Heating Milk too high with Mesophilic. Any way to save?

[kdoane]

Hi I'm brandnew to cheese-making.  We underestimated how hot our pan would continue to get after we turned off the heat, so our milk with mesophilic got to about 105F.  i assume it's destroyed, but is there anything we can do to save the milk?  Can we let it cool to the proper temp and them add the mesophilic again?

[jwalker]

Been there done that , in my experience , you will be OK.

Did you continue on with the recipe , add rennet and cut curd ?

I've gone as high as 114 degrees and the cheese was still ok , meso is used in Gouda , and they get washed with fairly hot water.

you'll be fine.

[Digitalsmgital]

I agree.

Your job as a cheese maker is to tilt the playing field in favor of your desired bacteria. They will out-compete the bad guys as long as you don't penalize them too often.

[jwalker]

Also , I have found , that doing 4 gallon batches with a double boiler , if I want a temp of say 96 degrees , I will turn the heat off at about 86 degrees , it will usually continue to absorb the heat from the water for another 10 degrees or so.

That will change depending on the size of the make and the amount of water in the boiler.

Good luck , you'll figure it out.

[John@PC]

We underestimated how hot our pan would continue to get after we turned off the heat, so our milk with mesophilic got to about 105F. 

We've all been there for sure.  In my early cheese making days I use an electric stove top, sometimes with a double boiler and sometimes direct.  I think it was a Reblochon, and when it got near the temperature I turned off the burner, added the cultures and set the timer.  When I came back the temperature was 150F  .  Turns out that while I though the element was off I had turned the dial instead to HIGH.  I hate to admit it but I actually repeated the mistake, so needless to say no more makes on an electric stove.