I tried yesterday to make a new batch of Port Salut. Somehow, this cheese seems to be my nemisis. I got everything together according to the recipe. Forty five minutes after adding the rennet, the milk had not gelled. Waited another half an hour and still nothing. So I ended up tossing three gallons of milk. I am absolutely positive that I used the proper cultures and the rennet. So much so, that this morning, after getting another three gallons of milk, I went through all my cultures and packets, labeled Ziplock bags with a Sharpie, organized them, and then took out the mesophillic culture, the b. linens, and the rennet, set them aside, and returned the remaining cultures to the freezer. Even though I am absolutely certain, I triple checked myself this morning, just to satisfy my anal retentive nature.
I suspect that IF I did, indeed, use the right materials, I may have had residual sterilizing agents on the pot, spoons, etc. I would not think that the tiniest amount of bleach would do this, but to be sure, I resterilized everything again and rinsed the hell out of them, more than usual.
The only other thing it could be is the rennet. I tried adding a bit of it to a little milk and it quickly gelled, so that wasn't it. I am stumped.
This is no longer a desire to make a different cheese. It has become a quest. It will not beat me!
No comments:
Post a Comment