Mozzarella in the kitchen

I finally got over the mental block of the task of making mozzarella and undertook the endeavor this morning. Easy easy process, but I'll have to refine the method - the mozzarella isn't the best texture I've had. Less stretching next time...

This is what I used, as a variation of the recipe offered on Chowhound.com:

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon pasteurized milk *NOT ULTRA-PASTEURIZED
1.5 t citric acid dissolved in 1/4c water (I used bottled water)
1/4t liquid vegetable rennet dissolved in 5t water (again, bottled water)
2T kosher salt

Equipment:
instant-read thermometer
1 large stock pot (enamel-coated steel)
2 large stainless steel or glass bowls
1 large slotted spoon
1 fine-mesh strainer (preferably one with a little lip to allow it to rest on top of one of the SS bowls)
1c measuring cup
cutting board
knife
2 large wooden spoons
2 pairs of thick rubber gloves, or what I used was double-layered pair of disposable surgical gloves

1. Bring milk to 55 degreesF, and stirred in the citric acid mixture.
2. Bring the milk to about 88 degreesF (takes about 5 minutes max), and stir in the rennet mixture.
3. Continue stirring until the milk begins to separate, into curds and whey (childhood rhyme comes to mind). Once it begins to separate, let the mixture continue to cook undisturbed until the mixture reaches 100 degreesF (1-2 minutes). Turn off the heat, and let mixture sit undisturbed until the curds pull away from the sides, about 5 minutes. When this process is ready, the whey should be almost clear.
4. Remove curds from the whey (KEEP THE WHEY!) with a slotted spoon, and let the curds drain over one of the two SS bowls in the wire-mesh strainer. Press gently with the slotted spoon, but don't press out too much water - otherwise, you'll end up with really tough curds.
5. Measure out 4c of the whey, and discard the rest. Bring the whey with the salt to boil in the pot to about 180 degreesF.
6. While the whey boils, slice the curds into thin strips. Lay strips in one of the empty SS bowls.
7. Fill other SS bowl with filtered/distilled water. This is the storing water for your mozzarella, so please consider using the most filtered water possible.
8. Pour hot whey over curd strips.
9. Donning the gloves, take care as you pull the curd strips out of the hot whey. Holding the strips with the ends in your hands, begin pulling the curd strips, then fold. Hold new ends, stretch, and fold. Repeat this stretching/folding until the surface of the curd mass is shiny. Do not overwork the curds, otherwise the mozzarella will be fairly tough.
10. If the curds get too hard to stretch, dip back into the hot whey to soften before reworking the curds.
11. And now to make the little balls of mozzarella: pinch a little ball from the end of the curd mass, and drop the ball into the bowl of water. Repeat until you've divided the curd mass into little balls of mozzarella.

To store the mozzarella, I plan to store them in a covered glass bowl. The mozzarella I made this morning was a little tough and quite irregularly sized. I probably overworked the curd strips when stretching/folding. I'll also need to give my pinching method some practice. Given that this process was fairly easy, I'll most likely be making more mozzarella soon and will try lending the process a gentler hand.