Don't throw away the mozzarella water: you can reuse it in the kitchen
Usually, most of us throw away the water in which fresh mozzarella is kept. But this mozzarella water can be a useful resource in the kitchen.
Sometimes, mozzarella water is made up of only water and salt, but more often than not, it will be a mixture of water and citric or lactic acid (and a small amount of salt).
Let's check out how to use mozzarella water you've saved:
Luigi Versaggi/Wikimedia Commons
There are several ways in which the mozzarella water can be used in the kitchen:
- For soaking legumes: when you need to rehydrate dried legumes - such as beans, chickpeas, lentils and similar - you probably soak them in regular water in a bowl. Well, if you use mozzarella water instead, the legumes will be tastier (just remember not to add too much salt when cooking).
- To boil pasta, rice or potatoes: since mozzarella water is already salted or flavored, it can be use to boil pasta, rice or potatoes in. Again, avoid adding more salt (or be aware you will need less).
- When preparing risottos, you can use mozzarella water instead of broth.
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- For leavened doughs: there are those who use mozzarella water - sometimes called "buttermilk" (although it is not true buttermilk) - as a substitute for yeast. This is added to the dough, again accounting for the added salt in the liquid;
- To refresh a sourdough starter: given that water is needed to rehydrate/refresh sourdough starters, there are those who mozzarella water for this purpose.
Can mozzarella water be used in the garden?
There are some who use mozzarella water to irrigate their plants: we advise against this. This is because mozzarella water contains salt (and sometimes, in quite high quantities), and this will have a negative impact on your plants!
Plants use osmosis to absorb water from the soil, but when salt is added to water, it becomes too dense for plant roots to absorb.
That said, and as you can see from the foregoing, mozzarella water can come in very handy in your kitchen!
