Milk, Cow's, Store Bought - OK To Use In Cheese Making?

[whichwhey?]

I was wondering if it is alright to use store bought milks for making cheese? I will try to find fresh be I want to start making cheese. If there are any reasons not to use it please say. TIA.

[Cheese Head]

whichwhey, good question, I assume you mean cow's milk.

So far I've made 50 batches of cheese and all with store bought milk. Mostly past & homogenized whole cow's milk and no problem, one with 2% also no problem, one using Ultra Pasteurized (ie almost dead) goat's milk, I did not get a good curd set.

Stay away from UP milk, run away from UHT milk and as you say, search through shelf to find freshest date. Also, I always buy the cheapest stuff on sale which here in Houston Texas is USD2 per US gallon .

Have fun!

[whichwhey?]

Thank so much for replying. I just wanted to make sure it would work before trying.

[Baby Chee]

I'll second that.  11 cheeses in a month, all store bought, all great...except for a stilton that got infected with something bizarre.

[Boofer]

Don't forget to include your calcium chloride (CACL) when using store-bought pasteurized, homogenized milk.

-Boofer-

[Alex]

I never had success with store bought milk. I tried to make Camembert twice, the curd was just a mess. The "best" store bought milk I can get is 3% fat, pasteurized and homogenized. I've added CaCl. When I pasteurize raw milk I add about 0.8 gram to 3 liters of milk. Somebody told me about adding more fat, like cream.
I know most of you are very experienced with store bought milk, I'll be glad to have some advice. TIA.

[Cheese Head]

Alex, that's strange, if you look at any of my cheese making records (last 5 in Washed Curd Board except for small Lactic cheese) you'll see my method. I do nothing special, maybe our rennet amounts are different?

Maybe your store bought past & homogenized cow's milk in Israel is more past than that here in US? Or (I'd be shocked) have more chemicals?

[memkuk]

When I lived in France I used store bought pasteurized whole milk to make excellent Gouda. We moved to Thailand 5 years ago and here I never managed to coagulate the store bought milk using rennet, although I added CaCl2 solution. Then I found a goat farm and got raw milk, which works without any problem. Does anyone have an idea why store bought milk doesn't work? I read somewhere that the pasteurization process differs from country to country. Could the reason be that the pasteurization process in a tropical climate is more intense than in other more moderate climates, thereby making it impossible to coagulate the milk?
Txs for any input.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I use raw milk and occasionally a store bought non-homogenized milk with great success. I have tried a couple of hard cheeses with cheap store bought and have not been happy with the results - longer time for curd to set, weak curd, less flavor... But I'm probably just spoiled on the "good stuff".

I feel that homogenization causes lots more problems than pasteurization. Alex for example home pasteurizes his raw milk and has no problems. If using store bought milk, try to find one with a higher fat content that is non-homogenized. They're out there but harder to find. But worth the effort. I found my source by searching the internet for non-homogenized milk in my area. Then called the dairy to find a dealer.

[Sailor Con Queso]

If your milk is not coagulating, it is probably ultra-pasteurized and will not work. Don't trust the label. Change brands.

[Cheese Head]

Eric, good point, here's some info I coagulated on milk. There's a link there to US based "Intl Dairy Foods Assoc" that has several different Pasteurization temps and times, so pasteurization in one place can be very different to another, ie container may say past but it could be same as another person's Ultra Pasteurization (almost dead) milk.

[Alex]

John - I tried more rennet, didn't help. I think you might be right about pasteurization temperature. I'll try to find out.

Sailor - Store bought milk we have here is from only three brands (small country ). All of them the same, ultra-pasteurized and homogenized. Only one company, the biggest one, has not ultra. There is no non-homogenized store bought milk.

UHT milk for example, is produced by one diary and packed in same size boxes with 3 different logo's.

[memkuk]

I found my source by searching the internet for non-homogenized milk in my area. Then called the dairy to find a dealer.

Sailor: I saw some water buffaloes in the rice paddies. Maybe I should milk them under the cover of darkness and try my hand on Mozzarella 
Bottom line is: I'll stay with the raw goat milk, eventhough it is rather expensive (60.= Thai Baht per liter, which amounts to about 6.60 USD per gallon).

[Sailor Con Queso]

I would love to get some water buffaloe milk.

Goat's milk here is $10-$12 dollars a gallon.

[memkuk]

Oops! What am I complaining about?
6.60 US$ a gallon is not bad at all then.