# What did I do wrong?



## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

I KNOW it wasn't the milk this time... this is milk that came out of a goat FRIDAY MORNING and was even RAW, for crying out loud, and I am a very frustrated lady. :flame:

So, whole story, I am trying to make the quick mozzarella from goat milk. Friday I did one gallon. I pasteurized it first (160* for thirty seconds), because I was feeling nervous about raw milk. This recipe. I managed a moderately firm curd at the BOTTOM of the whey, and soft silky curds floating at the top. Oh, and the whey was WHITE. Much more watery than milk, but definitely white. After going through the whole process, I ended up with cheese that TASTES like mozz, but has the consistency of brie. Heating the curd mostly just made it sticky.

Tried again Saturday. I figured that it was probably my rennet (I have no idea how long those junket tablets had been on the store shelf, can't find an expiration date), so I tried my liquid vegetable rennet. It is three months away from expiring, has been stored in the refrigerator, and I've managed halfway decent cheese with it before (the milk was UHT before, which is why I thought it didn't turn last time). Feeling more confident (DH drank some and hasn't died yet) I didn't pasteurize this time. Remembered what everybody told me last time and followed this recipe. Only used half a gallon, since I am now feeling shy of wasting very, VERY good milk. Again I had scant, silky curds floating on top, and very few firmer curds (like cottage cheese) at the bottom, in white whey. I decided it wasn't even worth draining, there was so little curd, so I just poured the whole mess into a jar and put it back in the fridge. What on earth is going on here? I have one more half gallon, and I'm afraid to try! :stars: The only thing I can think of is that I didn't control the temperature well enough... but I THINK I did it right. I am very confused.


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

What type of citric acid are you using? It sounds to me like your milk wasn't acidic enough to clabber properly.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

It is a bag that just says "citric acid powder" on it from the health food store. It doesn't go bad or anything, does it? I would think not. Is there a specific pH I'm going for here? Should I just add more next time? I'm guessing that it's possible to be too acidic, as well, which worries me. Is there a better way to acidify the milk?


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

If you use a traditional mozz recipe rather than a quickie citric one. I can check later to let you know the exact PH you are going for...do you have a PH meter ?


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

No pH meter, but I'm pretty sure I have some of those little pH test papers lying around somewhere, they aren't terribly accurate but they'll give me a good ballpark figure at least. But if it isn't acidic enough to clabber right, it needs to be a LOT more acidic, right? And isn't traditional mozz supposed to be a lot harder to make? Maybe I should try a different cheese. The problem of course is that my cheese press won't get here for another couple of days. Blargh.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Not so much harder to make..just not as quick as the 30 minute stuff.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Ok, so I have been looking at lots of pictures of cheesemaking, and I have a question. What color is whey _supposed_ to be? I was under the impression it is supposed to be yellowish and mostly clear, but in a lot of these pictures it looks awfully white. Also, when the curd forms properly, it is supposed to fill up most of the pot, right? Because, in most pictures it looks a lot like it is floating until you cut it, but the more I think about it the more I think that maybe it just fills up the pot, and when you cut it it releases whey or something and shrinks.

...I really wish I had somebody local to help me, this is awfully confusing. Thanks everybody for helping me.


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

The whey is clearish yellow. If you cut into it too soon it will be more white. What happens is that all of the solids in the milk collect together into a mass. You are correct that it is floating and when you cut it it releases the whey and shrinks. Heating and stirring also cause more whey to be expelled until it is 'curds' in the whey. 

Are you cutting the curd when it is at the "clean break" stage? You stick your finger in the edge of the pot, right into the curd at a 45* angle and lift it straight out. The curd will break in a straight line. If it sort of mushes around your finger and looks like yogurt...let it set a little longer. The recipe times for how long it takes to happen are only guidelines...the acidity of your milk and the quality of your rennet can make it take longer or shorter. 

Also, I wanted to ask if you are dissolving your citric acid in water first or sprinkling it into the milk dry. And, is there any chance that you are on city water...which can have chlorine in it. My mom had city water and it took a while to realize that THAT was why her rennet wasn't working properly. It still 'sort of' worked, but not tooo well.

Don't give up! It is really not that hard.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

So the curds don't fill most of the pot, they just float when they're first formed, and then sink as the process progresses? I am trying to cut at the clean break stage, but am still doing a lot of guessing at this point... and it is blasted hard to tell if it is a clean break when the curds are at the BOTTOM of the pot! Is it possible to let it set TOO long? I am thinking that letting it set too long would probably make the curd harder and it would sink, instead of being at the top like it's supposed to be.

Yes, I am disolving the citric acid in water, and yes, city water. Chlorine, eh? Never even occured to me. :viking: Will chloramine do the same thing? I can set out some water to dechlorinate itself, I suppose, but I am not sure if our town is chlorinated or chloramined, and chloramine doesn't evaporate out like chlorine does. Maybe if I used water from our Brita filter.


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

Maybe you ARE letting it set too long. I have never had mine sink...hmm. 

