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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Pasta Filata (Pulled Curd) => Topic started by: aiannar974 on April 06, 2009, 03:09:58 AM

Title: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: aiannar974 on April 06, 2009, 03:09:58 AM

Hello - It has been a while since I made cheese and the last time it was with a kit.  This time i stopped in at Leener's and and picked up what I needed to make an Asadero.  I followed the directions, temps and times.  i strained the curd and the curd was not real firm (this maybe normal - but lack experience to know - some of it even looked like pudding and seemed to break up easy).  I put it into hot water (170 deg) and tried to knead it together but it stayed grainy and wanted to fall apart.

any ideas?

Anthony

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: wharris on April 06, 2009, 05:52:58 AM

Anthony,
I'm sorry to hear that it fell apart.  I really cannot offer up any advice because that is not something i have tried.   

you say you stopped in to Leeners?  Are you a Cleveland based Cheese maker?

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: aiannar974 on April 06, 2009, 12:31:10 PM

At this point, I would not call myself a cheese maker.  maybe a milk spoiler.  I live literally around the corner from Leeners.  It is about 2-3 miles away.  I am in Macedonia.

Because the Asadera is similar to mozzarella is it possible to draw a conclusion?  I heated themilk in a double boiler to 145 and held it there for 30minutes.  it smelled like when you cook milk.  Any chance i over did it?

Anthony

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: Tea on April 06, 2009, 08:30:08 PM

Hi Anthony.  Mozz needs to come to the correct pH before it will knead/stretch.  I wonder if this cheese would be the same?  Does the recipe say anything about pH?

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: aiannar974 on April 06, 2009, 09:10:54 PM

No PH ifo was in the recipe.  It is the asadera recipe on the home page.

Anthony

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: wharris on April 06, 2009, 09:14:10 PM

Sorry I cannot be more help, I've never made this type.

I'm in Brunswick BTW.

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: DeejayDebi on April 07, 2009, 02:43:26 AM

It may be that you didn't drain it well enough before putting it in the brine. I had some of my memebers do that.

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: Cartierusm on April 28, 2009, 05:59:20 PM

Hmm, what kind of milk did you use?

You said you haven't made cheese in a long time were you using any ingredients that was old?

Grainy sounds like too much rennet or bad rennet or mixing in the rennet for too long and it started to set. Pudding sounds like not enough rennet, sounds like as I've never tried too little rennet or not enough to make a difference.

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: Ariel301 on June 06, 2009, 07:04:32 AM

I had the same experience with this recipe. I let it sit for longer than it called for and never really got a clean break. I went ahead and cut the curds anyway, and it was soft and pudding like, as described in the original post. It got grainy and didn't stretch. It turned out something more like cottage cheese or ricotta; just very wet and mushy.

Title: Re: 1st non kit try a disaster
Post by: DeejayDebi on June 07, 2009, 11:33:05 PM

According to Egon (Danlac):

The pH before adding rennet should be 6.5 +- 0.1.

The pH  before pressing should be about 5.20 +- 0.10 under whey level (after reaching pH 5.20, all the cheese has to be blanched in hot water as quickly as possible). Blanch then knead the cheese until stretchy then repeat until a long string of cheese can be pulled without breaking similar to mozzarella.

I haven't made this yet but from my experiances with my forum members it seems that there are two posiblilties for this problem:
1. old milk
2. insufficient heating/stretching of the curds