On 3/28/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Jack Schmidling</b> <<a href="mailto:arf@mc.net">arf@mc.net</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>Did you forget to use or mention a starter?</blockquote><div><br>
I did use some mesophilic starter, I just didn't mention it :) </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">> 4- Should I have hung the curds before pressing? In the recipe I am using
<br>> (Ricki's), she says to put the curds in a cheesecloth-lined colander and<br>> "let drain". She did not specify a length of time or a desired texture, so I<br>> assumed that this step is just to get rid of excess whey. Did I interpret
<br>> this wrong?<br><br>Your interpretation is correct but we don't know what you did about it.<br> What was the texture of the curds when you started pressing? In<br>general, if you drain them in a collandar, bag or just the kettle tipped
<br>over, till they stop dripping, you should have something you can pick up<br>in your fingers and squeeze without any whey coming out or dripping on<br>your fingers. Think soft rubber as opposed to cottage cheese.</blockquote>
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It was closer to soft rubber, it looked like very firm boiled egg
whites. I think that the addition of cooked hot peppers after draining
may have introduced excess moisture :-\<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">> In her recipe, she only presses the cheese at 4lbs for 12 hours. There is NO<br>
> WAY that I would have a solid cheese in that time!<br><br>Well, I would guess you did not have a curd as I described.<br><br>The purpose of pressing is consolidate the curds and encourage them to<br>knit into a single mass, not to expel whey that should have been
<br>expelled before pressing.</blockquote><div><br>
Well, I guess I'll air dry it when I get home and see how it works out! <br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
<br>
--Erica<br>
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