Hello all. I have been away from this forum for some time and have not had an opportunity to make cheese, but I now have the time to continue.
I made a Cream Cheese following this recipe:
1 qt. Whole Milk - Pasteurized
1 qt. Heavy Cream - Ultra Pasteurized
1/8 t. Meso-M
1/4 t. Calcium Chloride
1 t. weak rennet solution
Heated milk and cream to 86F. and removed from heat.
Sprinkled Meso-M over surface ans allowed to bloom for 3 minutes then stirred in gently along with calcium chloride solution.
Added rennet solution and stirred gently for 1/2 minute.
Cover pot (stainless) and allowed to sit overnight a 68F.
This morning I was to ladle the soft curd into a colander lined with a double layer of fine cheese cloth and so I attempted this, however the curd was very runny and drained immediately into the bowl below.
All ingredients were fresh. The milk was pasteurized and the heavy cream was ultra pasteurized. I made a weak solution of rennet us1/4 rennet tablet and 1/4 cup distilled water. I used the entire 1/4 cup of rennet solution in the batch.
Can anyone determine or suggest where I might have screwed up ?
I am thinking the heavy cream being ultra pasteurized was most likely the cause of failure, but I have not attempted a cream cheese for some time and I can not locate my recipe from previous batches made, so I used a recipe from the Leeners website. Could increased calcium chloride have avoided this?
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Salute!