Hi,
Second attempt at asadero. This time the I got a clean break and proceeded to cut the curds. Then very softly stirred in the salt as the recipe said. The curds were really soft. and some broke. then as I was ladling them into the cloth to drain they sorta fell apart a little. now it looks like thick cream, not like any curd grains or anything like that. Do any of you know if this is a problem or is this fine up till now?? I am going to drain the almost non existing curds and see what happens.
Could it be not enough time for setting the curds? the pasteurized (store bought milk) or what???
any help is aprreciated!
thanks
Hi again Jessica
Many of us here use past store bought milk, but they are not all created equal, some are past at different temperatures to others and some have more antibiotics to others that are harder to coagulate. Some info on poor coagulation (http://www.cheeseforum.org/Making/Defects%20-%20General,%20Coagulation.htm).
Sounds like you still aren't getting a good curd set, what type of rennet, where did you get it, how much, did you dilute before adding? What temp is the milk at?, how did you mix it in? I'd increase your rennet dosage as it sounds like you are still getting poor curd formation.
Here's another Asadero recipe (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2211.msg16896.html#msg16896) that uses a Thermophilic (high temp) starter culture. I don't know of anyone making Asadero on this forum, plus moz type cheeses are very tough to master.
OK, that's not much help, hope others can advise here as I have no experience making this or moz type cheeses.
Have you calibrated your thermometer? Sounds like you are over shooting your temperature and shattering the curds.
Another thing I have learned through the help of others here is that the curds need some time to heal after they have been cut. Allowing them to set for about 10 minutes after cutting helps them be much less fragile.
I hope we can help you through this sooner rather than later!