St. Marcellin make - criticism accepted

[iain]

After my chèvre disappointment, I decided to give it another go, this time using 1 gallon raw cow's milk, and call it St. Marcellin. I used 3" diameter ricotta baskets for molds - plus one pyramid since I only had three baskets available and figured I'd need four. In hindsight, I think I could have gotten away with just the three baskets, but we'll see after draining.

The basic make went as follows:

• 9:35 pm  - 78º - pH 6.82  + 1/8 tsp MA019 ; 1/16 tsp p. cand ; 1/32 geo13
• 10:10 pm - 76º - pH 6.81
• 11:05 pm - 74º - pH 6.78 + 1/8 tsp (.05ml) rennet

---

• 7:10 am - 71.6º - pH 5.62 - a much firmer curd already (compared to yesterday's chèvre); now just waiting for acid development
• 9:20 am - 72.4º - pH 4.86 - more whey separation
• 9:50 am - 73º - pH 4.75
• 10:35 am - 72.5º - pH 4.66 - cut curds 1"
• 10:40 am - brief stir, then into molds (3x 3" ricotta baskets + 1 pyramid)
• 10:50 am - pH 4.65 -  molding complete

My pH was a little higher throughout than I was targeting (I wanted to add the rennet at 6.6 and drain at 4.5).

The photo shows how we looked 45 minutes after going into the molds.

I'm planning on flipping and salting the round ones after they've drained for about 6 hours, and again 6 hours later.  I'll try to post more photos then.

Criticism is appreciated! Thanks.

[linuxboy]

11:05 pm - 74º - pH 6.78 + 1/8 tsp (.05ml) rennet

Way too high. Your dornic must be about 20, meaning pH must be BELOW 6.6. This is assuming mild ferments, slower than MA19.

10:50 am - pH 4.65 -  molding complete

Way too high. This cheese will likely have texture issues. Your drain dornic must be 50ish, and pH at or below 4.6

My pH was a little higher throughout than I was targeting (I wanted to add the rennet at 6.6 and drain at 4.5).

This is more appropriate for the style. Essentially, rest of the make looks OK, but you renneted too early.

[iain]

Thanks, LinuxBoy. I knew my pH was still too high at rennet, but had waited as late as I could before adding it. I was expecting the initial drop to happen much quicker. What would account for the slowness? the temp was right, I thought, to see a .2 drop in less than an hour. Is MA19 particularly slow - or should I have used a little more? With these small batches, figuring out the proper amount to use based on DCU is tricky.

[linuxboy]

What would account for the slowness?

This is how DVI works. It takes time to rehydrate and become a robust colony. You can add more culture, and it will speed things up a little But traditional st marcellin is slow because they preculture, so when the 2-hour wait comes, the bacteria are active.

I would use bulk culture or preculture if you want a more rapid response. Or heat more.