Mixing Calcium Chloride from granules

[Owly055]

I found a pound of CaCl (food grade). $5 plus shipping for 2 ounces of liquid solution from New England is beyond absurd... it's about what I paid for a pound! The liquid is 30-32% by weight. Water at 8.4 pound per gallon, this should be good for close to a quart of water. .... 2 pounds of water to 1 pound of CaCl should yield a 33% solution........ though it would be silly to mix it in that quantity.

H.W.

 

[Bigcorona]

It gets hot when you mix it. I was not expecting that, but the Interweb's says it is normal.

 

[bob1852]

Keep in mind the granules take on water over time which can mess with calculations for true amount of CaCl that makes it into your solution.

Not sure if the +/- is enough to worry about for cheese making, but maybe something to consider.

 

[passedpawn]

I found a pound of CaCl (food grade). $5 plus shipping for 2 ounces of liquid solution from New England is beyond absurd... it's about what I paid for a pound! The liquid is 30-32% by weight. Water at 8.4 pound per gallon, this should be good for close to a quart of water. .... 2 pounds of water to 1 pound of CaCl should yield a 33% solution........ though it would be silly to mix it in that quantity.

I get it here, gallon size It's for my fish tank. It's not marked food-grade, but if it doesn't kill my fish I think I'll live through it.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-bulk-calcium-chloride-aquarium-supplement.html

It gets hot when you mix it. I was not expecting that, but the Interweb's says it is normal.

Yep, it's used for deicing sidewalks because not only does it greatly reduce the freezing temperature of the ice, the reaction with water is exothermic (releases heat). I think you can buy big bags of it at the hardware stores up north. Wouldn't know about that down here - we have big bags of it at the pool stores, not sure what they use it for.

Keep in mind the granules take on water over time which can mess with calculations for true amount of CaCl that makes it into your solution. Not sure if the +/- is enough to worry about for cheese making, but maybe something to consider.

CaCl is a moisture sponge. Damp Rid = CaCl. If you can refill your Damp Rid bucket in your chest freezer with CaCl from Home Depot. Cheap refills.

The additions for cheese aren't that important. It replaces the calcium destroyed during pasteurization, which are needed for the proteins (casein) in the cheese to form curds. That's what my book says, anyway. I use about 1/4 tsp per gallon, dissolved in water first. I've used more and less and I don't think it had an effect.

 

[cheezybuda]

BRS just switched over to all phatma grade cacl so you will for sure be ok.