mozzarella

Mozzarella is a stretched-curd cheese, not a synonym for “melts on pizza.” 21 CFR 133.155: dairy ingredients are pasteurized; minimum milkfat 45 percent by weight of the solids; moisture more than 52 percent but not more than 60 percent; the curd is immersed in hot water or heated with steam and kneaded and stretched until smooth, then cut, molded, firmed in cold water, and drained ¹. The legal name is “mozzarella cheese” or, alternatively, “scamorza cheese.” Water-buffalo milk is allowed; cow and buffalo milks are not combined, and buffalo milk must be named on the label ¹.

The craft path is Pasta filata. FAO’s small-scale mozzarella notes (pH window, 82–85 °C stretch water) are training figures, not this U.S. identity ². Do not swap those numbers onto a home make and call it 133.155.

Clotting enzymes may be animal, plant, or microbial. Optional vinegar, coloring to mask yellow curd, salt, and antimycotics during stretch or on the surface are in the standard ¹. See Coagulation and Salting cheese.

What to notice #

Hot paste should pull into ropes. Cool cheese should be moist and elastic, not mealy. Flavor is mild lactic when young. Raw-milk rules and pizza formulas are separate questions. See Cheese.