# Rennet - Veg or animal?



## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

After our botched first time experiment making neufatchel, we junked the Junkett and will buy real rennet. (okay, we DID manage to achieve yogurt on our second attempt to get that mess to break - which it never did, so not a total loss).

At any rate, which works best? Is there a specific use for one over the other? Or are they about the same?

AIm is to work our way up to master hard cheeses. First stop, yogurt/Lebaneh. 2nd Step, Neufachel...so were hoping to purchase a rennet that will be the most practical given our long term goals.

Tx


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Animal rennet all the way. 
Hands down, w/o question.
Good luck!


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Has anyone ever butchered a calf and used the real thing?? Calf gut that is? Just wondering. Thanks marc


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

I only use animal rennet. If you plan to make aged cheeses veg. rennet will make your cheese bitter.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

springvalley said:


> Has anyone ever butchered a calf and used the real thing?? Calf gut that is? Just wondering. Thanks marc


You know, I have never tried it, but would if I couldn't find a source for good rennet elsewhere. 

I have read about it and that is all.


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

I thought it had to be from a goat?


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## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

I haven't noticed any of our aged cheeses being bitter with vegetable rennet. We use that because we have some vegetarian customers that much prefer it. We mainly do soft cheeses though and I'm still "playing" with the hard cheeses so maybe it's just that.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

here is an interesting page about it~

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Rennet/rennet_preparation.html


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## eam (Jun 5, 2002)

I use vegetable rennet because that's what I can get locally - it's double strength rennet. I don't find that there's any difference in the flavor of my cheeses. When I had to mail order, I got the animal. Now that I can get it locally without shipping charges, I find it's MUCH cheaper (less than half the cost....)

Now, I'm no expert cheesemaker, either, but that's my experience.

Elizabeth


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

Hi Tx What recipe are you using to make NeufchÃ¢tel. As Junket tablets are made from rennet, which is obtained from the membranes of the stomachs of calves, lambs, kids, and other young mammals, normally before they have eating any other food than milk

Here is link about rennet
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Rennet/Rennet.html

here is a link about making homemade rennet.
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Rennet/rennet_preparation.html

Here is a link about making NeufchÃ¢tel
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/neufchatel/neufchatel.htm

I started on lemon curd cheese 

1 gallon full cream milk 
1/2 cup Lemon juice
1 tsp salt

then I made bare bones cheese for three year. it super easy. and no rennet.
delicious cottage cheese that resembles ricotta

1 gallon 2% milk (I have made it on full cream milk as well)
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp salt


hope this helps


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

oops. Haven't checked this thread in a while.
For the Neufchatel - we followed Fankhauser - in fact, I think i've read and RE-read every page on that website three times over. The rennet (junket) was tablets. I managed to get some liquid rennet - animal, so we'll try again. 

I also picked up a cheesemaking book by Ricki Carroll. Everyone just raves about her, but I'm having some difficulty. It seems she occasionally discusses a technique using terms that were not earlier defined, or not in defined much at all I page back and re-read sections trying to find the term, but can't, so I'm guessing along the way what she means. Maybe i need longer discussion over some topics. 

I had to read through three websites in conjunction with the book before I got that rennet is not a starter - it is more like an "assist"? and that most cheese must begin with a starter of some sort, with rennet added (maybe) after. It's just hard for me to imagine that the wide variety of cheeses and flavors are basically the same, (or seem to start out that way) but vary only in times and temperatures..?? Am still confused about terms such as "starter" vs "culture", "setting" vs. "direct set" and "curdling" vs "clabbering" vs "coagulating", etc same? Similar?.

I'll get it eventually with practice, but the book was not quite the beginners manual I'd hoped. I should mention that I failed chemistry - yes quite! thus lack some basics and a genuine instinct, so this is a challenge for me. So is Baking, for similar reasons I suspect.


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

I am really glad you posted this. I am teaching a class at cheese workshop in April and wanted to include some common cheese making terms in my hand out. Let me see if I can help you out without confusing you more  This is all just off the top of my head so maybe others will have more to add.

Starter and Culture or sometimes even Starter Culture all refer to the Bacteria added to the milk to raise the acidity, impart flavor and help develop the cheese during the aging process. These terms are often used interchangeably.

