# What went wrong?



## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

So I tried to make mozarella according to this recipe, and something went wrong and I don't know what it was. I did in fact find citric acid powder, but could only find liquid rennet. I followed the directions on the package (it had volume rennet/volume milk directions) very carefully. It did in fact curdle, but instead of the custard looking curds in all the photos I've seen, the curds were in a ball at the bottom of the pot. I cut and stirred them anyway, and the curds would not hold together, they just crumbled to pieces. The finished product (I followed the recipe to the end anyway, to see what would happen) is a lot like cream cheese.

I am thinking that either there was too much acid in the milk (...but I measured VERY carefully! :shrug: ) or there is something wrong with my rennet. What do you think? I have made something very tasty, but it isn't quite what I was going for... :shrug:


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Here is the recipe I use from Riki. It calls for stretching the cheese after each heating in the microwave. Go to this website for pictures.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/includes/modules/jWallace/ChsPgs/1Mozz/


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## SHELBY (Mar 9, 2003)

My first time at trying a recipe similar to yours turn out about the same way as you describe, One big mass of stuff, but after heating in the microwave and doing the kneading, and stretching, it turned out okay.

I haven't tried it again yet, but I did do some reading and found out that you have to add the citric acid to cold milk and then heat it to the right temp.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

SHELBY said:


> ... I did do some reading and found out that you have to add the citric acid to cold milk and then heat it to the right temp.


Bingo! If you happen to rush the process and add the citric acid solution to too warm milk (did you pasteurize it?), you'll precipitate out the curd and make citric acid ricotta. Which is my favorite kind of ricotta, but it isn't Mozz.

Or this sort of thing can happen if you stir the curd or disturb it in any way after the rennet has begun to set. You have to stir the rennet in thoroughly initially, and then let it sit undisturbed until you get a clean break or you'll mess it up.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

AHA! My cheese page says to add the acid to the warm milk, so one problem down at least. Maybe it is so soft and gooey for the same reason? Initially I thought maybe I over did it in the microwave, but even overnight in the fridge hasn't firmed it beyond cold cream cheese consistency.

Also though, I have been doing some more research. I am in fact using store milk, and am beginning to suspect it may be ultra pasturized (see this link ). My curd disentigrated just from being stirred... except for a few chunks that stayed together better, which are making me wonder if it isn't really just the adding the acid when the milk was warm. I guess I will have to try again and see what happens...


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

So, I tried again and all kinds of weird things happened. As I heated the acidized milk, some small cottage cheese like curds formed. The curd that formed from the rennet looked _closer_ to what it's supposed to, but instead of being on top of the whey it was at the very bottom, with whey on top. Once again the curds were very delicate, just stirring made them crumble up. It is firmer than last time, but still more of a spreading cheese than a slicing cheese (altho it _tastes_ like mozzarella!), and heating the curds turned them into a sticky mess rather than anything that might stretch or knead.

I am thinking that the biggest problem is my store milk... so much for getting some practice before I have dairy animals! However I'm still wondering if anyone has any other ideas why things are still not working the way they are supposed to. :help:


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

You're probably right, marusempai. Pasteurization temperatures really wreck havoc on curd formation, especially at higher temps, and some commercial dairies seem to use very high temperatures to pasteurize even when the law allows for lower ones. It seems counterintuitive, doesn't it?, because it has to cost them more to heat the milk that hot, but I've heard story after story about store milk problems in cheesemaking over the years. 

I do know that raw milk acts vastly differently from home pasterized milk from my own experience. I drove myself nuts for a year at the start of my cheese journey trying to use milk I had pasteurized for a CAE program. It was horribly confusing to me why I could not manage a decent cheese---at least until I began using raw milk, and it all came clear. Heating milk denatures the proteins so it cannot form a proper curd, and curd formation is the first of several vital steps you must achieve to make cheese----or at least make it correctly! 

I haven't any suggestions for you, I'm afraid, except get yourself a dairy animal and go from there... Sorry!


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

You can use calcium chloride at a rate of 1/4tsp per 2 gallons of milk to readjust the heat damaged calcium and achieve a firmer curd.

Christy


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## SHELBY (Mar 9, 2003)

Did you use the recipe that you used the first time or the one in the link that linn posted?

I switched recipes, to one that you do not heat the curd after adding the rennet, which worked better, 

It could be the milk yo are using, does the jug say it is ultra-pasturized, casue it should if it is?


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

cmharris6002 said:


> You can use calcium chloride at a rate of 1/4tsp per 2 gallons of milk to readjust the heat damaged calcium and achieve a firmer curd.
> 
> Christy


You know, they say that, but I have never found it to be true...


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

:shrug: 
Never tried it myself since I have raw milk. Just thought I'd pass it along.

Christy


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

I think it's an urban cheesemaking myth! LOL!


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

I was using the recipe I posted, except adding the citric acid before heating the milk, since everybody seemed to agree that was probably the problem. I think I will give it one more try, adding the acid to cold milk AND not heating again after the rennet, just to see what happens. If nothing else, my husband is DEVOURING my experiments, so it isn't a waste or anything! :hobbyhors I am clearly an engineer's daughter, I like to make my experimental changes one at a time so I know what did what.  

The jug doesn't say ultra pasturized, but there's no law anywhere that says that it has to, so trial and error is the only way to find out. They should have to label it tho! Would save me a lot of guessing. :flame: The dairies like the higher temps because, apparently, it dramatically increases the milk's shelf life, but for crying out loud! We are a minimum of two years away from goats, so this is VERY frustrating! I like making cheese. :Bawling:

But the worst case scenario, I have invented something NEW! I will call it Maru's Super Special Ultra Pasturized Milk Cheese, and we will continue to eat it on crackers with home made salsa! :viking:


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