chevre not properly curdled

[bigsearock]

I just tried making chevre for the second time using the same brand of milk I successfully made it from last month. I followed the same recipe exactly, except that I left the curds to set 3 hours longer this time than last (just wasn't home at the right time). When I tried to drain them, I found they weren't even solid enough to be picked up with a skimmer.

Though it initially looked like I had curds and whey, the mixture seemed to turn back into milk as I poured it into the cheesecloth. I've only poured a bit out of the pot but whatever was forming has certainly been disturbed.

So, is there anything I can do to save it at this point? It is a whole lot of milk to just throw out.

[Cheese Head]

Hi bigsearock, Chevre is a primarily lactic acid coagulated cheese, primarily meaning you normally only use a very small amount of rennet.

Our Wiki: Coagulation Defects article lists some common problems with lactic coagulation. These being strength of lactic acid starter and temp of milk, are these different with this batch?

Assume you are using a store bought Goat Milk, they are commonly Ultra Pasteurized which are hard to get any rennet action.

Assuming you are not longer than ~ 24 hours (in which case I think you could have other unwanted microorganisms competing with your lactic acid) I would add some more mesophilic starter culture and warm and hold the milk at ~ 80F to accelerate the lactic acid production and soft lactic acid curd formation and then when you have a good curd set proceed as normal.

[bigsearock]

It's not ultrapasteurized, and I'm over the 24 hours. Can I heat it to 180 to kill any possible nasties, then bring the temperature down to 80 and add more culture and rennet? Basically start over?