Usually I make my Mozzarella using Mrs KK's recipe. I use 2 gal local raw milk, 1 pk DV C201 Thermophilic starter, 1/2 tab Fromase 50 vegetable rennet. It usually turns out fine, but firmer than I would prefer.
So, this time I did a little experiment using some ideas from Linuxboy's posts on how to make mozz softer and creamier. I finally obtained a PH meter, so I made one change....decided to let the PH drop to 6.4 before adding vegetable rennet. I started fairly late at night, so I added my DV thermophilic starter, waited an hour, PH was at 6.7. I put the milk in the fridge overnight. Next day I warmed it to 90 degrees, and tested PH...6.4. Added 1/2 tab of veg. rennet. (same as usual for that amount of milk). Flocc time was 3 minutes! Wow, usually it is closer to 12 minutes! Accordingly, I cut the curd after only 6 minutes. I cut it 4 inches apart, waited 15 minutes and cut again 1 inch apart. I drained the whey when the acidity reached 6.0. Then hung my curd in sterilized cheese cloth to drain and acidify. When the PH reached 5.05 I started stretching. The cheese had great stretch, but is a little bitter tasting. (Doesn't usually taste bitter.)
Did the lower PH made the difference in the flocc time? Would the bitterness be from too much veg rennet? Thoughts anyone? Thanks for any ideas.... BJ :)
Hi SayCheese,
Far as I know too much rennet is the typical cause of bitterness. The cheese will sort itself out if left to age long enough. Don't know what you can do about mozzarella. Yes, a lower pH does affect the amount of rennet used. For example, for a 4 gallon batch of cheese I use for raw goat (pH 6.4) 18 drops, for Raw Cow (pH 6.7) 24 drops, for store bought cow (pH 6.7) 32 drops, or 1/4 tsp, triple strength rennet. You want flocc time to be between 10 - 15 minutes. I use 1/2 the rennet for pH 6.4 milk as I do store bought cow milk!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Anut :)
I think it is the amount of time that you were waiting for the pH to drop. Being raw milk, there are a lot of organisms there that can and will affect the flavor of the cheese. The long wait time meant that something had time to multiply enough to make your cheese bitter.
I've had cream get a bitter flavor a couple of days after I've skimmed it off the milk. When I check the date on the bottle, it is usually 5 or more days old (since having been milked from the cow).
Thanks for the helpful responses anutcanfly and Karen. I guess I should conduct my experiments on smaller amounts of milk! I had a lot of bitter cheese! I know what you mean Karen about cream developing a bitter taste to it. The bitterness might indeed be from culturing the milk too long and thus developing some bad guys along with the good guys.
It was also obvious from the short flocc time that I used too much rennet and I have read that vegetable rennet can produce bitterness in cheeses that are aged so it might have been the too much rennet. I was kind of surprised that the higher acidity made as much difference as it seemed to in the flocc time. If I try again I will do a small batch and scale the rennet down accordingly. :) BJ
I feel for you! I have a 4 lb traditional cheddar that's bitter in the back of my cave. The vaccum seal wasn't good and mold got in. I opened it to remove mold and reseal and noticed that the taste was bitter--mostly in the rind. This wheel had too much rennet used (Ricki Carroll instructions call for 1 1/2 tabs--way too much!), so it could be that. But I'm wondering if some sort of surface yeast or bacteria might be the problem as well--the rind was moist??