Author Topic: Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?  (Read 2585 times)

sladkosnedka

  • Guest
Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?
« on: October 09, 2013, 08:17:17 PM »
I only make soft cheeses using nettle for coagulation.

It works great. But I do not like the taste of lemon or citric acid. Its too sour. So I was wondering if I can form more acidity naturally?
I got fresh milk (straight from above the cow) I have put in 1 ice cube cultured buttermilk per 1 gallon and left it to sit over night. In the morning it was thick almost yogurty like. Then I added nettle. Not only it took only 4 hours to full coagulation that would normaly take at least 24 but also end result was fantastic.
So why do I need to add lemon juice or citric acid?
Is it because no one these days have time to let milk sit over night?  ::)
Thx

PS It doesnt work if you want to make mozzarela though. You wont be able  to strech it.

Homecheesejack

  • Guest
Re: Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2013, 08:44:24 PM »
I never heard of using nettle, but brilliant, I love the sound of it!

To get cheese, we need acid. We normally create it by turning lactose into lactic acid by using starters and it's that acid concentration increase that gives us fermented milk. But, hey, if you can find anything to increase acidity, you'll get the result you're talking about.

Check out http://www.homemadecheese.org/how-cheese-is-made.html#sthash.v3KrHwWY.duNEanIt.dpbs for more detail

Great post,

Jack

sladkosnedka

  • Guest
Re: Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2013, 12:28:20 PM »
Thx
I am bit surprised that there is no option here on the forum on natural rennet.
I found out what I needed. Basically as I suspected acid is added to speed up the process. If you want more natural way you can simply leave your milk to ferment on its own by adding cultured buttermilk.
Well I am doing some experiments daily so I hope subject show up on this topic soon in the forum.

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2013, 10:15:36 PM »
Quote
So I was wondering if I can form more acidity naturally?
In short, yes, but this depends on the cheese and recipe. for example, if you are making a direct acidified mozzarella, if you use cultures to acidify it, then you have to deal with the additional acid buildup before stretching. So it changes the dynamics. What cheese are you making?
Quote
thick almost yogurty like. Then I added nettle.
Why did you add nettle when so much acid was present? What cheese style are you making?
Quote
So why do I need to add lemon juice or citric acid?
Addition of acid helps rennet act faster. It breaks down proteins, which depending on the acid amount added, helps when making certain cheeses, like mozzarella.
Quote
Is it because no one these days have time to let milk sit over night?  ::)
It depends on the cheese. One of the only cheeses acid is added to directly is mozzarella. And in that case, yes it is about speed. In case of queso fresco, same, goal is to make a quick cheese.

Quote
no option here on the forum on natural rennet.
What do you mean? We have discussed rennet production from animals and enzyme extraction from fig and cardoon plants.

Offline steffb503

  • Catskill Mts, NY State, USA
  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Posts: 595
  • Cheeses: 11
    • M & S Farm
Re: Can I skip acid of any kind and ferment milk naturally?
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2013, 10:40:13 AM »
sladkosnedka can you tell me how exactly you used the nettle. I was given a plant for this purpose but I am not sure how to use it.