First Cottage Cheese pH high - Caldwell recipe

[jbrewton]

This was my first attempt of making cheese with culture.  The recipe called for Flora Danica blend, but I only had Mesophile II (LC).

1. Used Whole Milk (Mayfield) - 1 gal (63 F pH 7.09)
2. Culture 1/8 tsp (the Meso II packet recommends 1/8 tsp per gal)
3. CaCl2 - 1/4 tsp
4. Rennet - 1/4 tablet

Heat milk to recommended temp and added culture. Let set for 3.5 hours
Note: I stored the culture in the freezer and measured 1/8 tsp and brought up to room temperature.  When it was time to add the culture, it had caked up a little before spreading. What should I have done?

I got a clean break so I decided to cut the curds and proceed.  I measured the Whey pH and it was 7.01 (milk started at 7.09).  The instruction said that pH should be around 6.0. 

        a. Did this have something to do with the using lower amounts of culture? 

        b. Should I reduce rennet and let the culture work longer?

Cooked the curds per instruction (lowest pH I got before draining was 6.86)

Drained and washed curds as instructed, and added cream.

Overall I was satisfied with the end result, tasted like cottage cheese.  My only concern was why the pH was so high.

[jbrewton]

On my second attempt, I used 2% milk, added 1/4 tsp Meso II,  ripened 5 hours and pH went down to 6.25.  Cut curds larger (about 3/4").  I also cooked the curds longer which made them firmer.  Drained 1 hour.

Full process took 8 hrs 45 minutes

Results:
My wife loved he second batch (she said the previous batch didn't look or taste like cottage cheese).  By the next day, the flavor and texture was awesome.

Next batch I try to use 2 gallons and let it ripen longer to achieve full acid development.