I sort of ruined the surprise there for how today's cheese-making, didn't I. So let me tell you all about what I did, and where (I think?) it maybe went down the tubes.
I went to a local Seattle home brew store where I was able to procure not only rennet (if you don't know what rennet is, because I sure didn't, watch this at minute 3:00, although I recommend the whole episode because it's fun), but both of the cultures I needed to make my Cotijo and the required calcium chloride. Huzzah!
I bought the required 2 gallons of whole milk at Central Market, since it was close to the home brew store, and toddled off home, ready to begin the process.
Here are all my ingredients. While I bought 2 gallons, I ended up only using 1 gallon. First smart decision I made all day. The jugs you see there are each a half gallon of whole milk from Twin Brook Creamery, here in WA. They vat pasteurize, so I know that's not where my problem arose.
Because sanitation is important, boys and girls, I washed all my gear again. So that wasn't it, either.
Pictured is my trusty stock pot, a metal whisk, a "nonreactive" strainer, a plastic spatula for cutting the curds, a thermometer,and my 1/2tsp measure.
Not a bad way to start. Famous last musings.
I hooked my thermometer onto the side of the pot and poured in my two jugs of milk. Whisking the whole while so as not to scorch the milk (which I did last time -- cleaning the pot was a pain) I heated the milk to 100 degrees F as my book called for. So far, so good. In went the meso culture and the thermo culture. I whisked them in the "up and down" motion recommended for better incorporation to all levels of the milk, rather than just the top. Ok, good to go.
Then the milk was supposed to sit at 100 degrees F for 30 minutes to ripen the cultures. Ok, cool. No problem.
OR SO I THOUGHT... I leave the milk on the low-medium heat that had only just barely raised it to 100 degrees in the half hour I stood there whisking it. Come back 15 minutes later... and it's up to 135 or so. Crap. Maybe that's not a problem? Maybe making cheese is more like cooking than it is baking. I mean, back in 1640 they didn't have thermometers, and they were able to make cheese just fine, right? I crank the heat back to low, add my calcium chloride and my rennet, set the timer for 1.5 hours and let it sit.
Apparently, making cheese is more like baking than cooking. After 1.5 hours of sitting, by which time the rennet should definitely have been causing some major coagulation, I come back and find....
NO CHEESE CURDS AT ALL. NOT EVEN TINY ONES.
Well crap.
I add more rennet, thinking maybe that's the problem.
Nope.
While I am not sure, since I've made a lot more yogurt than cheese and this is a learning process, I don't really know what went wrong. This is the first time I've tried making cheese with rennet. Maybe the heat was too much for the rennet. Or maybe the rennet was no bueno to begin with. Or maybe the cultures didn't approve of the extra 35 degrees of heat (WHICH WOULD NOT GO AWAY) and somehow inhibited the coagulation of the milk. Here we are, 3+ hours later, and still no curds.
Apparently, those British archeologists 1) are better dairy maids than I, or 2) had a few goes at it that were left out of the final cut. I'm glad that I didn't use both gallons of milk. I may try again tomorrow. We'll see how I feel after work.
To bolster my spirits after such a colossal fail, I made some brine for the chicken
I plan to roast for dinner tomorrow. It smells delicious, and looks
fancy. Thank you for the recipe, Thomas Keller. And here's to hoping I
don't muck that up, or I'll be sad and have to order take out.
Stay tuned for Cotijo attempt #2.
I went to a local Seattle home brew store where I was able to procure not only rennet (if you don't know what rennet is, because I sure didn't, watch this at minute 3:00, although I recommend the whole episode because it's fun), but both of the cultures I needed to make my Cotijo and the required calcium chloride. Huzzah!
I bought the required 2 gallons of whole milk at Central Market, since it was close to the home brew store, and toddled off home, ready to begin the process.
Pictured is my trusty stock pot, a metal whisk, a "nonreactive" strainer, a plastic spatula for cutting the curds, a thermometer,and my 1/2tsp measure.Not a bad way to start. Famous last musings.
I hooked my thermometer onto the side of the pot and poured in my two jugs of milk. Whisking the whole while so as not to scorch the milk (which I did last time -- cleaning the pot was a pain) I heated the milk to 100 degrees F as my book called for. So far, so good. In went the meso culture and the thermo culture. I whisked them in the "up and down" motion recommended for better incorporation to all levels of the milk, rather than just the top. Ok, good to go.
Apparently, making cheese is more like baking than cooking. After 1.5 hours of sitting, by which time the rennet should definitely have been causing some major coagulation, I come back and find....
NO CHEESE CURDS AT ALL. NOT EVEN TINY ONES.
Well crap.
I add more rennet, thinking maybe that's the problem.
Nope.
While I am not sure, since I've made a lot more yogurt than cheese and this is a learning process, I don't really know what went wrong. This is the first time I've tried making cheese with rennet. Maybe the heat was too much for the rennet. Or maybe the rennet was no bueno to begin with. Or maybe the cultures didn't approve of the extra 35 degrees of heat (WHICH WOULD NOT GO AWAY) and somehow inhibited the coagulation of the milk. Here we are, 3+ hours later, and still no curds.
Apparently, those British archeologists 1) are better dairy maids than I, or 2) had a few goes at it that were left out of the final cut. I'm glad that I didn't use both gallons of milk. I may try again tomorrow. We'll see how I feel after work.
To bolster my spirits after such a colossal fail, I made some brine for the chicken
I plan to roast for dinner tomorrow. It smells delicious, and looks
fancy. Thank you for the recipe, Thomas Keller. And here's to hoping I
don't muck that up, or I'll be sad and have to order take out.Stay tuned for Cotijo attempt #2.
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