Hello all. I've been making mediocre chèvre for a few months now without the aid of a reliable pH meter. I've just been following times and temperatures, but not worrying about acid development. In an attempt to start making excellent chèvre (and other cheeses) I've decided to take pH much more seriously. Needless to say, my new more serious approach didn't work out so well and I was hoping you all could help troubleshoot.
Method for 3 Qts. Raw Goat's Milk- targets: 15-20 hour make with drain pH of 4.5 - 4.6
- 9:15 pm - 73.6º - pH 6.62 + Scant 1/8 tsp MA011
- 9:50 pm - 73º - pH 6.61
- 11:30 pm - 75º - pH 6.48 +1/5 drop rennet
- 7:00 am - 79º - pH 4.30
- 9:00 am - 75º - pH 4.29 - ladle curds into mold
At the time of ladling, the curds were still very soft and there wasn't much in the way of visible whey separation. I'm used to the curd pulling away from the sides of the vat, with a layer of greenish/blue whey on top and maybe some fissures visible in the curd mass. This morning, the curd was more like yogurt. I started the drain anyway, as I had already overshot my pH target. Upon ladling into the molds, the curd promptly fell apart and drained out of the mold completely.
So what happened? I'm assuming that overshooting the pH target for draining was a factor. I was expecting it to take about 15 hours at 73º to reach pH 4.6 but, as you can see, I was already at 4.3 after only 10 hours. My make room is rather warm, though, so I think I probably ended up with the milk going up to around 80º. The drop from 79º to 75º was after I opened up the windows in the morning in an attempt to cool things off (too late, I know).
I was also surprised how long it took to drop pH by .2 before adding the rennet. I was expecting to see that happen in 30-45 minutes, but it took over 2 hours.
Maybe, also, I should have used more rennet - though I haven't needed to in the past.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
