No coagulation.....why?

[mep123]

Tried to make a fresh cheese today using meso culture, rennet, and CaCl. Heated milk to 90 degrees, added starter, ripened for 30 minutes. Added CaCl, then rennet, let sit for 45 minutes. NO coagulation at all. How do I know if this was a problem with the culture or with the rennet? Any other potential factors? (I know the milk was good). Is there any way to tell beforehand if the culture is good, so the milk and time is not a total waste?

I am new to the forum - thanks for your help.

[boothrf]

Hi mep123. You will need to post more details to enable forum members to provide more advice. Quantities of milk, type of milk, type of cultures and rennet, quantities of each added, temperatures, times  etc will help us to diagnose possible problems. No coagulation when using rennet would normally point to a rennet issue, possibly age or quantity. Post some more details and we will see if we can help you.

[mep123]

Thanks Bob. I used 1 gallon of pasteurized non-homogenized organic milk (not ultra-p), 1/8 tsp Aroma-B meso culture, 1/8 tsp liquid CaCl diluted in 2 T water, 1/8 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 2 T water. The rennet was from cheesemaking.com, was less than one month old, and I've been storing it in the fridge. The culture was from a pack that I opened a few weeks ago to make my first cheese...after I used it the first time, I sealed the pouch and stored it in a ziploc in the fridge. To dilute the rennet and CaCl, I used filtered water that I boiled and cooled. I heated the milk slowly to 90 degrees, then added the culture and let ripen for 30 minutes. I then added the CaCl, then the rennet. Hope that helps. Thanks!

[dbudge55]

Did the milk flocculate (get thicker) at all? I've had the same experience and had to wait upwards of two hours to get a clean break. I figured it had to be the milk since I haven't had the same problem using the same cultures and rennet.  But it ended up making a decent (not great) cheese anyhow. The good news is that if it doesn't work out you've only lost 1 gallon of milk. I don't do such small makes anymore because I found the rind/paste ratio to be off. But I did a lot of it in the very beginning.

[DeejayDebi]

Did you dilute the rennet in pure water or chlorinated tap water?

[Sailor Con Queso]

Most "organic" milk is ultra-pasteurized and is a poor choice for making cheese. They are not required to put ultra-pasteurized on the label.

[mep123]

Milk is from a local dairy - it is low temp pasteurized. I diluted the rennet in filtered water that I first boiled, then cooled.

[MrsKK]

How long before adding the rennet to the milk did you dilute it?  Sometimes it weakens rennet if it is diluted too long before adding it to the milk.

I started out using liquid rennet from cheesemaking.com and after only 6 months it was very weak.  I suspect that they buy it in a huge amount and I probably got my little bottle of it from the bottom of the vat...

Don't give up!

[mep123]

Dave...no, the milk did not thicken at all. I gave it some extra time, then I decided to make queso blanco out of it, so at least it wasn't a total waste!

Mrs KK...thanks for the tip on rennet. Any recommendations for another supplier?

[MrsKK]

I buy powdered calf rennet from www.thecheesemaker.com and have been very happy with it.  I have used one packet for about a year and a half, storing it in the freezer, and it worked fine until I ran out of it.  You may want to also order his three piece measuring spoon set, as the rennet is used at the rate of 1/16 tsp for 1-3 gallons of milk and 1/8 tsp for 4-6 gallons.  You'll find the set about a quarter of the way down this page:  http://thecheesemaker.com/supplies.htm