Rennet - Tablet vs Liquid Formats

[puttertat]

I bought the mozzarella kit that includes rennet tablets, can I use them in place of liquid rennet or do I need to go out and buy the liquid for something like Camembert?

[Alison]

Hi

I'm sure you can use them. Just remember to dissolve in chlorine free water.
I thought that the only advantage of liquid rennet over powdered rennet is that for smaller batches it is easier to measure small amounts of liquid in a syringe than to get the mass of powder right (quarter or half tablet). Any guesses out there?

regards
Alison

[BobE102330]

In my limited experience, the vegetable rennet tablets are OK for fresh cheeses, and I made my first very tasty Camemberts with it.  If you are going to make longer ripening cheeses vegetable rennet can impart an unpleasant flavor.   

I have had some troubles with vegetable rennet, at least at the quantities Riki Carroll recommends. (guessing the OP bought her Mozz. kit)  I had a couple of makes with flocculation times in the five minute range.  From what I gather reading here, we want to match set and acidification times for most cheeses.  Camembert is a bit less sensitive because the flavor is really developed by the action of the mould. (so says the Wiki recipe)

As a general rule, recipes here call for about half the rennet and culture that Rikki uses.  I've got several makes aging since discovering this, so I cannot yet tell you what a difference it will make.  I'm still settling in on my quantities of culture and rennet.  It's a lot easier to adjust the amount of liquid rennet than the discrete steps of tablets.

Another hint from a newbie who just discovered the difference quality milk can make.  I've had decent results using store bought milk, but last weekend I went to the farmers market and bought some local creamline milk. Not only did it yield about 25% more curd, those curds tasted like cheese after a bit of draining.  I could have filled more than 5 Camembert molds.  The dairyman mentioned his P/H milk was available in the supermarket, but I missed it.  At a $.20 premium over the standard stuff, I used it to make a Stilton approximation Sunday.  Probably didn't need it, but I substituted a pint of cream for the same amount of milk and drank the remainder.  Comparing the taste of that milk to Grocery store standard was like comparing a craft brewed stout to a low calorie light beer. I'm going to "splurge" and use it for every day consumption. Can't wait to get some fresh milk from a dairy I discovered 10 miles from home.   

Hope this helps.

Bob