I've been making cheese all summer with most of my milk and putting it in the freezer. The cheese had been turning out great but my last three batchs have been wierd. I make the kind that doesn't use much rennet but sits for 24 hours and it's like a cream cheese. The problem is that it looks like yogurt rather than curds and whey and is slimey, when you try to pour it it's like a big slimey glob that slimes out in one big glob. It's really pretty gross. Last year at this time I was making cheese only I was doing the cut the curds , drain and press and it developed tunnel through the pressed cheese and someone said that it was caused by bacteria that was really bad because of the summer heat. I clean the teats and udder very good with bleach water with a little dawn dishwashing liquid in the mix and use a clean paper towel for both sides and one for drying. I boil the SS pan that I make it in. I'm trying to include as much info as I can here. I use buttermilk for culture and this may have started when I bought a new carton. Please help me out here cheesemakers. Thanks Sherry
Hi there was your milk fresh? old milk will cause gas in cheese ,,, therefore gas bubbles or tunnels. its caused from bacteria growth in the milk. we make cheese here as well ... I have a friend who is helping us along and she was cheesmaker at a local cheese plant for a few years,,, she has warned us from the start that our milk must always be fresh. Carl
In a hurry so I'll just mention that first thing that popped into my head wa sthe heat, the hot weather. I experienced this very same problem both in VA and here during the summer when I make cheese. But you gave a lot of details so i will look it over after chores. Bernie
The first two batches of cheese were a mixture of mornings milk and an extra half gallon or so from milk that was at the most two days old. The cheese I made this morning is not quiet as slimey but still has a little something different. Sherry
Have you wormed lately or used any antibitoic? I don't think you should be looking at your milk if it is not the above, but whereever you are making your cheese. I was ruining cheese after cheese a couple of years ago until a dear friend of mine came over and stated that it was sure yeasty in the room. I have a very good nose, having asthma but had not picked up on this. I had a 20 gallon rubbermaid container which I kept my Diamond V Yeast in under my sideboard in the dining room I also found that anything that asked for a long drain, simply had to be done in the fridge, which took longer, but the product was fresher. Reading your post again...this is happening right at your first curd? When I pasturise my night milk, I usually just set the pot to the back of the stove to pour into bottles for my 2 June kids, and pour the rest into a lambar for my March kids in the morning. Right now, I can't do this with a batch of sourdough starter in my fridge. I have yogurt by morning, the babies still drink it but it makes a mess in the bottles and lambar. So after I pasturise it is right into the fridge. So.....what is going on in your kitchen? Utensiles? Milk saving container in the fridge? Making bread? Vicki
I remember you mentioning that about the yeast Vicki. Making cheese is like performing a individual chemisty experiement because no 2 batches ever come out the same, at least in my experiences. There are so many many vairables that can effect the outcome. Thats why I started taking notes on each batch I made. I forgot to ask, how old is your rennet and what kind are you using? From reading how it slimed and how you don't use much rennet, brought back a thought about a few batches I made that were also a cream cheese like cheese. I got a gloopy mess similiar to yours. I e-mailed a dear friend who is a cheesemaker and the first thing he mentioned was the rennet. I checked the rennet, it wasn't quite a yr old, but almost. I bought a new bottle and tried again, didn't have that slimy gloopy. Was your butter milk the cultured kind? I too use buttermilk in mine. Another thought about the heat, mold spores may be a problem. Do you heat the milk up first before adding the buttermilk and rennet? I am going to try to post a sticky on cheese woes, its not going to copy and paste right, but I sure will try to make it. Maybe there may be something there that may help. Bernie
I can't copy and paste to a sticky because when i saved it somehow its in a different format, like a picture but not. Sooooo if interested I can send it by e-mail as an attachemnt, just PM me with your e-mail ady. Bernie PS I am avoiding the ineviatble, to go out into the heat to clean the yard, have a tour next week. So I am going to post more recipies. Besides, its 97 degrees out now at 4PM, and its going to reach 100 I bet before the day is done.
The liquid Rennet I'm using is Chymostar Classic and it is a couple years old and has been refrigarated since I have had but a couple of weeks ago , I left it out of the refrig for several hours. I don't know if I"ve made good cheese since that happend or not. I'll order new rennet tomorrow. I'll order some culture when I do, I had planned on ordering culture this spring but when my rennet was good , I never made an order. I put up sauerkraut a couple of weeks ago that had been fermenting for several weeks in a different room, but I canned in the kitchen. I haven't wormed anyone recently or used any antibiotics. I have one milker that has been feeling rather sluggish lately and I can't seem to pinpoint what is wrong with her, she's like depressed. I think I'll leave her milk out tomorrow just because that just popped in my head. I think lots of goat keeping involves intuition. Thanks so much for your help. Sherry
Hi Sherry, I think the rennet may be yoiur problem, its too old. I was told by a cheesemaker that rennet needs to be use dup within a yr or get another bottle. The fermentation of the saurkrat (sp) may also be sending spores, etc into the air that may effect it, but I did crock pickles when I amde cheese at the same time and didn't have any problem, but then cucumbers and cabbage are different too. Sluggish doe? Could it be the heat? Its been unbearable here in northern AR. Going to be over 95 today. Notice anything else going on with her? You're so right though, intuition is important in farming or doing anything. Take care. Keep us posted on the cheese making. Bernie
I made some delicious Neufchatel cheese last fall, and couldn't use it all up, so I froze 3 pkgs. of it in zipped freezer bags. I defrosted one, and YUCh....HAD to throw it out. It separated and was just awful. Wonder why? It's like cream cheese, and I thought you could freeze that. Next time I make it, I'll have to share it with the neighbors. - Kathy
What kind of cheese are you making? I prefer my chevre to set up like yogurt, then I ladle it out to drain. Makes a lovely, creamy cheese. And for that I do not use rennet at all.
