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Author Topic: Problems with cheese making  (Read 4017 times)

nihicib2

  • Joined Jun 2010
Problems with cheese making
« on: July 19, 2010, 04:49:58 pm »
Hi all I wonder if any of you can help.

I have been making quark cheese now for about a year, I usually freeze my mother culture in ice cube bags and defrost the amount of culture I need for the amount of cheese Im making, unfortunately the freezer door was left open and the culture defrosted and I lost it all.  I made a new batch of mother culture exactly as I made the original one using culture sachets, however I noticed it was a little lumpy and when I began to make cheese again and when I added the rennet the mixture never got to the stage were the curd was thick enough to cut, it was more like sour milk and very runny.  I tried a couple of sachets to make up a new mother culture but the same thing happens all the time.  I have not changed anything about the process of cheese making I use, the goats are still the same and there seems to be no problem with their milk, everything is sterilised and clean, I am stumped as to why this keeps happening.  As I have said I used a couple of sachets of culture so it wasnt that one sachet was contaminated, might it be the milk? but it was perfectly fine before when I was using the original culture, as I had made loads of quark and gouda cheese.

Anyone got any ideas?

Brid

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Problems with cheese making
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2010, 10:30:14 pm »
Are the culture sachets from the same batch number? If yes, you might find that they all have a problem, also have they been in the freezer when it defrosted?

I use DVI freeze dried culture, and just tip a wee bit of the powder into the milk, re-seal with sticky tape and put straight back into freezer. So far no problems!

Could you get some cultured buttermilk from the supermarket and make up batch of starter that way? I haven't tried that yet.

nihicib2

  • Joined Jun 2010
Re: Problems with cheese making
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2010, 12:18:54 pm »
Hi there,no the sachets are from different companies and are the powdered varitey (one sachet makes up one litre of culture) I used two different kinds to be sure.  However yesterday I started making Gouda cheese with five litres of goats milk and as an experiment I added more rennet than usual, almost half again of the perscribed amount and it worked, Im trying that today with the quark just to see if that works, the rennet is only a month old so Im not sure whats going on but Ill know tonight if its the rennet that is the problem, any other advice would be great though

Brid

 

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