Hi All, thanks for your replies! As I suspected, too much starter, too much rennet, not enough pressing whey out, inadequate salting possibly even the raw milk I use could have been abit spoiled...
Regarding renneting and starter cultures, is there an easy way to control for variations, and to provide indication of too much or too little for either. I have a pH meter I could use if this is of any relevance.
Re pressing whey out, I will definitely work on ensuring an even size of curds is achieved and more water is released next time.
Spoons, when you say the brine solution is out of balance, how would I go about balancing it. In Cyprus, unless you live near a desalination plant, tap water is pH 8.4 and has a hardness of around 0.7EC which is mostly attributed to calcium carbonate. How would you go about balancing your brine relative to your water parameters?
Also regarding spoiled milk, I get my milk raw and chilled (to under 4C) from a dairy farm, it goes straight into my fridge when it gets home (in practice 20-30min). When I make the cheese, usually on the same day or the day after, I bring my temperature up to 65-70 slowly for pasteurization, and add my culture in while the milk is cooling down (at the 30-32C range depending on the cheese). Is there anything wrong with my milk treatment process before this?
John@PC, I am indeed from Cyprus the home of halloumi!!