Set and Direct Set are different terms. 

Direct Set - Also seen as DVI (Direct Vat Inoculation) is a dry powdered culture which can be added directly to the milk. Another form of starter culture in known as a 'mother'. A mother is in liquid form. Buttermilk is an example of one kind of Mesophilic culture while yogurt would be an example of a type of thermophilic culture.

Set - Sometimes you may be told to add culture and allow to set for a period of time also called ripening. On the other hand you might be asked to add rennet and allow to set. This is a better use of the term as coagulated milk that has formed a solid curd has set.

Curdling - Milk that has curdled has formed a curd via acid coagulated, non-renneted curds. This can happen naturally with time or when vinegar or lemon juice is added

Clabbering - Clabbering is what happens when unpasteurized milk is left to ripen at room temp until it has sufficiently curdled and formed a curd. 

Coagulating - This is the process of the milk going from liquid to a solid curd

HTH
Christy


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

Thanks Christy! Wish i were in the neighborhood to sign up for your class. It would help a lot. I'll look for one this Spring and save my pennies.

So long as were at it then - I was confused by "ripening" and "innoculate". It took me a while to understand the difference in these terms. I always thought innoculate (like vaccinate) meant to kill all the bacteria or something - and since there was so much emphasis being made to sanitizing, I thought that the slow lifting of the milks temperature is why you did this and thus this step was "innoculating". 

Later Ricki Carroll called the heating step as "ripening" and explained this as a means to raise the acidity in the milk some (nothing to do with sanitizing), and the next step of adding starter is "innoculating". Don't know why this was confusing. 

Some sites claim you can not get good results with homogonized milk for hard cheese - recommend skim powdered with heavy cream added. Other sources don't emphasize this.:shrug:

It's altogether overwhelming for me right now. Seems like cheese making is a touchy practice.

_ "Remember, that cheese is alive. The starter must be healthy and active [...] pay particular attention to preparing and storing your starer [...]make sure that the milk is heated to the correct temp, at the correct rate, and in the correct manner"_ - R. Carroll

A bit daunting, but then - raising a goat seems equally overwhelming at this point, - And we're getting one in AUGuST! 

"Remember that a goat is alive. The doe must be healthy and active. Pay particular attention to preparing and fencing your area. Make sure the minerals are provided in the correct quantities, with the correct feed, and that she is milked in the correct manner". 

We'll get there. Thanks all!


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

To inoculate is to introduce the bacteria needed for turning the milk into cheese. Ripening is allowing the inoculated milk to set at the proper temperature in order to allow the acidity to increase the correct pH.

I like Mary Jane Toth's book 'Goat's Produce Too' as a good cheese book to start out with. Ricki's book isn't as accurate and only provides a very topical approach to cheese making. Mary Jane explains things so much better and her recipes work so well. JMHO...



> Some sites claim you can not get good results with homogonized milk for hard cheese - recommend skim powdered with heavy cream added. Other sources don't emphasize this.


Sorry, I only make cheese with raw milk so I have no experience with adding things to homogenized milk.



> It's altogether overwhelming for me right now. Seems like cheese making is a touchy practice.


It really is not as hard as it seems. Just remember that times and temps are the most important thing next to good sanitizing procedures. 



> "Remember, that cheese is alive. The starter must be healthy and active [...] pay particular attention to preparing and storing your starer [...]make sure that the milk is heated to the correct temp, at the correct rate, and in the correct manner" - R. Carroll
> 
> A bit daunting, but then - raising a goat seems equally overwhelming at this point, - And we're getting one in AUGuST!
> 
> "Remember that a goat is alive. The doe must be healthy and active. Pay particular attention to preparing and fencing your area. Make sure the minerals are provided in the correct quantities, with the correct feed, and that she is milked in the correct manner".


This was a super cute analogy


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

Hi to "innoculate" is a word use for grafting the culture , or bacteria. this is done by adding a starter or mother culuturer to the milk.so-called blue cheese is created by inoculating a cheese with penicillium roqueforti ,

"Some sites claim you can not get good results with homogonized milk for hard cheese" When using homogenised milk, Calcium Chloride is recommended to help the Rennet make a firmer curd

I have not used homogonixed but I have had any worries making cheeses hard or soft on Pasteurized milk .


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