Proglem with coagulation....

[bcoots76]

I'm new to cheese making. I made some mozzarella last weekend and it turned out great so I thought I'd take a stab at some cheddar. The recipe is for traditional cheddar. It calls for 2 gallons milk, one packet direct set mesophilic starter (I used 1/4 tsp of Mesophilic II starter I purchased from the cheese maker), and 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet. I warmed the milk to 86 degrees, added starter and let it ripen for 45 minutes. The temp stayed at 86-87 the whole time. I added the rennet that I had diluted in 1/4 cup boiled but cooled water. I mixed the rennet in stirring for a minute and did a top stir for another minute. It said to let it sit for 45 minutes. It has been a half hour and it hasn't done anything. I'm using fresh raw milk that I got yesterday. I used the same milk for mozzarella last weekend and everything went great.

Any ideas of what the problem could be? I was thinking maybe the starter but I just got it in the mail Friday so I would think it would be fine.

Thanks for any help you can offer!


Brian


I added another 1/2 tsp rennet and it has been about 15 minutes. It's starting to thicken up but still no clean break.  I'm not too worried about salvaging this cheese, although I would like to try, but hope I can get it figured out before attempting it again.  Do you think the milk wasn't acidic enough? Is it best to always check the acidity before proceeding with the rennet?

[Cheese Head]

bcoots76, it shouldn't be the starter culture, it will slowly lower the pH which will help rennet coagilation but you can still get rennet coagulation without starter culture.

I suggest the problem is the amount or strength of your rennet or something in the milk.

There's a Wiki: Coagulation article and a Wiki: Coagulation Defects article that should give you some ideas.

If you still don't get a good curd set then with suggest you use this batch to make Light Cream Cheese.

[bcoots76]

Thanks for the reply John. My first batch of mozz turned out great so I thought I had this cheese thing whipped!..(yeah right) After I added another 1/2 tsp of rennet that took care of it. I bought some liquid vegetable rennet from a health food store so who knows how old it is. I went ahead and order some calf rennet for the next batch. Does it even make a difference on which kind you use? When I say different, I mean flavor wise? I did let it sit at 86 degrees for an our and a half before I gradually raised the temperature to 100 and proceeded with the recipe because I thought it was ruined. Will that effect anything?

Now here it is almost 11:00 p.m. and I see I have to cut the curds in slices and leave it in a sink of 100 degree water for 2 hours. Five a.m. is going to come early! I'm not going to do this but would it hurt anything to leave those slices of curds in the sink, for say, 4 to 8 hours? Just curious.

I really need to do some more reading about cheese making. I read the first part of the book, "Home Cheese Making" but it seems to just cover the basics on how to make it.  I need to see if there's a trouble shooting section or things to watch for.

When you read about making cheese it sounds so easy but I now realize there's so much more to it!

Thanks again John!