First Cream Cheese --- Fail

[pokerpot]

First post.

Want to say I've read soooo much good info here and have already made a batch of feta that came off without a hitch. It's amazing. This cream cheese I just tried... not so much!

Took one quart of whipping/heavy cream and one quart of whole milk (pasteurized not UP). Mixed in pot and let come up to room temp. Added 1/8th tsp of MM100 starter culture stirred and let ripen for one hour.

Added 5 drops of double strength vegetable rennet diluted in half cup of water. Mixed and let sit at 75 degrees for 16 hours.

Had very, very loose curd and yogurty smell after the 16 hrs (did I say loose curd? was more like a very thick yogurt than congealed curd though I could see whey along the rim of the pot). Poured into cheese cloth and let drain for 12 hrs. At first the whey came out milky colored but then it started dripping out clear.

This came out nowhere near as firm as a good NY Deli cream cheese. More like a very, very thick yogurt and it tastes about the same. Seems like I made lebneh more than cream cheese.

What did I do wrong and what can I do to make some good cream cheese?

Thanks!

[padams]

One thing I can think of, is maybe your cream was UP....heavy whipping cream often is.  I have found half/half that is only pastureized, and the cream from our local dairy (in halfpints) is low-heat pasturized.  But any heavy cream I have ever seen is UP.  That would make the difference.

I just made cream cheese this weekend using 1qt half/half and 1 halfpint cream, 1/8tsp ma culture (too much!) and 5 drops of rennet in 1/3 cup water (too much also...drops came faster than I wanted!)
anyway, it had very good curd set, but had a tang, which was not unpleasant, even my picky child liked it.  only problem was that I put it in a container that had SALSA in it before.....my cream cheese now has a slight garlic taste and odor to it!

so that's my 2 cents, good luck and welcome to the forum!!

phoebe

[Cheese Head]

Hi pokerpot, welcome!

I suspect your store bought whipping/heavy cream was UP but as you said the milk wasn't. The only time I tried making cream cheese was with UP Half/Half, somewhat similar to your batch and I got similar results.

The milky coloured whey means that you didn't get a good enough gel/curd before hanging or your cheesecloth is too open a weave. Next batch I would try warmer temp and a little more starter.

For this batch, I would keep hanging and draining another ~12 hours to enable the acidity to further build to get that cream cheese flavour. To get lower moisture content make sure you periodically scrape the cheese off the cloth with a spatula to enable the moister curd access to the cloth and thus better draining.

pH readings would help in diagnosis.

Lastly, I've found Light Cream Cheese often called American Style Neufchatel in this forum much more reliable to make, my last batch's records, OK my real last batch was goofy chocolate flavoured light cream cheese .

Hope helps, let us know!

[Brie]

I had several failures with cream cheese at the beginning of my cheese-making. Called Jim Wallace at www.cheesemaking.com, and he said you must always use Calcium Chloride with pasteurized milk. Tried it again and it worked. Good luck!

[pokerpot]

Ok, so I will try again and use Calcium Chloride... and probably make sure I hunt down non UP half and half.

My biggest concern is the flavor. As I said, it tastes more like a tangy yogurt. Leaving it to sit longer would result in a more cream cheese flavor? I thought maybe I had let it sit out too long.

Anyway will try again and will report results. Thanks.

[padams]

Pokerpot, if you post your location, I'll bet someone knows what brand or what store to go to...everyone is very, very helpful here!

[Gina]

The last whipping cream I purchased from our local Costco was not UP but just pastuerized. I dont remember the brand. 2 quart container, just under $5.

[Sailor Con Queso]

A lot of UP products do NOT say UP on the label. It's not required.

[JohnnyBHammerer]

Bummer about the labeling.  I just sent email to Costo asking if their pasteurized milk is really UP.   I'm doing a Neufchatel for a first cheese with similar problems as pokerpot.  Calcium chloride is on order too.

[JohnnyBHammerer]

FWIW, Costco says the Kirkland milk is only pasteurized and not UP.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Costco may not even be aware of the labeling issues, so I wouldn't trust their assesment. I would try to talk directly to Kirkland.

A LOT of cream is UP so it will last longer on the shelves. Or they may pasteurize for a longer period of time for the same reason. Either way ruins it for cheese production.

I have NEVER found goat's milk in any store that isn't UP.

[JohnnyBHammerer]

I thought Kirkland was a Costco brand name.  I figure the milk comes from different sources and Costo has it packaged as Kirkland.  I asked via their website, and the answer was "I checked with our product specialist and was informed that none of  the Kirkland Signature milk is "ultra" pasteurized."  I hope they asked someone who knows.  The local warehouse didn't have cream, but the half and half was labeled UP.

My first attempt at a Neufchatel didn't set very well.  It looks like softened cream cheese, smells a bit like the cultured buttermilk I used as a starter, but tastes more like a blend of sour cream and cottage cheese.  Calcium chloride is on its way.

[DeejayDebi]

We have a few local organic stores that sell goats milk that is raw not UP but it's very pricey! $6.50/quart!

[rhadon]

I had the same experience. I finished the firmed thickened yogurt type curd with milky whey and drained it. The consistency was good but, I did not like the tangy yogurt flavored cheese I made.

I had heated milk and cream mixed to 86, added the mesophilic  culture, calcium chloride, dilute renet as directed by recipe and let it sit covered overnight. It tasted and looked like yogurt at this point.  Then put in cheese cloth strainer for 8 hours, and scraped the sides every couple of hours.

I wondered if it got tainted, the temps I used should be adjusted, a different culture, to refrigerate when draining.....

Any ideas

[MrsKK]

How warm was it in your house while you were draining the cheese?  Temperature really does make a difference.  Next time, you can taste it during the culturing phase and can drain it at any point when you like the flavor.  If it is really warm (more than 70 degrees Fahrenheit), you can then drain it in the fridge to prevent the flavor from "sharpening".