Rennet - Too Little, Too Much

[Cheese Head]

Every rennet is different, and in general once you get used to it you know how much to use based on how long to and how strong a clean break in your curd.

My question is, given that rennet is cheap, what is the consequence of using too much rennet?

[DaggerDoggie]

Personally, I don't know, but I have read that it can cause the cheese to be bitter...anyone know if this is true.  What effect, if any does rennet play in the pH?

[reg]

DD like you i have read that to much rennet will make the cheese bitter. that tells me it will also affect the PH level. is it a concern ? at this point i don't know as i'm still very fresh to the hobby.

i use one tablet in 4 gals. it usually takes between 1.5-2hrs to get a clean break. a lot of recipies i have looked at call for cutting after about 30 minutes or so. have never ran across this yet

reg

[Cheese Head]

Reg, acidic will change the pH, not sure if bitter will, maybe.

As you are using tablets are they Junket Brand rennet tablets ánd if so where are you buying them from and how are they working. Reason asking is I've read that they are not very good for cheese making but this may be propaganda?

[DaggerDoggie]

I was originally looking for Junket brand because that is what I had read from Frankhauser's cheese page...they seem to work well for him, but I ended up getting mine from Leener's so I have never used them.

The brand name certainly does not instill confidence.

[reg]

morning CH. no not Junket brand. the back of the pac says Fromase 50 made by DSM Food Specialties. picked them up at a health food store. price was $6.95 for 10 tablets. they seem to work fine for me so far

reg

[Cheese Head]

Thanks Reg, this webpage is the closest I could come to your product, maybe they are phasing Fromase 50 out for newer XLG product line or maybe their prduct line is larger than their lead XLG product. Looks like yours is non-animal "rennet".

Added this company to the Culture Manufacturers Webpage.

[Tea]

With the liquid rennet and recommendation is not to use any more than .5ml/2ltr.  Too much rennet can cause bitterness apparently.
When I used junket tablets, (all I initially had), I just used as the packet advised and found it to be adquate for the purpose.  But I must admit that I prefer rennet.

[SalMac]

Is there a difference between how much veg based rennet and animal based rennet you need to use. I read somehwere you need to use more of the veg rennet but cant find where I read that, if so anyone know the ratio?

[Cheese Head]

My experience is to start by following the directions on container, frankly it is all quite variable as depends on type of milk, if pastereurized, if added Calcium Chloride, etc. If anything you want to err on side of too much until you get feel for your results. That said I initially used liquid vegetarian rennet, picture here, I found that I needed about 20% over water directions said, but I was using pasteurized store bought milk and no CaCl2.

Rennet is very concentrated stuff, make sure you dilute it in water before adding to milk and thoroughly stir it in.

Hope helps . . .

[SalMac]

Ah yes that was one of the many bog ups Im afraid, forgot to dilute it.... Going to try it again this weekend. Mind you even though it didnt set properly there were enough 'curds' to make the expected amount of cheese.

[Cheese Head]

Good on keep trying, whey should be transparent and slightly green colour, if whitish then haven't got a good enough set and are losing to much to the whey.

[Tea]

Yes I have been noting the difference in the colour of my whey and the colour that you get, and it is interesting, because the white'ish colour is the colour that both my Maltese friend and I regardless of whether we use junket tablets, or rennent, and we are using both at the recommended rate.
I am going to have a try at adding more rennet than recommended when I next make cheese, and see if I can get the whey that you al get.
Wish me luck.

[bec1986]

i may be using too much, im definatly not using too little. i use 2ml liquid vegetable rennet in 6-10 litres and havent checked before 20 mins but at 20-30 mins i have always had clean break but have needed to let it sit to develop flavour (apparently) for up to an hour. next cheese ill check at 5 min intervals and see when the break kicks in.

[Cheese Head]

bec1986

I've used up all of initial liquid "rennet", it was a vegetarian Malaka brand and the directions were 20 drops per gallon, which I assumed was a US gallon which is 3.8 liters. I found 25 drops per US gallon of whole pasteurized milk worked best. Seems like a lot less than you are using. Hope you are diluting yours in water before adding to milk as very concentrated stuff.