First Attempt Mozzarella

The first attempt at Mozzarella happened this afternoon. At first I looked at the directions on Dr. Fankhauser's Cheese Page, but the recipe I used was almost the exact same, Ricki's 30 Minute Mozzarella from 'CheeseMaking.com'.

My first Mozzarella. It kind of worked out.
Tastes alright, but the texture isn't right.

Ingredients:
Milk:

• Quantity: 1/2 Gallon
• Brand: Cub 2% Reduced Fat Milk.
• Notes: It says it's pasteurized, I don't know if it was ultra pasteurized. Grade A, Homogenized.

Other Ingredients:

• 1/8 tsp. Organic Vegetable Rennet. Double Strength Plus, Gluten Free, Non-GMO 
• 3/4 tsp. Citric Acid

Steps & Notes:

1. Mix in Citric Acid: Added to Milk.
2. Heat Milk: It is supposed to be heated to 90°F, however, I wasn't paying attention and it was heated to over 100°. 
   
3. Add Rennet: Added rennet that was mixed in about 1/8c. water before I started heating the milk.
4. Let sit: It is recommended that it sits for 5 minutes. I let it sit longer because it didn't seem to have set up yet. I think I should have let it sit longer though.  It wasn't as firm as the picture.
5. Cut the Curd: Cut the curd in 1 inch squares.
6. Cook a little Longer: Reheated the cut curd to 106°F while slowly stirring.
7. Strained the Whey: Scooped the curds out of the whey
8. Microwaved curd: I microwaved the curd to get a little more whey out. This is where I knew it wasn't going so well. The curd was grainy and not as smooth.
9. Kneaded Curds: The best I could, I kneaded the curd a bit, then microwaved it again.
10. Microwaved curd: I microwaved again, but I think I did it a little long. It was really hot and blob-like melted cheese, but not the 'taffy' texture the directions described. When pulled on or 'stretched' it would break, a clean break, nothing stretchy. It was really sticky, but could be wiped up easily.
11. Added Salt: Added salt to taste.
12. Formed the Cheese: Made the cheese ball as it cooled.

Results:

• Taste: Okay. It has a good fresh taste, but it isn't anything amazing. I need to work out how much salt to add.
• Look: It looks okay. It isn't shiny and wet looking like in pictures I've seen and descriptions I've read.
• Texture: Dryish. It also seems a little grainy. I think it should be wetter tasting. 

Possible Improvements:

• Watch the temperature more closely on the initial warming of the milk.
• Prepare Rennet right before adding it to the milk, instead of before I start warming the milk. A difference of maybe 15 or 20 minutes.
• Let the milk set longer after adding the rennet.
• Be more careful when stirring curds while heating.
• When reheating in the microwave, do shorter times and use different bowls. I feel like it might have overheated it/cooked it too much.