Cultures

[lhd7osc]

I was attempting to make a Cheddar. I raised the temp of the milk to 90º. When I pitched the culture, the temp raised to about 100º. When I added the Calcium Chloride and Rennet, after 45 minutes the curds never set. I waited another 10 minute and only minimal curds. I used pasteurized milk, but not Ultra-pasteurized. Could it be the temp raise or perhaps the milk type that wouldn’t let it curdle?

 

[bernardsmith]

I gotta say that this is a really interesting question so I am following. I always add the Ca Cl before I add culture and not after the culture has had time to work on the milk. I always ASSUME that after the cultures have dropped the pH then adding Ca Cl won't do anything to repair the molecules damaged by pasteurization but if adding Ca Cl after ripening the milk is your standard procedure and you have never had a problem then my assumption is wrong.. but I would love to hear from more seasoned cheese makers what the problem may be (perhaps the Ca Cl was damaged in some way by moisture and so was not "working".. ?

 

[lhd7osc]

Yes, so I'm making a 'kit'. The instructions say:
1. Warm Milk to 90 in water bath.
2. Add Mesophilic Starter Culture and gently sir well, Over for 45 minutes maintaining Temp between 88 - 92.
3. Add dilluted Annato (optional) and stir well. Add the diluted Calcium Chloride.

 

[bernardsmith]

So the kit people don't have a problem adding the Ca Cl after ripening. OK . Good to know.
Just thinking out loud here... Rennet has a shelf life in and of itself and it has a very short shelf life after you dilute it with water - a shelf life of minutes, I believe. By any chance did you add tap water (with chlorine ?) to the rennet (that is a possible source of the problem)_ or did you perhaps prepare the rennet 45 minutes before adding it to the ripened milk? (that would also be a problem).

 

[lhd7osc]

Great Questions....and for myself, I didn't know the Rennet had a shelf life. I do have it in the fridge and I used the one that came with the kit. I have my own Rennet I'll use next time. Also I added the Rennet to RO Water. Now, I will say, that the water was from water cooler which has both hot and cold water. I did use the hot water side (120+F). Could that be the issue?

 

[bernardsmith]

This I don't know. I use distilled water at room temperature

 

[ophiuchus_99]

I gotta say that this is a really interesting question so I am following. I always add the Ca Cl before I add culture and not after the culture has had time to work on the milk. I always ASSUME that after the cultures have dropped the pH then adding Ca Cl won't do anything to repair the molecules damaged by pasteurization but if adding Ca Cl after ripening the milk is your standard procedure and you have never had a problem then my assumption is wrong.. but I would love to hear from more seasoned cheese makers what the problem may be (perhaps the Ca Cl was damaged in some way by moisture and so was not "working".. ?

I've never heard of adding the calcium chloride before adding the culture. I have always added it 10 min prior to adding the rennet.

 

[rander]

CaCl is not needed if the milk is good cvality it is used for milk that can contain spores from bad feed or very badly cleaned udders.
Heat the milk up to 32 dgr c and put the culture in for example cream freash and let the cattle sit near the stove , stir it now and then. after that you put in the rennet and reheat slowly thats inportant. You want the hole cattle to get evenly heated.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi radner - and welcome. Not sure if the problem is your English or your typing but I don't know why we want to get cattle heated or why you would want any cows to come near your kitchen or which hole in a cow needs the heat. But to be serious , the addition of calcium chloride has nothing to do with milk from sick cows. Quite simply you do not want to use such milk for making cheese - or for drinking. Calcium chloride is added to milk that has been pasteurized to kill any bacteria in the milk because the heat from pasteurization - NOT the bacteria - damages the organic calcium in the milk and prevents the milk from properly coagulating and forming good curds. Adding Ca Cl adds more calcium to the milk and this helps "repair" the calcium that has been damaged by heat during pasteurization.

 

[rander]

Im from sweden and my english is a bit rosty.
It was kettle a ment not cowes
And I never said anything about sick cows. I said cows that got bad feed whit spores in the food are giving a mulk thats not good for cheese.
Or if the udder is not properly cleaned befor milking much **** with spoores and bacteria comming in to the milk when milked.
I have had cowes for 30 years and beeb milking and made both chees and butter and never usees CaCl . Im only feed my cows dry hay never silage. Silage is often the problem for when you need CaCl.

 

[bernardsmith]

Im from sweden and my english is a bit rosty.
It was kettle a ment not cowes
And I never said anything about sick cows. I said cows that got bad feed whit spores in the food are giving a mulk thats not good for cheese.
Or if the udder is not properly cleaned befor milking much poopy with spoores and bacteria comming in to the milk when milked.
I have had cowes for 30 years and beeb milking and made both chees and butter and never usees CaCl . Im only feed my cows dry hay never silage. Silage is often the problem for when you need CaCl.

Right, but everyone agrees that if you use RAW milk then you don't need Ca Cl. The problem is in most of the USA raw milk cannot be sold because it is considered a health risk, and the only milk that most people can buy is PASTEURIZED. Where raw milk is available and can be bought and sold legally it is produced by farmers with small herds of cows whose health is closely monitored. Their milk is not part of a pool of thousands of liters (gallons) gathered from hundreds of farms which is then sent to a single dairy or processing plant which is then distributed to supermarkets throughout the state.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Great Questions....and for myself, I didn't know the Rennet had a shelf life. I do have it in the fridge and I used the one that came with the kit. I have my own Rennet I'll use next time. Also I added the Rennet to RO Water. Now, I will say, that the water was from water cooler which has both hot and cold water. I did use the hot water side (120+F). Could that be the issue?

I know this is old but I came across the thread and to answer, yes, you denatured the rennet using hot water. I actually put water in the freezer for a bit then the refrigerator, and prep everything so I can dilute, stir, add, and up/down agitate for a minute or so then still as quickly as possible, as the enzyme coagulation starts almost immediately.

Aged rennet can be a factor as well, but the fact you used hot water was the culprit.

Just a note on using pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is bad, but unless it's ultra-pasteurized as mentioned here, homogenization is worse. It's murder on the fat globules and this can induce some off flavors due to an early beginning to lipolysis (fat breakdown products). If you can get creamline from a known farm, even if they pasteurize, you're ahead of the game.

Raw, I'm nuts for it. I drink a ton as I have two brother friends who raise a very small herd of Ayrshires on managed, rotational pastures. Ayrshire is kind of interesting because the fat globules are so small, the milk comes out virtually homogenized already. Also interesting, and I'm not remembering this well, but I believe not only is the breed low on beta carotene, but it lacks the enzyme - CoA? can't recall - to convert the carotene so it pigments the milk yellow during high forage (e.g., summer flush) seasons. A very white milk year around, and a fantastic tasting milk.

I'm with Bernard. I see no relationship between silage and calcium deficiency. It's just inviting contamination. I don't know of any issue of Ca++ deficiency and raw milk.

 

[Atalanta]

The first time I made cheese, I used raw milk. Came out amazing. Ok, I did mozz and ricotta (I had a kit but only used it for the ingredients, I’d read that the instructions were poor). The second time I used pasteurized milk, and it wouldn’t set. Never occurred to me about the homogenization being a factor (don’t recall right off if it was). In PA we can get raw milk.