Yeah, ok so the title is cheesy…

And so was that.

Anyways. I am completely new to making cheese, but know my way around a kitchen better than anyone I know. I bought a mozzarella making kit from <company name here, don’t know if it’s against policy to mention other companies> that came with animal rennet tablets (1 tablet does 50 gallons of milk), and Choozit TM 81 LYO 50 DCU culture mix. I bought 4L of organic 2% milk (well before it’s expiry date, it was pasturized for 10 seconds at 165F, I believe the company said, so apparently that shouldn’t have destroyed the milk for cheese). Followed all the instructions to the letter. Stainless pot, temps never exceeding 108F (and at that time, only when it was ripening the curds). Started with the milk, then the culture, left it for an hour, added the dissolved rennet, left it completely alone for another 45 minutes. Cut the curd (which was a really neat process in itself, probably the coolest part), let it sit against for another hour, stirring once every 10 minutes ish. Drained off the whey, and put the curd into a strainer, over a bowl, and kept that warm (between 101 and 106F) for 2 hours… Tried to cut a chunk off to test for the stretch, and it was like cottage cheese. It hadn’t formed a mass. So, put it back in the warmth to continue (the package said it might not work after 2 hours, it could take 8)... So every half hour I checked it, and it never changed. Not for all 8 hours.

So, knowing that, what do you think happened (or didn’t happen)? The curd never formed a solid mass, so I couldn’t finish the cheese. I was a bit disappointed, but I just chalk it up to a learning experience. Any help?

Welcome !!

Sounds like a step was missed, the cheese needs to be cooked (170F)(melted) to a mass. For the test of it, if u have a non stick pan, put some of the Strained mass in their on low heat till it combines and then do the stretching.

The step wasn’t missed. Merely not typed (I’m tired and have a toddler running amok). I did try to cook the curd in 170-180F water to try to make it form a mass. Curd - whey removal - ripening the curd - tried to cook it to get it to stretch, and that’s where it failed. I even tried just plopping the curd (after the 8 hours had elapsed, I was pretty much going to toss it anyways, but thought if I’m going to toss it, may as well try to cook it down anyways), and it never congealed to a mass. Just sat there looking like cottage cheese.

I’m fairly sure that there was something missed, just wondering what it could be. Do you have any links to GOOD walkthroughs? Preferably visual ones?

I looked at your site and went through the mozza pictures. Nicely done, btw. The latest (read: the mozza closest to the top of the page) Mozza category gives a 404 error though.

This error basically looked like it had broken down (as you call it). The mass never congealed. I had thought of keeping it in the fridge and trying the next day, but was frustrated and tossed it instead.