I dont know about chloramine. Maybe just try it w/ some bottled water or filtered water, I guess that would take out the chem.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

another subtle thing that might interfere - don't use sea salt or table salt. Iodine in table salt or sea salt interferes with the formation of lactic acids. Use kosher salt for canning or flake salt. Learned that the hard way.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Yeah, my experience thus far has been still goopy, still goopy, whoops it's all at the bottom of the pot. :viking: But, I got a jug of distilled water today, and I'm going to give it another go tonight... here's to hoping, right?


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## prairiegirl (Nov 2, 2004)

I did not have luck with the first recipe you linked above. I've not tried the second recipe, but printed it last week to try.
I've been using Mary Jane Toth's recipe for quick mozzerella. It has worked well several times for me. 
Good luck with your next try. Don't get discouraged ( I know from experience that's not easy). The art of cheesemaking is not easy, but the sweet reward of success is worth the work.

prairiegirl


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## pookiethebear (Apr 29, 2008)

This is from the Muller Lane Farm web page, seems easy to do, although I have not done it.....

Mozzarella Cheese 
I was given this recipe by Barb at Goldenrod Farm. It is easy and delicious! Be sure to save the whey to make a batch of ricotta! 
Warm 3 gallons milk to 90ÂºF, add 1 1/4th tsp citric acid per gallon of milk and 2 oz of Thermophilic culture for each gallon of milk. Stir well. Add 1/2 tsp rennet to 1/8 cup cool water for each gallon of milk. Add to the milk and stir for 1 minute. Let set for 45 minutes or until the curd gives a clean break. Cut the curds into 1/2" cubes and allow to set for 15 minutes. Drain the curds into a cheese cloth-lined colander. Hang cheesecloth for 1 hour to drain or until it stops dripping. Put the bag in the colander and the colander in the pot with a cover and put in the refrigerator for 24 hours. (this is the developing acidity step that makes the cheese stretch better) 

Heat a bowl of water to 170ÂºF, take the curds from the cheesecloth and slice in 1" slices. Put the slices in the hot water and allow to melt, using two SS spoons work the curds by pressing them together, knead them in this way until they loose shape. The curds should stretch out when you hold them up under their own weight, stretch them until they become bright and shiny and stretch easily. Make a ball out of the curds and put them in a bowl of ice water to cool. Place in a brine solution for 1 hour or to taste. 


Ricotta Cheese 
Using the whey from the mozzarella or other cheese, warm to 170ÂºF (82ÂºC). Mix 1/2 tsp rennet with 1/4 cup of cold water and add to whey, stirring constantly. Within 15-20 minutes, small flakes of curds will appear (they will be small like grains of rice). Strain curds through a colander lined with a large, fine weave cloth. Tie the four corners of the cloth together and hang the bag until it stops dripping. I suspend the bag using two wooden spoons in a stainless steel pot. This may take 3-4 hours to drain. The resulting ricotta is very dry and you may want to mix in 1/4-1/2 cup of heavy cream into it at this point. 
These next 3 recipes I found on a Countryside webpage using goggle. I have not used any of the the following recipe but am excited to try it out! I canât find the page anymore so Iâm including the recipes here so I wonât lose them again. Soft cheese are the next step in making cheese.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Oh, giving up isn't an option... DD is allergic to cow's milk, so it's either make my own cheese (from goat milk) or give up cheese altogether.

Anyway, I think it was TOO acidic this time... the curds were pretty firm, but they were grainy, the way the curds are when you make paneer. I also got distracted and the milk got a little too hot. Then I forgot that I had only used half a gallon of milk and put WAY too much salt in it. But, the cheese press will get here on Friday, along with a better thermometer, and I will try again then. Thanks everybody for all the help. :clap:


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## Sasha (May 22, 2006)

prairiegirl said:


> I've been using Mary Jane Toth's recipe for quick mozzerella. It has worked well several times for me.


This is the one I use as well.

I'm sorry that you're frustrated.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

So, I feel like I should start a new thread for this, but for some mysterious reason my computer won't let me... 

Anyway HOLY COW IT'S CHEESE! :happy: I have cheese press now, so I figured I'd do a "basic cheese," and it WORKED! I guess I am just not meant to acidify with citric acid powder, bacause using the yoghurt to start it worked like a champ. I do however have some more questions, naturally.

The curd had a thin layer of yoghurt-y stuff on top of it. This means I let the culture sit for too long and it was a little too acid, right?

Instead of filling the pot like in the picture, my curd was like a round disk thing floating in the curd. Does that mean I let the rennet work on it for too long? When I tried to cut it, it was awful rubbery.

On the issue of cutting the curd, I did a really bad job, and in the interest of not butchering it, some of the pieces were kinda big... would that cause them to float? The recipe says the curd is supposed to sink, or it is contaminated, but about half the curd floated and half sunk, if it were from contamination wouldn't ALL of the curd float? The floaters were invariably the biggest pieces. Or is there something else that might make my curd float? I suppose the real question is does this mean my cheese isn't safe to eat?

Thanks for the patience, I thought things would get easy if I could just get the curd to form properly. :viking:


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