[Cheese] Watery curds

[Jack Schmidling]

Erica Cooksey wrote:

> I used 1/2 tsp of rennet for a gallon of milk, so I don't think it's that. I
> bought the rennet in September, maybe it's too old? I have a could of
> theories, please let me know what you think.

Did you forget to use or mention a starter?

> 4- Should I have hung the curds before pressing? In the recipe I am using
> (Ricki's), she says to put the curds in a cheesecloth-lined colander and
> "let drain". She did not specify a length of time or a desired texture, so I
> assumed that this step is just to get rid of excess whey. Did I interpret
> this wrong?

Your interpretation is correct but we don't know what you did about it. 
    What was the texture of the curds when you started pressing?  In 
general, if you drain them in a collandar, bag or just the kettle tipped 
over, till they stop dripping, you should have something you can pick up 
in your fingers and squeeze without any whey coming out or dripping on 
your fingers.  Think soft rubber as opposed to cottage cheese.

> In her recipe, she only presses the cheese at 4lbs for 12 hours. There is NO
> WAY that I would have a solid cheese in that time!

Well, I would guess you did not have a curd as I described.

The purpose of pressing is consolidate the curds and encourage them to 
knit into a single mass, not to expel whey that should have been 
expelled before pressing.

js

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