I was making my second batch of farmhouse cheddar, but I messed up and added the rennet first instead of the mesophilic culture, As soon as I realized, I put in the culture and started stirring... I plan on trying to finish the process, any idea whats going to happen?
Hi dnash, welcome!
If you caught it really really fast inside 1-2 minutes then you should still get a good curd set, although the acidification schedule will be different, resulting in a slightly different cheese. I say keep going!
I did the same thing wrong once but by the time I remembered and stirred in the missing ingredient after 4-5 minutes, the curd had already started to set and I got a very grainy curd set, hope you were luckier.
hey '74- keep us up to date on the outcome of your cheese. Have not had that experience yet!
I caught it immediately.... and then put in the Culture.... I did continue with the cheese because I hate waste. I just took it out of my press this morning, and while it seems a little softer than my first attempt, it smells and looks exactly the same....
I let it sit for double the time the recipe calls for before I cut the curd to give time for it to set and for the cultures to work. and it looked different. Whey on the sides and the curd not as smooth, but it did cut and once I rewarmed it it looked exactly like the first batch....
I guess I will know in 8 months or so.
The starter cultures initial role is to drop the pH slightly so that rennet can work more efficiently. If you got a good curd set, then there wasn't a problem. Of course after curd set the bacteria do become intimately involved in establishing final pH and contributing to the flavor of the cheese.
Sounds like you caught it on time. A bit of thought works wonders sometimes. At least you didn't panic and wait to long. Good job.
Great save! I hate to waste anything, too, especially when it comes to cheesemaking.
It's especially helpful to all of us when people post the eventual outcomes of unusual events, so that we all learn. It will be interesting to see how this cheese turns out after ageing.
good save, cheddar being a rennet set cheese you have very little time to make a save like that - It may not be A- grade cheese but you never know....