Cheesemaking help--30 minute mozz

[Sarabclever]

Hi I am hoping someone here can help me!

No matter what I try, when I make cheese the curds don't separate from the whey--it looks like ricotta. BUT if I continue with teh recipe, and strain out the whey through a cheesecloth, I DO actually get mozzarella cheese that is just fine.

I know that the typical culprit is ultrapasteurized milk; but I am using milk that is pasteurized at 145F (I checked with they local dairy) (I tried with other milks that were regularly pasteurized and got the same results).

Also, I think that the cheese would not work out in the end if it were actually a problem with the milk. So I feel like something else must be the problem.

I have allowed the milk to sit for longer; this doesn't help; I've tried to dissolve the rennet longer, this doesn't help, and I have made sure I hvae not overstirred by only stirring for 30 seconds. I use bottled water that I bought at whole foods (though this was no different in result than using tap water, which is what I did the first time). I've tried using more rennet than recommended (3/8 a tablet rather than 1/4 a tablet) as I read somewhere that this could help.

I am very frustrated. While I do get a good result, I want to figure out why the curt is not setting as it should. I'd love to try other cheeses but don't want to so until I figure this out.

I read that some bottled water could be chlorinated, and am wondering if that could be the issue. However, I read that chlorine renders the rennet ineffective, so I would imagine that if this were the case my cheese would not turn out either. Is this a possibility? Is there anything else I should do?

Thanks, happy 4th.

[grapeadmin]

Is the milk that you are using homogenized? This can be a problem especially if you are not adding calcium chloride.

john
g and g

[Sarabclever]

Thanks--It is homogenized, but other people I know who have used homogenized have not had a problem.

How would the calcium chloride work? I thought I read that you shouldn't use calcium chloride with mozzarella as it prevents the curds from stretching.

Do you think it could be chlorinated water and the rennet or would chlorine mean the rennet would not work at all and my cheese would not come out anyway?

[grapeadmin]

No, I don't think so. I think the problem is the homogenized milk. Try to find some milk that is not homogenized and see what happens. In our area, there is a dairy named Hartzlers that has milk that is not homogenized. It is found at many of the local 'organic' markets.

I think the calcium chloride added to your homogenized milk would help.

Chlorine would probably make the rennet ineffective.

john
g and g