Author Topic: Rennet Questions and comments  (Read 2014 times)

Dorchestercheese

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Rennet Questions and comments
« on: September 18, 2017, 12:27:24 PM »
I've recently discovered that the animal rennet i purchased from New England Cheese requires 2x the concentration as most recipes call for..they do state this on the container but I well was following recipese..my bad but i still have questions.
Saturday and Sunday I made cheese 4 gallon batches each day of raw milk I purchase on Saturday that was milked Saturday.

Saturday I used 1.5 TSP of animal rennet and it flocculated at 9 minutes and I let it sit for 30 minutes (multiplier of 2.5-3)
Sunday - I tried to slow the coagulation process a bit so I used 1.25tsp of rennet and it took 20 minutes to flocculate...

I'm at at loss how using .25 tsp less rennet caused it to be 10 more minutes to flocculate..

Thoughts ..the culture were different
Day 1 - mix of miso and thermo
Day 2 - only thermo
the pH was very close to both days at the time to rennet 6.7ish

The cheese seems ok but I am trying to learn how this works so when i buy a new batch of rennet I'm  not totally lost again.

Offline Gregore

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2017, 02:48:09 PM »
I use 18 drops of liquid rennet on average for 3 gallons of milk for a 17 to 18 minute set  .  20 or 21 drops can give me an extra 3 to 4 minutes quicker set the opposite goes for  15 to 16 drops .

Some one like "sailor " might be able to answer this but I suspect that the coagulation curve is not a linear straight line  in relation to rennet amounts .

Offline Rain Frances

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2017, 03:28:17 PM »
Hi Dorchestercheese,

I can't really answer your question as I have my own issues with New England...I don't follow any of their recipes anymore because they are quite confusing. I have a double strength animal rennet too and every time I see (for example) 1/4 tsp rennet in the ingredient list...I half it. I don't know if that helps you or not. I'm a recipe follower though, not good at "winging it"! :)

Rain

Dorchestercheese

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2017, 12:13:10 AM »
Hi Rain-
I too only use the recipes on New England to get a general overview..the recipes lack editing and completeness.  But I do buy their products as they are local to me and have nice customer service in the office.
I'll figure out the rennet.   

Offline Rain Frances

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2017, 01:13:20 AM »
Not to derail this at all...but you are right. I had a big issue with the "cheese tech" today and after lots of frustration, finally April (admin) sent me the correct answer to my question plus a $10 gift card for the trouble the other guy gave me.  Everyone always raves about them, so it's nice to know you can relate. I still buy from them if I can't get what I need from the Canadian company here that I also buy from.

I made a big rennet mistake on my first cheese. I forgot to read the bottle, it was a double strength and I used it as though it were single...oh, the cheese was so sour!!!

Offline Fritz

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2017, 02:57:28 AM »
Hey Rain' ... ya, too much rennet will make a cheese bitter... sour usually is a pH issue.

Offline Rain Frances

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Re: Rennet Questions and comments
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2017, 01:22:29 PM »
I guess I meant bitter because it was a quick microwave Mozza that did end up stretching...but way too much rennet!  :-X