Vegeren: didnt coagulate

[Choubix]

Hi guys,

I am new to cheese making.
I bought a bottle of vegeren (the only thing g available where I live) and I tried making ricotta tonight.

I put a 1/4 tsp calcium chloride in 2L milk (1/2 gallon) overnight.

Tonight I heated my milk to 85c, added 1/4 tsp rennet (forgot to dilute), took the milk away from the stove and waited a good 45mins. Nothing happened.

I resorted to putting the milk on the stove again then put a few squeezes of lemon and it worked like a charm.

What gives?

Thanks!

Has anyone added lipase in ricotta? If so: shall I put it I  after the milk has curdled? (I think ideal temp is 50c for lipase).

Thank

[AnnDee]

You don't need rennet for ricotta. Ricotta is a direct acid cheese, I usually heat my milk to 85C then add diluted citric acid OR vinegar (lemon juice will work too I suppose), minimal stirring. Heat some more until ricotta floats then remove from heat and cover.

[Gregore]

Rennet stops working way below 85c

At that temp only low ph will form curd , thus the lemon juice .

[Choubix]

Thanks both. I usually do it with acid (vinegar/lemon) but since I finally found rennet I wanted to give it a try. I will stick to acid for now and save the rennet for other cheese applications

I read about the temp at which rennet thrices: 85-105f (30-40c) and because ineffective from 140f (60c) onwards.

I guess I will stick to recipes and educate myself with a couple of books!

Thank you both for taking time to respond to my question!

[awakephd]

By the way, welcome to the forum!

[Choubix]

Thank you!
Looking forward to learning much here!