cheesemaking support needed!

[freemotion]

AAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!!

I already messed it up!!! I added the rennet instead of the culture....I reversed the order. So I added the culture, too, even though I know it won't work as what I read says it is so much about method, temp, order of steps, etc.

I shouldn't do this stuff when I am sick!!!!!

Well, it will turn into an experiment and I will find out what happens when you add the culture, lipase, and rennet all at the same time.

The chickens will be happy with their meal of cheesy milk.

eta: I don't give up that easily, though, and will try again when I have enough milk, maybe on Tuesday. I think I will have time on that day, maybe.

 

[gettinaclue]

Don't sweat it!

Your chickens will love you even more now AND you will never have to wonder about what happens when you add the culture and rennet together. You'll already have the answer and won't feel any need to experiment. (Though you still need to share with the rest of us, because I'm curious)

Chin up.

Drive on and try again.

I'm still rooting for you!

To error is human, to try again is evidence of bullheadedness.

 

[freemotion]

The current update.....just made ricotta with the whey, it is hanging now in a dishtowel to continue draining a bit, and it smells lovely!!! So not a total waste of effort.

The original curds are also hanging in a dishtowel. I couldn't just toss them to the hens without seeing if anything close to edible comes out of that mess. It won't be mozzarella, but it might be something we can eat......will let y'all know.

Wish I had a press, but have been to occupied to get that organized yet, which is why I chose mozz to start with. But press designs have been researched and I'm on the hunt for just the right plastic container and an idea for a follower....don't have the tools, supplies, or skill to make a wooden one myself. I am hoping to come up with two plastic containers that nest so I can use one as the mold and one as the follower.....er.....ya follow?

 

[patandchickens]

I'm on the hunt for just the right plastic container and an idea for a follower....don't have the tools, supplies, or skill to make a wooden one myself. I am hoping to come up with two plastic containers that nest so I can use one as the mold and one as the follower.....er.....ya follow?

For my ricotta salata I use a margarine tub (not the biggest size) (not my own, I loathe margarine, it's from m-i-l) and for the follower I just cut the rim off the lid. Because you take the cheese out of the mold and invert it and re-press, the fact that the margarine tub is a bit tapered does not matter.

For a harder-pressed cheese, I have seen the advice (I believe on Fankhauser's Cheese Site) to take an appropriate sized can and cut the top and bottom off and use one of them as the follower.

I'm going to try an actual hard cheese this week using a plastic icecream tub as the mold (dunno how its slight taper will affect things -- I'll let you know how it goes!)

Good luck,

Pat

 

[gettinaclue]

After reading a little more on cheese making, I follow LOL.

 

[freemotion]

Glad ya follow, get! And pat, you give me a great idea.....I have tons of sturdy liver containers from making catfood that would probably work just great for now!

Thanks for clarifying on the marg tubs.....I still respect you!!!

 

[freemotion]

The update: The ricotta is delicious and is in the freezer for now. The rest of the.....whatever it is.....is on a plate on the cool porch and will be chicken breakfast! The dog says, "poodle snacks!!!" But he sleeps in my bed, so I don't want to find out what too much cheese will do to his insides....

The rest is a rubbery, white, weird, tasteless, spongy glob. I feel sorry for the hens....

So the lesson learned is....Follow the directions!!!! Carefully!! Make cheese for the first time when I am VERY alert!

 

[big brown horse]

Here it is! I am bumping up this thread b/c I am going to be taking a goat cheese making class soon.

 

[detali]

When we kept goats a number of years back I made mozzerella cheese by accident when I attempted cheesemaking. All I used was rennet. The mozzerella happened because I kept the mass on heat that was too high. In other words, the curds were overcooked. After draining it out in a cheese cloth I put it, cheesecloth with curds in it, on a flat dish and put another dish on top with a brick on that. Simple cheesepress!

 

[freemotion]

I have since become quite proficient at making cheddar. Mozzarella still eludes me somewhat, but even my failures are yummy now. Sometimes the cheese won't stretch, which means the resulting cheese won't melt nicely on a pizza and stretch when you take a bite, but it is still a good eating cheese.

I gave a couple of these non-stretchy cheeses to my mom, and she took one out of the freezer and forgot it in the fridge for a month after using half of it. The second half was perfect mozzarella!!! So I learned that I can age it after making it to possibly get better results.

BTW, the hens gobbled up that first weird puffball thing I made.... and turned it into eggs for me!

BBH, we will be expecting a detailed report!