I have a good weekend ahead of me.
I broke down and bought 5 gallons of whole/non-homogenized milk in the 1/2 gallon containers. And 5 gallons of my usual whole homogenized milk. A 10gallon weekend!!
I am gonna make my usual cheddar out of the non-homogenized milk, and will make the move to Gouda with the other 5 gallons.
(http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pGX7GJQ2yuoSkW-BN1CAZI9NOElyO-AZ9avMlRu2QErkUTg1I5FF5uzDmkXwzQvwTWiMVFIediGximfcIK-44Nw/DSC_0041.jpg)
(http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1p4vYZZfYYUTQ0nKySkCVlUV-PydNSZWOaliXgITtNwKhTnmXG04359-xbitDWqcADXkfcku1rwaKjDz_QUuq6fg/DSC_0042.jpg)
Hey Wayne, great to see you, have missed your presence. Lucky you having all that milk to play with. We have had sickness in the family this week, with two of the kids spending a night in hospital and one on a drip, so the thought of food here at the moment, just about has everyone running for the bathroom, so I decided that I would give cheese making a miss this weekend. I am beginning to feel like I am having withdrawals. lol
Would be interested to hear what you find is the difference between the non/hom and your usual milk.
Happy cheesemaking.
Really sorry to hear about the illnesses. I hope you all recover very quickly.
Yes, I have slowed down a bit. Once a month will be my schedule. I want to make about 25lbs a month. I'm not quite ready to scale up. So much of my time is building atm.
I agree, we have to be realistic as to the actual time we can afford to give this. Still thats a sizable amount to be making, so keep us updated on your success. Always love see pics of everyone work.
As to the sickness still got around 3 with persistant belly aches etc, but all going well we should be fine in the next couple of days. This one hit unexpected and quickly. Within 2 hours I had three vomiting and three complaining of tummy aches. whew
Tea, hope everyone feels better, what was it from, not cheese I hope?
Tea....
Hope everyone heals quickly. My wife and I have been battling head colds for the past week but thankfully the kids have been spared (at least so far).
Wayne.....
25 lbs. a month is a LOT of cheese. I'm impressed.
Currently I am turning out about 16 lbs. a month and felt like I was taking it to the extreme.
I know that once summer gets here my cheese making will go on hold, but during the winter months I hate a weekend when I can't be in the kitchen.
Even though it seems like a lot of work (at times) I have SO much fun doing it.
Good luck with the milk. Like Tea said, I'll be looking forward to hearing your results.
Dave
Update with the non-homogenized milk.
The 1/2 gallon containers were actually plugged with the cream that floated to the top.
I had to break that up.
The milk itself in my vat had large lumps. I stirred and stirred. Still, it had lare lumps. (size of dimes)
However, when i heated it to 90 deg F, the lumps seemed to have "melted" and they are only barely noticable.
Trouble:
I am now 90 min into my usual 45 min coagulation time.
I am not getting a solid curd. I used my usual amount of rennet. (actually, just a tad more). I did not add any CaCL2 to the milk as it is non-homogenized.
Damn, this whole batch may be a bust.
Thoughts anyone?
Wayne,
Are you getting ANY type of set?
Even with a soft set you shouldn't have to toss the milk. It might not turn out perfectly but it will still make a cheese. I've had some really soft curd before and still had decent results once the process was finished.
If you aren't gettting any set at all, could you go ahead and stir in some CA/CL and then add a bit more rennet? It might be worth a try.
Dave
Agree with Dave above, I have also made good cheeses without good curd sets. Rennet coagulation is really just to help de-water (whey) the milk. Are you on your cheddar or gouda batch with this milk? Either way you could wam longer to expel more whey to compensate for a poor set.
Silly questions but just to double check:
- How did you add your rennet (did you get maxium dilution)?
- How much rennet for how much milk?
- What was the pH of milk when you added the rennet?
Carter no it wasn't cheese or food that made us sick. My daughter had been in contact with people who had been sick but thought they were over it. She then came and visited us, and well the rest is history. Her family was down with it at the same time my family was sick.
Wayne if there is a lot of cream you may want to scoop off the excess and make some butter. The harder cheese require a low percentage of cream. Did you preceed with making the cheese, and if you did how has it turned out?
Disaster.
It never got much thicker than clam chowder. Some clumps.
So, I really really don't know.
All i can offer is that the milk was on sale as it was like a week old. The cream at the top of each bottle had hardened and formed a rather solid plug. I scooped them all out and included them in the mix.
But still. No success.
I used 1/4 tsp rennet/gal, dilluted into 1/4 cup of distilled water
I did not measure pH. (my new pH meter still needs calibration)
I am rather weary at this point for not using CACL2.
I poured it all out.
Oh Wayne what a disappointment. :(
The strange thing is I have never used Cal in any of my milk, I don't even own any. I would say at a guess that it was because the milk was already a week old.
What a waste though.
Well, all i can say is this, I have made 2 batches now without CACL2, and i ended up tossing both for exatly the same reason. Milk soup. So, I really do not know what i am doing wrong.
Wayne, a few things. Store bought milk although is good for drinking going toward the expiration date for making cheese it should be as fresh as possible as it tends to degrade quickly.
Next, CaCl is used because Pasteurization breaks down the calcium, homogenization has nothing to do with it. So unless you are using raw milk you should use CaCl.
Heating too quickly can destroy things in the milk.
As for cream top milk mine always has a plug at the top that is creamy and sort of dryish. That's normal. What I do is open the container and squeeze out aoubt half the container, so it's lighter, then shake the hell out of it to disperse the cream. Then once in the vat I use a braun stick blender and keeping below surface, or you'll have milk everywhere (don't ask how I know), I blend until 90% of the cream is disolved.
Wayne, that's a bummer.
On the bright side, you did find out that CaCl is necessary (at least in your case).
I started out using CaCl and have used it in every single cheese I've made.
Honestly, I don't even give it a second thought anymore.
Sorry this one didn't turn out, especially considering the expense.
Next weekend will be better.
Dave
Thanks all. Lessons learned.
I can be a real dummy sometimes...
Again, great information, I love this group.
Wayne, sad news.
On CaCl2, I'm in Tea's camp, I've only ever used store bought pasteurized, homogenized cow's milk and my first ~20 batches were without CaCl2 and no significant problem getting a good curd set. I bought CaCl2 as everyone said how it gets you a better curd set with pasteurized milk.
I think I need to do an A-B experiment, two cheese makings from the same 1 US gallon jug of milk, identical methodologies, but one without adding CaCl2.
Wayne, that is a total bummer! I know it is of no consolation but it should have worked! ??? Ever since I've had access to raw milk it has really been a pleasant experience. I too get the cream goo on top of the jug if it sits for a few days. It does however usually distribute back through the milk after a good shaking.
Have both your failed raw milk cheeses been with the same brand/source of milk? If so I would certainly try and contact them and see if there is something they are not telling or letting the consumer know about their process/product.
Maybe you SHOULD have thrown some clams in it and called it good! :)
I was so distraught that i totally missed that opportunity.
I could have simply tossed in some clams, garlic, onions, bacon, potatos, bit of flour........... what was i thinking.
great, now i'm hungry.