Goat Milk Mozzarella turned to feta.

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  • #1892 Reply
    CrystalNewton
    Participant

    I followed the recipe for Mozzarella, and was thrilled with the curd… however, it

      never

    got to the point where I could stretch it. Now I have a ton of “feta” and no Mozzarella. I let the curds drain and left them out for about 4 days total… I tried stretching every day. Feta, Feta, Feta, (or something that tastes and acts like Feta.) I’m Fed-ta-ed up with it! (te, he!) I need some Mozzarella!

    What did I do wrong?

    Notes: Goat milk was 1-3 days old, home pasteurized milk.
    I used:
    2.5 gal. milk
    slightly under 1/2 Teaspoon of Thermophilic Culture
    1/4 tsp. older rennet (maybe that was the issue?)
    and I followed the recipe.

    #1900 Reply
    Curd Nerd
    Keymaster

    If you got a curd, your Rennet probably wasn’t the issue.

    The stretch comes when you have the right balance of heat and acidity. Too much heat and your curd will just melt away. Too little and your curd will break. Likewise, if your acidity is out you’ll probably struggle too.

    My thought is that 4 days, with 1-3 day old milk, is probably too long.

    Perhaps try to leave it for just 36-48 hours and see if this helps.

    Let us know! : )

    #2086 Reply
    farmerpaul
    Participant

    Hi Curd-Nerd,

    I have been having exactly the same issue as @crystalnewton. The process went perfectly smoothly and I paid very close attention to getting the temperatures perfect (following your recipe) at every step. This is my third time trying (and failing) to get a stretchy curd from my fresh raw goat’s milk.

    I’m pretty sure my culture is fine and my rennet is new. The curd has a lovely flavour now that it has been sitting in the colander for 48 hours. A little sharp even, which suggests good culturing and acidity, right?

    One thing I read somewhere was to try using slightly less rennet if the curds don’t stretch. So I guess I’ll try that next.

    It couldn’t be the fact that I’m making mozzarella from goat’s milk as opposed to cow’s milk, could it? I’ve seen recipes online for goat’s milk mozzarella and there’s nothing mentioned in them about doing something differently because it’s going to be hard to get the curds to stretch!

    Does the milk have to be full fat? I have been stealing a little cream from the top of each jar of milk for my morning coffee, but certainly I don’t take all the butterfat…

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