Curds - Not Kniting & Sticking To Cheesecloth

[tnsven]

I was making the parm from 200 Easy Cheese Recipes and just went to flip after 30 minutes in the press at medium (20) pressure. The curds stick to the coarse cheesecloth but not to each other.

I did only get the temp up to 120, not 124 in 60 minutes. And I did soak the cheese cloth in the hot whey and warmed the press in it as well. Can anyone tell me why this happened. I don't (and won't) use a pH meter. Looking for a "feel" thing here.

I used 4 gallons of raw skim milk, from the 2 milk cows just yesterday. And I have made a parm once (from Ricki Carroll's original book) and did not have this problem....but that was a good 4 years ago at this point.

Pictures attached (at least I hope it worked). I did have some trouble cutting the curd. Typically, if I use a whisk, I usually cut the curds with a knife first and then use the whisk. Instead, I followed the directions (just use a whisk & skimmer) and the curds didn't cut well. I felt like they wanted to mat a lot when I was trying to cut them as well.

Thanks for any input. At least the pigs will be happy. 

Kristin

[linuxboy]

That type of cheesecloth is terrible for any cheesemaking. About the only thing it's good for is making patterns when painting, or for holding herbs when making soup stock.

Curds stick to cloth because of calcium. What you did was create a one side sticky tape by soaking it in sweet whey, and then the curds were happy to stick to it. For sticking to not happen, soak in a vinegar/calcium chloride solution. And using a muslin-type cloth at 60-90 threadcount really helps.

[tnsven]

Thanks, Linuxboy. I've got a box of this:

http://www.raglady.com/detail_CC50__66__cheesecloth_cotton_washable_white_bleached.html

It works fine for all my other cheesemaking. Is it just parm it is a problem for? Of course, it does stick around the edges of my cheese now that it is warm (we have no a/c).

I thought I read on another cheese-sticking post that soaking the cloth in whey prevented sticking? What is used traditionally in Italy?

[linuxboy]

50-count is still just a tad thin, but may work okay with frequent flipping.

Soaking in acidic whey works. Meaning something like you have after making mozz where the pH is 5.0 or below. Not sweet whey, that just adds calcium to the cloth and makes it more sticky.

[tnsven]

O.k. So the whey from parm isn't acidic enough then. Got it.