My very first cheese project and it was a total fail. Ugh. I'm hoping you can help.
For my first project, I decided to make "Crème Fraîche Cottage Cheese" from
Artisan Cheese Making at Home by M. Karlin.
All of my "dry" ingredients were fresh as I had just received all my supplies within the last week. I washed and sterilized all my equipment, and had everything laid-out and organized. I also took notes.
Ingredients:
1 gallon milk (I used Promised Land Cream on the Top; Whole milk, HHST Pasteurized, non-Homogenized)
3/8 tsp Meso Aroma B
1/4 tsp CaCl diluted in 1/4C cool water (I used filtered water)
1/4 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 1/4C cool water (I used Calf's rennet and filtered water)
1 tsp kosher salt
1-1 1/2 C crème fraîche
As per the author's suggestion, I removed the milk from the fridge about one hour before I began. Right before I began, I pre-measured all ingredients so they were ready to go. Again, everything was clean and sterilized.
Since the milk was "Cream on the Top", lo and behold, there was cream on the top! I tried shaking the bottles before opening to mix it all up; maybe this was a mistake? I only shook each bottle 2-3 times. Anyway, there was solid cream/like soft butter texture stuck in the necks of the bottles; but I got that and all the liquid into the stock pot.
This is where my first mistake might've happened: I didn't know if it was ok to have those big cream "bits" -- there were four blobs (one from each bottle) each about the size of a small golfball -- SO
I tried whisking/mixing the blobs to reincorporate them back into the milk. How bad of an oops was that? Next... OH! Quick Note: When using "cream on the top" milk and there *is* a blob of cream on the top, do not - do NOT - squeeze the bottle to get the milk pouring out. Trust me, you will end up with milk everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
Put the milk in the pot to heat. Recipe said to "warm the milk to 70F over the course of about 15 minutes." Well, my milk was already at 68F/69F from being at room temperature. I turned the heat on at its lowest setting (I use an induction cooktop with heavy ss cookware... it's incredibly sensitive and removes the need for a double boiler) and within 5 minutes, the milk was at 70F. I immediately turned off the heat source and moved the pan. As per instructions, I sprinkled the starter onto the milk, waited 5 minutes, incorporated (whisk; up-and-down motion, 20 strokes); added diluted CaCl and incorporated as with Aroma B; added diluted rennet and incorporated as before. My temperature reading was 73F. I don't know how the temperature went up 3 degrees, unless the temp was still increasing from the initial warming... I don't believe adding starters and/or other ingredients causes a chemical heat process thingy??
Then I began the wait. I covered the pot and let sit for 3 hours. At three hours, the milk temperature was 73.1F. So, I am guessing that is room temperature in my home. The pot was not under a light or near a heat source. The knife could make a line, but the edges weren't "clean" and the mixture seemed to be spongey. I recovered the pot and let it sit for another hour. At the end of the fourth hour, the milk temp was holding at 73.1F. Once again, the edges from cutting the curd were basically the same as previously. I read through the "Trouble Shooting" guide and concluded that I had needed to use more rennet. Maybe I had received bad rennet/ rennet with a bad attitude?
So, since the milk mixture was a bust, I thought "What the hell?" and decided to add another 1/4 tsp rennet diluted in 1/4 cup filtered water. I stirred to incorporate; covered the pot and let it stand. After 1 hour the mixture was like soup. At 2 hours, I thought it might be setting-up as there was clear liquid setting on top. So, I gave it one more hour. At three hours (7 hours grand total) it was still mush. Lots of whey on top but the curd was like a thin porridge.
So. So... so?? Any clues as to what I did wrong? One thing? One step? All things, all steps?
I sure would appreciate *any* advice you have (unless it's "Please stop making cheese")
I'd like to test the rennet; but the only thing dairy I have in the house is some heavy whipping cream. Can I test rennet with cream and how do I do it? I've read where you take a cup of milk and heat it to 90F... dilute 1/4tsp liquid rennet in 1/4C water... add 2Tbsp rennet/water mix into milk and watch for floccs. Do you agree with this?
Thank you so much! Truly, I am looking forward to giving this another go. I was so afraid of failing. And I did. So now it's time to succeed!
