Mozzarella water content – a test plan for five cheeses
Which mozzarella makes a pizza wet? The test plan: five cheeses weighed before and after draining and baking, on the same dough and in the same oven.
Updated 13 september 2026
Results Planned
The experiment is planned. We will publish the measurements as soon as the runs are done — even if they contradict what we expected.
Method
Status: planned. This test has not been done yet. This page describes the set-up so that the method can be scrutinised before any results exist. Figures will be added here once the runs have been done and repeated – even if they contradict the hypothesis.
The question
A wet pizza is usually down to the cheese. But how much water do different mozzarellas really release – and does draining them first help?
What we already know
Established knowledge: fresh mozzarella has a high water content, and buffalo mozzarella tends to be even moister. A long bake in a home oven gives the cheese time to release liquid. Draining and drying are common advice.
Hypothesis
Draining clearly reduces the liquid on the pizza for fresh mozzarella and bufala. In a pizza oven the difference between the cheeses is smaller than in a home oven.
How the test will be run
The cheese is cut into equal pieces and weighed before and after draining. The same amount goes onto identical pizzas, and the liquid that collects on the surface after baking is soaked up with kitchen paper, which is then weighed.
Limitations
Water content varies between packs and best-before dates. Two packs per cheese reduce the risk of a fluke result but don’t eliminate it.
Background: mozzarella, fior di latte, mozzarella di bufala, wet pizza and how we test. All tests are listed under Tested.
