I made my Feta this weekend and ran into some difficulties during the process.  Here is what transpired.

I prepped the chives by boiling them in about a cup of water to rehydrate them, and added the water to the milk. I reserved the chives to add to the curd.  I chopped up the calamata olives and set them aside.

I used 3 gallons of store milk, not ultra pasteurized and added ¼ tsp of Meso culture and a large ¼ tsp of Lipase.  Let the mixture set the required 60 minutes and then added the CaCl2 and a tad more than 1/16 of a tsp of dry calf rennet in ¼ cup of cool distilled water.  I waited the 45 minutes for set and to my surprise, NO CURD.  The milk was just a liquid as it was when I poured it into my canner.  I had purchased the rennet from the Cheese Maker and followed his instructions very carefully, so I was amazed at not having a curd set.  The only thing that I could surmise is that I had not added enough rennet, so I added a bit more and waited another 30 minutes.  Still NO CURD!  By now I am really frustrated, and for the life of me cannot understand why. 

I knew that the rennet could no longer be the issue, so it had to be something else.  I double checked the milk cartons to make sure that I had the correct milk, and I was okay there.  That only left the CaCl2.  I added another tsp and the mix began to thicken as I stirred it in.  From there on, things went as normal and the feta is now in my holding box at room temp for a couple of days to toughen up and then I will add the whey brine.

I had purchase my CaCl2 from Leener’s in 2008 in pint jars.  I moved last year, and they got left in the shed over the winter, so I am assuming that they lost their potency due to freezing.  So I know that I have to use twice as much to get a curd.  I really don’t want to do that, so I made a trip to Grand Rapids, MI and bought some dry Calcium Chloride and it won’t go bad.

I made cheddar yesterday, and all went according to plan, so I feel that the CaCl2 was the problem all along.  Cheddar is in the press and will come out to dry tomorrow morning.

Long story, but I wanted to share!

Great u were able to save it. CaCl is a chemical and the temp should not have changed it unless it crystallized and the solution became diluted. did u notice any deposits in the bottle?

Yes, a white film on the bottom of the pint jars.  I may try to add some to the bottles and make it stronger again, or just use the dry in a quarter cup of water.  Simple enough.

Cheers buddy!

This is a puzzle to me; because you should have gotten a curd set even without any CaCl.  Granted, it would be a stronger set with it; but its total absence would not have given you the zilch you got.

GCM - you have no idea how frustrated I was.  For my second renneting I put in 60 drops of veggie rennet that I just bought, and 3/4 tsp of the 2 year old calf rennet from Ricki’s.  It still did not set until I added the CaCl2.  Freaked me out.