Author Topic: Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc  (Read 2276 times)

stinkymccheese

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Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc
« on: January 05, 2013, 02:45:03 PM »
I made Ricki's Fromage Blanc last night with PH milk and forgot to add calcium chloride, its been sitting for about 12 hours now and has a very weak curd.

Do I just sit on it for a few more hours before draining to get a firmer curd or is this as good as it will get?

Thoughts?

linuxboy

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Re: Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2013, 06:59:40 PM »
You don't need CaCl2 for fromage blanc. If the curd is weak, then:
- Milk solids possibly low
- possibly not enough rennet used
- culture blend is off for the temp, or temp schedule does not match culture selection (should be 75-78F)

Wait a few more hours, but I doubt it will make a difference. If it doesn't drain well, heat it up, that will firm it up some, but will not give you as smooth of a texture

stinkymccheese

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Re: Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2013, 09:47:05 PM »
Thanks LB,

I followed Ricki Carrolls recipe which calls for an 86 degree temp and used her culture which has the rennet in it so it could be an issue with the milk as it was an easy make and I followed the recipe to a T.

I've done a number of pressed cheeses and have yet to encounter any issues like this so I was surprised that such an easy make went south on me the way it did, anyways, the cheese is draining and will be for a few hours yet so we will see how it turns out.


linuxboy

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Re: Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2013, 10:28:20 PM »
I would switch to some better product where you have more control over what's going on. In this case, most likely rennet degraded too much. 86F is a bit too high for normal fromage blanc unless you tailor the process (add rennet later at 6.1).

stinkymccheese

  • Guest
Re: Poor Rennet Curd - Fromage Blanc
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2013, 12:31:49 AM »
Understood.  For a newbie like me there is a certain level of comfort in using the prepackaged cultures but yeah, it doesn't exactly give me the control I need.

Sound advice. Thanks.