Issue with my Mozzarella, Help PLEASE

[Alan.Che]

Hey there,

I am a novice cheese maker and have been making cheese for about half a year.

I tried making mozzarella using the traditional method (thermophilic culture, no acids) butam running into a problem.

Everything seems to be fine up to the time where I have to let the curds sit at 102 degree F for 3 hours or so. I keep measuring the whey PH once I drain it and the PH is getting higher (more basic). Left the curds overnight at room temperature to try and get them to become more acidic but they are not at all, any ideas on what to do? They need to acidify before I can stretch them but I have no idea what steps to take.

Thanks a bunch!

[Gregore]

I have not made Mozzerella but the basics of ph control are all the same.

What are you measuring your ph with ?

I can not imagine that home cheese making could have a phage  ( possible but unlikely )

Is this the same culture you are using for other cheeses .

Test it by adding some of the culture  to a cup of milk and leave in the oven near the oven light  in 24 hrs or so it should hit at least 4.3 or lower and should start to seperate .

[wattlebloke]

Welcome to the forum Alan.Che.
I'm a new-chum too, and made mozzarella for the first time today, also using a fairly traditional method, with my starter made of 1/8th tsp thermophilic culture ripened overnight in a cup of sterilised milk. It was yoghurt by the time I used it to ripen the milk. All went well with the make, including the amazingly rapid change in pH toward the end of the resting period. I wasn't confident of the accuracy of my cheap meter (seeing as it told me the starting pH of my milk was 5.9, when I could have expected maybe 6.7 )
My point is, I tasted the milk/whey throughout the make, and used the texture of the curd (cooked chicken breast) as my indicator that it was ready for the next step, rather than rely on the meter (which told me I was at 4.3)
Maybe this time you can use your curds to make halloumi?
Good luck with your next effort!

[Alan.Che]

I am using a digital PH meter to measure the ph. I think that the problem is that I used a direct set thermophilic culture but only left it with my milk for 45 minutes or so to ripen and then added the rennet and let  sit for 75 minutes thereafter.

What I have now is a solid mass of curds which I left overnight in the fridge to see if it'll ripen but the curds still don't stretch after putting a small piece of it in water at 170 degrees.

If I leave the curds in the fridge for a longer while, will they eventually acidify or am I stuck with the PH at which they are at now?

[Kern]

It is unlikely that a thermophilic culture will generate much acid sitting in coagulated milk in a refrigerator.  I am not a mozzarella buff but I believe that the pH has got to be in the 5.2 area in order for the curds to stretch.  From your description you aren't anywhere near this.

[wattlebloke]

So how about you take the curds out of the fridge, and warm them back up to temperature? See how they develop? Incidentally, there is a Youtube clip that shows a guy making Mozzarella from vacuum packed blocks of curd that he buys from a dairy/cheesemaker for the purpose. He slices them into 3/4 " slices and slowly brings up to kneading temperature...

[jwalker]

Just my opinion here , ph meters are great gadgets , but even tho I own a good one , I never use it.

If I get a good set , I cut the curd and go with it , heat them up , either in a microwave (small batch) , or in the hot whey , stretch , salt and form , so far they've all been good , alltho I've only done a few.

It melts well on my pizzas and tastes great.

All my cheeses are made without a ph meter , I know there are many who would debate this , but I tend to like things simple.

Try it without the ph measurements , and see if you like it .

I just posted a Mozza made with thermo , it actually started out to be cheese curds , but I changed my mind mid stream and it became a wonderful Mozza.

I say especially if you're new , experiment and don't get too hung up on the ph meter.

[Togekiss]

This may be a problem with localized coagulation. The citric acid is not distributed quickly enough through the milk and some regions of the milk become overly acidic and coagulate immediately. If this is the case, dilute the citric acid in more water (one cup) on your next attempt. .Also, you might try adding your citric acid solution to the pot and then pouring your milk over it and stirring it well. With problematic milks, we usually add 1.5 teaspoons citric acid to 1 cup of cool water. Then, we add the acid solution just a bit at a time while quickly stirring it into the milk.

[AnnDee]

Are you ripening it in its whey?
Try and leave another night to ripen and bring to room temp before spin test.
Whenever I use only thermo culture sometimes the ripening can be slow, therefore I prefer to use both meso and thermo.

[achik1990]

Either your PH meter broke or your culture is long dead 

[kmanaga]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm having a problem with my mozzarella. It takes really too long for the pH of the whey to reach 5.4, like 3-4hrs and counting. What could be the possible cause of this? I've been making mozzarella for months and I encountered this problem twice in a row now. Could anyone help me? Thanks so much.

[River Bottom Farm]

Expiring starter, antibiotic residues in the milk, temperature controls not right, phage problems could all cause this issue.