cream cheese fail

[sadhvikaagrawal]

I tried making a batch of cream cheese too.. fresh cows milk and non pasteurized...

It looked ok to me.. but not as creamy as i would like it...

I had to travel carrying my cream cheese (i vaccuum packed it) and i found that it was slightly bitter.

I think for the creamy part.. before I eat it, I add just a little bit of fresh cow milk cream.. right out of the milk that kept in the refrigerator the entire night and for the sourness and bitterness.. I havent figured out what went wrong...

[DeejayDebi]

It would help if you told us how you made it.

[Cheese Head]

Hi sadhvikaagrawal, welcome to this forum!

Cream cheese is never normally vacuum packed as it is not an aged cheese, but ready to eat after made.

As Debi says, we need more details to help. OK, so you used fresh unpasteurized cow's milk, which means you were making a Light Cream Cheese (also known here as American style Neufchatel), what did you add as a starter culture, at what temperature did you let the acidity build and for how long before putting in a draining cloth? Did you add any rennet? How did you drain the whey from the lactic curd and at what temp and time? What consistency did you end up with?

Also why did you add cream from fridge to your cream cheese before eating, sounds like to reduce the bitterness. Sour and tangy is normal for cream cheese.

[padams]

I was not entirely pleased with the amount of tanginess in my first batch of cream cheese...tasted a little too much like sour cream.  So, this last time i reduced the amount of starter by 1/32 of a tsp, and was fairly pleased with the results!