A Tale of Two Cultures

[scasnerkay]

A tale of two cultures
I brought home almost 3 gallons of lovely raw Jersey milk on 12/16/14 for making feta, mozzarella and ricotta. Not much room in the cave right now, so I needed some fresh types! I was struck by the similarities in the makes and the difference in pH development in 2 cheeses each made with a different mesophillic starter. Flora Danica has much slower acid development than MM100. Feta curd with FD was kept in warmer cave, Mozzarella curd with MM100 was kept in cold frig.  So here it is in sort of a table form- sorry for formatting problems:

Time   Feta                                                       Time   Mozzarella
2:25   Temp 90, scant 1/16t FD and lipase           4:15   Temp 90, scant 1/16t MM100 stirred in      
3:35   Rennet stirred in, 16 min flocc                   5:20 Rennet stirred in, 15 min flocc
4:38   2” vertical cuts                                    6:15   2” vertical cuts
4:50   2” horizontal cut                                 6:23   2” horizontal cuts
5:00   Gentle wiggling of curd                         6:33   Gentle wiggling of curd
5:20   Scooped into mesh bag                 6:55   Scooped into microperf form
6:20   Into ricotta basket temp at 72         Kept warm in pot at 72
9:15 PH tested 6.45                                   9:15   PH tested at 6.0
10:00PH at 6.0 – into cave at 55            10:00   PH at 5.84 – into house frig at 38
12/17/14 Afternoon
2:30   PH 5.1 – left on counter                 2:30   PH ? On counter, too cold
3:00   PH 5.0                                              3:00   PH 5.0!! Time to make mozza- Success!
6:30   PH 4.85 – back in cave
11:00 Into sat brine for 8 hours   



            

[ArnaudForestier]

Hey Susan -

Nice trials!  I love work like this, good stuff to show different dynamics, spot on, I'd say.  Cheese to you.

[awakephd]

Susan,

Another possible factor: I think I read somewhere that Flora Danica is less dense than some other cultures; I don't know if that is true with respect to the MM100 -- doesn't seem like it should be that different! -- but since you measured by volume rather than by weight, it may be that you actually got less culture in the Feta.

Disclaimer: After less than a year into this hobby, I am absolutely the least reliable source, so take this with 2% salt.

Andy

[ArnaudForestier]

That's a really good point, Andy.  It is a slower acidifier, but hadn't thought of that; cheese to you as well!

[scasnerkay]

The FD was pretty crunched up, and I doubt the amount difference would be enough to account for that much difference in pH development. I have seen the same pattern previously in other makes. Just fun to compare!

[scasnerkay]

Just a follow up - making lasagna tonight with the ricotta and mozzarella. This was my closest approximation to fior di latte yet!! So excited to have the mozzarella be just the way I wanted! Tender and flavorful. I hope I can repeat this! Now to wait 45 more minutes for dinner!!

[scasnerkay]

This mozzarella was absolutely the best I have made yet. It was like fior di latte, with great flavor and soft melting texture, yet able to be sliced. So happy! I sure hope I can repeat this effort! A cheese to CheesyMama whose recipe I followed.