Question - Ingredient Doubling

[UpMyKilt]

I am using a recipe from a kit.

It calls for 4 to 6 litres of milk using

1/8 teaspoon culture
1/4 tablet of rennet
1/4 teaspoon calcium chloride

If I go to 8 litres of milk (it's just easier than 6, and I'd like to do more than 4), is it safe or expected to simply double the amounts of the above ingredients?

[john H]

I would say yes but I always cross check the dosage on all packaging as there are different strengths of rennet and you don't want a bitter cheese. 

John

[UpMyKilt]

Thanks John. It was mostly the rennet I was concerned with. Unfortunately, the rennet package that I received has no dosage in English. I'll go do some googling The package says "novo" then underneath, "+QSO"

I can make out something about "50 litros" but that is all.

[UpMyKilt]

This is where I received the kit - and the photo looks SIMILAR but not the same:

http://www.makecheese.ca/products/rennet-tablets

But it seems the only rennet tablets on their site. Packaging from the tablet side looks identical to what they sent me, but my tablets are NOT scored into quarters, just halves.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I would agree with John that you should be able to double the 4 litre recipe for 8 litres.
Looking at the website that you gave the link for, the thing that struck me were the comments at the bottom about the contradictory information given on the packet. Given that, you may have to trust the dosage rate given in the instructions.
If you have used any of the tablets, you may have some idea of whether the quoted dosage rate is correct. Flocculation time should be around 10-15 minutes.
Your other option is to change to liquid rennet.

[UpMyKilt]

Took a magnifying glass to what's on the package. It's Spanish. No English:

"Enzima coagulantes en tableta para cuajar 50 litros de leche como coadyuvante para elaborar quesos."

Means - "coagulating enzymes in tablet for 50 liters of milk curdle as an adjuvant to make cheese."

Do they mean it takes all ten tablets for 50 litres, or 1 tablet will do 50 litres?? LOL

[UpMyKilt]

Well, I'm going to go with half a tablet and see what happens

Yes.. I'm planning on purchasing liquid rennet soon. And some other things this kit did not come with - I'm enjoying the cheesemaking even if I started with a kit

[Gregore]

Hard to imagine 1 tablet does 50 liters / 13 gallons

if the recipe in the kit says 1/4 tablet for 4 to 6 liters then 1 tablet would do 16 to 24 liters and 10 tablets would do 160 to 240 liters.  So nothing really adds up correctly . ,

but the web site says 10 tablets is good for about 40 gallons of milk  and that is about 151 litters

So I think you will be fine with 1/2 tablet for 8 liters

[UpMyKilt]

Thanks Gregore. I did use half a tablet. I just don't know enough yet - to know whether 1/4 would have worked for 8 litres - still learning here

The half tablet with 8 litres seemed to do the job as 1/4 with 4 litres.

I have lots to learn. Appreciate this group!

But now I'm wondering if I should have split up the resulting curd into two to drain. My 14 year old son thinks I should have waited until I got a second mould. LOL.. but at least he's interested and is finding the process of cheesemaking fascinating.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

If your mould is big enough to take all the curd it shouldn't be a problem. Just stick it where it fits!
The only exceptions would be if you were making a mould ripened cheese, such as a Camembert, or a washed rind cheese. In those cases you do not want the cheese to be too thick.

[valley ranch]

Kilt man, Show us if you will, a picture of your first product.

Richard

[UpMyKilt]

Kilt man, Show us if you will, a picture of your first product.

Richard

I can't. The first product was far too crumbly to age in brine.

So I ate it all almost right away  The whole pound of it!

I have some others in brine but they are in green mason jars.  I can't remember if I took photos; I'll check and see though.

[UpMyKilt]

I checked. I did not take a photo of my first cheese attempt. Like I wrote, it turned out very crumbly. I'm still not sure why - although I did use a bit of weight when draining - but have not done that with subsequent attempts at this "feta style" cheese, and they have not turned out crumbly at all.

But I did take a photo of the cheese pot during my first attempt, after cutting the curd. Attached.

I believe I have a photo of my second attempt, which was using goat's milk.

[UpMyKilt]

And this is chunks cut and salted, from an experiment of attempting a Bulgarian style brined white cheese - "Sirene" - made with both Probat 222 and real Bulgarian Yogurt.  I made the yogurt about two days before. I then added a couple of tablespoons of the yogurt to the milk (after warming it of course), then Probat 222 culture.

After I took the photo, I put the cheese on a draining mat and left it for a couple of days while pouring off the whey that had continued to expel.

I have not yet tried the cheese; it's presently in a whey brine.

[UpMyKilt]

And the following images are from today. I started this yesterday - an 8-litre "batch" as I was getting tired of only getting a pound or so from all the hours of work!

I believe this is my 5th attempt, although I'd have to look at the labels on my bottles containing cheese that are aging. But to summarize:

1st Attempt - 4 litre Cow's Milk. Was confused as I had two sets of instructions from the same supplier which were different in some steps. Cheese turned out crumbly. But it tasted as good as any regular/economically priced feta at the grocery store.

2nd Attempt - 4 litre Goat's Milk. I felt more confident with the second batch and with some suggestions from Fritz here on this board. I have to give big Kudos to Fritz! I was very pleased with the texture. At first though - I was concerned as it seemed to taste bland.  The first batch, while crumbly, had a feta taste developing 24 hours after starting. This one.... I was concerned I might have mishandled the culture. However, after about a week, I was very pleased with the taste - it does taste subtly different than the cow's milk, but it's not unpleasant to me. I suppose I should sample more goat's milk cheeses to see if I "get" or understand what people mean when they say a "goaty taste."

3rd Attempt - 4 litre Cow's Milk. Turned out, at least for me, well. It's aging in brine right now.

4th Attempt - 4 litre Cow's Milk, but with the Bulgarian Yogurt variation.  Presently aging in whey brine.

5th Attempt - 8 litre Cow's Milk - started yesterday. Very pleased with taste and aroma so far.  Also, with this one, I really really really slowed down on the stirring. I was never really sure what "stir slowly" meant.  But I think I get it now The previous batches all seemed to have solid milk product in the whey after removing the curd; this most recent batch had much less.