[Cheese] So whos the new guy ? / Suggestion for experiments

[Peter Næslund Møller]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kit Anderson" <kit at kganderson.net>
To: "The Cheese Makers' Digest" <cheese at hbd.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Cheese] So whos the new guy ? / Suggestion for experiments


> Here's the result from my effort. I divided the batch and tried two ways 
> to emulsify the butter. First was in the blender at room temp, then 
> heated. Second was putting the butter in at 90F, letting it melt, and 
> then in the blender for 5 minutes. I added the cultures, waited, added 
> the rennet, and waited.
> 
> No break at all. Waited another hour. No break. I cooled and then 
> skimmed the milk. I was able to recover 86% of the butter. Then I 
> applied heat in hopes of a ricotta. No deal.
> So, powdered buttermilk will not emulsify butter fat. Although I have a 
> biochem background, I am a noob at dairy science and can't explain the 
> results. No casein in buttermilk, perhaps? Or the pH of the buttermilk 
> was already low enough and the added culture was the culprit?

Hmmm... Thats odd.. Really odd..

First off.. The pH has nothing to do with this - rennet will coagulate fresh milk, it just takes longer the farther you get away from rennet optimum pH ( ~5.4 )..

Second: The pH in recombined buttermilk is the same as in recombined NF milk.. Contrary to the buttermilk you buy at the stores, the dried stuff hasnt been cultured.. Cultured milk would just clog machinery once heated..

Third: Buttermilk contains ~3.5% protein on average, most of this is casein afaik..

Fourth: Kitchen cheesemakers seem to be experiencing very different coagulation times compared to what we get in an industrial environment - I have heard of people who put culture and rennet in the milk, left it overnight and cut it the next morning....

Coagulation usually takes about 40 minutes in the industrial environment I work at.. Its usually visible after 25 minutes..

/peter