So far I haven’t used calcium chloride in any of my cheeses. I can get (what appears to me to be) good quality non-homo milk from my local Coop, and that seems to give a good curd. But all the recipes seem to include calcium chloride as a matter of course.

The problem as I see it (being a born miser) is that the good quality non-homo milk costs a good bit more than the common-or-garden homogenised variety from the supermarket, and if/when I start making larger batches of cheese the cost per batch is going to make me start twitching.
Common sense tells me that better milk will produce better cheese, but I’m fast learning that cheese doesn’t necessarily listen to my version of common sense. So, is my good-quality expensive milk going to give me better cheese than ordinary milk + calcium chloride, or is the taste/texture the same and the only difference in how the firm curd is achieved?

I know the simple answer is Try them both and see for yourself, but it will take months waiting for the cheeses to mature before I can compare them, and in the meantime the ?? remains hanging over my head….should I continue to shop at the Coop? Or should I buy me a packet of calcium chloride?

Well, Denise, I can tell you that in my estimation there is no substitute for good quality milk.  When I started making cheese, I used store bought, pasteurized, homogenized milk.  Since I didn’t have any experience with anything else, I was satisfied.  Then, when I was able to connect with a Dairy and get raw milk I was absolutely amazed at the difference.  I hope I never am forced to go back to the watery milk at the store! 

As I understand it, the pasteurization process does something to the structure of the proteins in the milk, and the CaCl helps to restore it to its original state.  Not being a chemist, that’s about all I know.  So if you are using pasteurized, non-homogenized milk, you would likely benefit from the CaCl already.  And, it’s not that expensive either; especially since you only use a very small amount.

Seems like I recall an old commercial that stated, “Sure it costs a little more; but I’m worth it!”

Thanks for the insight, Rich. So I should try using calcium chloride with my non-homo milk?

If I’m going to buy the calcium chloride anyways, I think I will probably try the ‘watery’ milk once at least, (do the same recipe twice, with good stuff and cheap stuff) just to satisfy my curiosity and convince myself that the extra cost is worth it.

When I was at school (many many moons ago) I was never big on science class, but now I find myself eager to do cheese-based experiments!

Better ingredients makes better product. If you can get the raw milk then you dont need the CaCL. if you want to experiment then thats great and will add to your experience.

Pasteurization reduces the amount of calcium ions. Those ions have an important role in the flocculation of the milk, binding fat and other solids together to form the curd.
That reduction will be corrected by adding some CaCl. Goat milk (which will give a softer curd because the fat-particles are smaller) improves also by adding some CaCl.