Bitter, dry, and too intense
Posted: 15 December 2008 03:26 PM   [ Ignore ]
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Hi!  I’ve been making cheeses for 7 or 8 months now.  All of them are hard cheeses with mesophilic starters-cheddar, gouda, colby, Monterey Jack, and now Derby.  I’ve been using Ricki Carroll’s book and following her recipes closely.  I have a general problem with these cheeses: about half of them are turning out bitter and their texture is dry.  Also the taste is a bit too intense. I’ve been using 2 gallons of Costco store-bought homogenized and pasteurized milk (I seem to get a better curd with it than other store-bought milk),  3/16 to 1/4 t. of MA or MM culture, 1/4 t. of Calcium chloride liquid (in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water), and 3/4 to 1 1/4 t. of animal rennet (diluted in water) .  Generally I’ve been eating the cheeses at three months.  The gouda I ate at five months was excellent (but still too intense).  I think maybe I have too much acid development. Do you have any ideas about what I could do to solve my problems?  Thanks!!

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Posted: 15 December 2008 04:49 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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I think you’re right about the over acidity.  You could try using half the starter culture and/or reducing the time before adding rennet.  That should decrease the acid buildup.

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Rich

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Posted: 15 December 2008 04:51 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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BTW, welcome aboard.  As you’ll notice by reading the posts, we spend a lot of time trying to work out problems such as yours.  A couple thoughts:  be sure to sanitize well, and keep detailed records of every step in your process.  It will help in solving problems as well as duplicating winners.

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Rich

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Posted: 15 December 2008 04:59 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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Welcome !!!
When i had bitterness it was because of the milk, I was using HOMO (3.5%) I switched to 2% and added 10-18% cream and have not had a problem since, too much rennet can also create bitterness.

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The Cheese Hole

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Posted: 16 December 2008 12:45 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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You r using too much rennet, too too much, this is your bitterness problem.
Dry is caused by over acidity

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Posted: 16 December 2008 08:52 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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I agree with the above comments. Reduce acidity some by either less culture or less ripening time. And, cut back the rennet to 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp at most. You may find that you don’t have as firm a curd with less rennet, but once you get the “clean break”, the curd is set and now treat it very, very gently when cutting and initially stirring it. With a little cautious stirring the curd will start to firm up nicely. I only say this because this was a mistake I kept making—thinking that the curd needed to be set up a lot more than it really should be. So, I tended to try to get a firmer curd with more rennet, and ended up with bitter and drier cheeses. Then, I visited a local Artisan cheesemaker and saw what the curds were like when he cut them and began foreworking them, and I saw that his curds were much “softer” than mine. Since then, I’m getting better cheeses (and better yields).

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Rick Robinson

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Posted: 16 December 2008 03:47 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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Thank you all for your advice!  I’ve spent months making the same mistakes and it helps to have someone to straighten me out.

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