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Topic: Why such short flocculation times? (Read 1221 times)

I have noticed an interesting thing and was wondering if others experienced this, and what to do about it. Here's the situation:

When I first started making cheeses, not so long ago, I got a bottle of liquid vegetable rennet from a local health food store. I was following recipes that gave setting times in minutes and was not aware of flocculation time. My cheeses were forming, but they were almost uniformly bitter tasting after appropriate aging.

Anyway, I switched to liquid Calf Rennet for the last two cheeses I made and have also used the floc method. The first time I used the liquid calf rennet, my floc point was at around 4 minutes with a floc time of 12 minutes - which I've been told is way too short. So, this weekend, I made a Feta with a smaller quantity of Rennet, and my spinning top was completely stopped at 5 minutes. Seems like it's awfully fast to me. So, the question is why?

Is my new calf rennet extra potent because it's new?Is the milk this time of year particularly good for curdling?

Hard to say without your milk type and amount, but I use 3/4 teaspoon for four gallons and get a 15 minute flocculation, with minor variations for which I adjust. 1/4 teaspoon would be too much for a gallon for me. Try counting it out in drops, and keep adjusting down.

Sorry about the abbreviated response last night. I was in a rush and did not think about what I was doing - and what it would cause.

To fill everyone in: I used 1 Gallon of cow's milk bought the previous day at WalMart. It was full fat milk and both pasteurized and homogenized.

The recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet, and as mentioned above, I used a little bit less than that (I did not bring the liquid to the level of the rim of the measuring spoon) When I added the rennet, the pH was 6.6. I also put my plastic saucer in after I stirred the rennet. When I check five minutes later, it was pretty solidly glued to its spot.

Using a floc multiplier of 4, I cut the curds at the 20 minute mark and got a clean break. So, it was definitely ready!

By the way, the recipe calls for dry salting the chunks and refrigerating them and that is the stage I am at. I snitched a small sliver this evening while draining the expelled whey and it definitely has the right texture, mouth feel, and flavor to it!

MacGruff - the whole point of the flocculation method is to match the characteristics of your milk & rennet. Just keep reducing your rennet until you hit a target of 15 minutes (or whatever target that you want). Based on your last experience, 1/4 tsp is still going to floc in 10 minutes or less.