Just tried to make a cottage cheese, followed the instructions to the letter but the milk never set all I ended up with was what looked like melted cheese no evidence of any whey. anybody got any ideas what I may have done wrong.
I seem to be having this trouble with other cheeses I make in that the milk never sets properly, I am using anew bottle of animal Rennet

Are you using a starter culture too?

Yes, I’m using a freeze dried starter that I made into ice cubes a couple of weeks ago, should I let these melt prior to putting into the milk or can I put these into the milk frozen

I’ve never used that type of starter myself; but my first thought would be that they should be warmed slowly to your milk’s temp.  The whole thing seems really strange to not get any curd at all.  If you finally figure it out, please let us know.  That’s one calamity that I hope I never experience.  The only time its happened to me so far is once when I actually forgot to add the rennet until an hour and a half later.

Im thinking its the type of milk your using, try a dif brand 2%. Makes sure CaCl is in their, that way u know it might be the culture. Make sure the bottles recommender Rennet amount is used.

You should probably thaw the cubes 1st so that they can ripen the milk properly.  When I put them in frozen, it might take 20 minutes for them to thaw completely, and you have to add that time to the ripening stage.

I only had 4% milk, tried it again last night I thawed out the culture first and increased the rennet by a 1/4 of a teaspoon this seem to have a set, will let you know later how I get on.

WELL!!! failed again, looked like I had a good set but when I warmed it to 43.5c as per recipe the cured just went back into the whey and all I was left with was a very bitty milk, tried to drain through cheese cloth but it all drained away leaving me with a few bits in the cheese cloth and a very upset wife and kids who were looking forward to trying it. Never give up is my motto so will be trying again later in week but this time with a 2% milk as suggested earlier

What recipe are you using.  Can you list the process.

Here is one that I found.  Using 1 gallon of milk 2% or whole.

  1.  Pour milk into stockpot, add mesophilic starter and stir well to disperse.
  2. Mix 1/4 tab Rennet into two tablespoons of cool water. Mix this into the milk thoroughly using a whisk and stirring for at least 5 minutes.
  3. Cover and set aside to ripen for about 20 hours at room temp (70F / 21C).
  4. The milk should be a firm curd within 20 hours, however the full 20 hours is needed to develop the correct flavor.
  5. After 20 hours cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes.
  6. Allow the curds to firm up for 15 minutes.
  7. Over the next 30 minutes slowly raise the temperature of the curds to 110F / 43.5C.
  8. Cook for an additional 45 minutes at 110F / 43.5C).
  9. Stir the curds often to prevent them from matting.
  10. The curds should have shrunken and mostly sunk to the bottom of the pot.
  11. Line a colander with a cheesecloth and drain the curds.
  12. Allow the curds to drain for 5 minutes.
  13. Lift the curd filled cheese cloth from the colander and repeatedly dunk into a bowl of ice cold water for at least three minutes.
  14. Drain the curds and place in a bowl.
  15. Season the curds with a teaspoon of salt, herbs, etc. Use more or less to taste.
  16. Place the cheese into a sealable container into a refrigerator. A few tablespoons of cream may be added if desired.

Kim, the recipe you listed is the same one I’ve been trying to work with, all looked good up to No 4, as it looked like I had a good curd, you could clearly see the yellow whey, it felt firm when cut but it was when I started to raise the temp at No 7 that it started to break up and go back into the whey

Kim, The only part of the recipe I guessed was the Rennet, as I use liquid Rennet I put in 1 teaspoon to the 1 gallon

That is certainly more than enough rennet.  How much CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) did you use?  Was it a 30 to 33% solution?  I would up the amount to 1/2 tsp on your next try and see if that does not help.  After re-reading the recipe, I do not see the CaCl2 listed so you probably did not use it, and that would certainly explain why your store bought milk would not curd properly.  You should add Calcium chloride to any store bought milk at the rate of 1/4 tsp per gallon or slightly more.  When milk is processed pasteurized and homogenized it leaches the calcium out of the milk, so you need to add it back to get a good curd.