The acid from lemon (or vinegar or citric acid) and rennet are doing subtly different things for your cheese. Both are these to help with coagulation. In fact, coagulation can happen in a lot of ways -- raw milk can coagulate just with its own natural acids. While, yes, some cheeses only need lemon, the trick is that you don't want the milk to coagulate too quickly/ at too high an acidity. Rennet allows your milk to coagulate without the acidity levels getting too high -- in other words, it can make cheese from milk that is still sweet.
For a soft cheese like chevre, queso, paneer -- lemon (or vinegar, or citric acid) can be all that you need to get the curds you want. But, for mozzarella, you need both a little initial acid (usually citric acid or you can buy starters) and a bit of rennet.
I have subbed lemon for citric acid, but I wouldn't recommend trying to use it instead of rennet -- especially for something that takes more effort/time, like mozzarella. I'd hate to do all that work and have it fail. Why were you trying to work without rennet? If you're out or can't find the kind you need, there are still great cheeses to be made that don't rely on rennet. And they do make veggie rennet if that's the issue.
Hi Keeran ! I have made mozzarella from just using vinegar from a YouTube video and it worked. It was decent , but the flavor a little tangy, and texture isn’t always exactly the same as a very good mozzarella. Then I tried “vegan renet” that I bought online along with vinegar and worked a lot better for texture and flavor. It’s easy enough and I recommend it but like anything can take just a little practice to get it how you want. Hope it helps you!
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For a soft cheese like chevre, queso, paneer -- lemon (or vinegar, or citric acid) can be all that you need to get the curds you want. But, for mozzarella, you need both a little initial acid (usually citric acid or you can buy starters) and a bit of rennet.
I have subbed lemon for citric acid, but I wouldn't recommend trying to use it instead of rennet -- especially for something that takes more effort/time, like mozzarella. I'd hate to do all that work and have it fail. Why were you trying to work without rennet? If you're out or can't find the kind you need, there are still great cheeses to be made that don't rely on rennet. And they do make veggie rennet if that's the issue.