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A word to the wise: DIY cheese making may not be suitable for those opposed to a chaotic, crud-crusted kitchen. By the end of my first foray into homemade fromage, the burnt curd on my stovetop resembled footage of Apollo 11’s moon landing, but beholding the log of mozzarella on my chopping board felt like a giant leap for ethical cheese.

I’d long since returned my local library’s copy of Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but I’d retained the precious memories of her family’s year off the corporate food grid, having shared in her joy as the baby turkeys poked their grey frizzy heads through their eggshells, her excitement over garlic bulbs swelling above the soil, her frustration with surplus squash.

I also took away a fierce ambition to make my own cheese. As someone who identifies with a vegan lifestyle, the thought of eating a block of industrially produced, unnaturally orange cheddar calls to mind taking a bite out of the hormone ridden, confined beef that the cheese originally came from. However, making my own cheese from local milk would guarantee that my cheese would have an ethical origin, from truly happy cows, instead of undesired hormones with a touch of cruelty. If I could see through the process of my cheese making from cow to curd, then I could have my cheese and eat it too.

I ordered the Thirty Minute Mozzarella kit from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company, the same company featured in Kingsolver’s book. The kit comes complete with everything except the pots and, of course, the milk.

I refused to purchase just any generic whole milk from my local grocery store chain, so I poked around the Eat Well Guide to find local farms and retailers that might supply me with a more suitable candidate. My inquiry led me to Hudson Valley Fresh (HVF), a not-for-profit dairy cooperative in upstate New York. Members of the cooperative exercise complete control over milk production and distribution to ensure quality, sustainable farming practices and living wages for the farmers.

HVF’s cows are not given any artificial hormones such as rBST or rBGH, which are used to stimulate milk production. The hormones are known to cause udder infections and reproductive problems such as birth defects, infertility, and fetal loss. According to the HVF website, their cows also lead comfortable lives with room to lie down, access to fresh water and low cow densities.

The cheese making process took a little over forty five minutes and was surprisingly simple: dissolve the rennet and citric acid, heat up the milk, add the solutions, and wait for the curd to separate. Problems arose when it came time to heat up the curd. Due to a popcorn mishap the previous evening, my microwave was out of commission, so I resorted to the “waterbath method.” Rather then easily placing the curd in the microwave for a few minutes, I had to repeatedly dip a strainer holding the soupy curd in a pot of 180 degree water. With every descent, whey and curd spattered onto the stove top.

When the curd was at the appropriate temperature, I scooped it out of the strainer and began the stretching. It started to resemble mozzarella after a few good kneads. At this point, the cheese was ready to eat.

The texture was a bit dense and not as supple as I had hoped, but the warm mozzarella was delicious nonetheless. The next day’s lunch included a soy burger with fresh mozzarella cheese.

Although the mess was significant, I will return to my mozzarella kit as soon as my supply runs low, especially considering the kit comes with enough supplies for 30 batches of cheese. Maybe when I’m feeling particularly ambitious I will venture into more complex cheeses such as brie, cheddar or gorgonzola, which must drain over night and then age at a constant temperature, humidity, light, etc., a much more complicated process than mozzarella, involving wax molds, salting and rotating. Perhaps pre-packaged American singles are a convenient bargain, but these labors and precise handiwork, and the resulting product, justify the high price of artisanal cheese.

Ready to take the leap? Here is a link to the mozzarella recipe featured in Kingsolver’s book: 30 Minute Mozzarella.

Eat Well intern Stephanie Fisher spends her summers at home in Poughkeepsie, where she enjoys cooking fresh produce, baking vegan goodies and experimenting with DIY cheese-making. She is working toward her B.A. in journalism and sustainable food system.