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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => Problems - Questions - Problems - Questions? => Topic started by: jwalker on June 10, 2013, 01:31:08 PM

Title: Really small curd.?
Post by: jwalker on June 10, 2013, 01:31:08 PM
The last two Gouda makes of mine I have had a problem with the getting a clean break.

On the first one , I put it down to the milk , as I was using a different brand , but yesterday it happened again with my usual brand.

 After 1 hour , I didn't get a totally clean break , so I let it sit for another 20 minutes or so , still no change , the whey was milky white , I eventually had to stir the curd a little more briskly and add some of the hot water , and it finally started to sink , it eventually separated OK , but the resulting curds were very small by then.

I pressed the cheese in the regular manner and it seems to knit well , but this has happened twice in a row now.

I used new rennet this time as per instructions , but was thinking the old meso culture may be the culprit , any ideas anyone ?

All the times and temps were the same as per recipe , and never had this problem in the previous four makes of Gouda.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cheers , Jim.
Title: Re: Really small curd.?
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on June 11, 2013, 07:45:18 AM
Hi Jim, after reading lots of makes on this site I have been converted to the flocculation method. It gives consistent results and you know earlier how long it is gong to take to get a clean break.
I don't think the culture matters much as I seem to get similar times for a clean break when making Haloumi (no cultures) or Gouda.