Basic protocol
- Heat to 88°F (31°C).
- Add citric acid (1.5 tsp to 1 gallon)
- Add rennet (1 tablet resuspended in 1/4 cup of water).
- Set on the counter
Experiment 1
- Milk: Food Club, whole milk
- 1:17~2:31 did not set.
Experiment 2
- Milk: Winder Farm, whole milk
- 1:40 did not set
Experiment 3
- Milk: Food Club, whole milk + 1/4 tsp MgCl2
- 1:30 did not set
Experiment 4
- Milk: Simple truth organic, whole milk. Citric acid powder.
- 1 and 1/2 tsp of citric acid powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of water.
- Coagulation started with addition of citric acid.
- Coagulation with rennet addition. The rennet had to be dissolved in 1/2 cup of water. The curds were small and yellow clear whey was visible.
- 1/4 cup of salt, heated to 110°F before collecting curds. Heated to 175°F to melt and stretch, this did not go well.
Experiment 5 FAIL FAIL
- Milk: Food Club, whole milk
- Addition of citric acid created a small amount of coagulation.
- Addition of rennet created micro-coagulation and did not set clean.
- Day later yellow clear whey was observed but the curds were not collectable.
- Rescue attempt by heating and adding yogurt failed to produce curds.
Notes about heating milk
- Heating from 30°C to 87°C, stove set a medium heat. 50 minutes later heat stopped going above 84°C. Heat was adjusted Mid+1, Mid+2, and finally to Mid+3 which brought the milk to 87°C.
- Turned off the stove and left the pot on the burner. ~43 minutes to come down to 55°C. The maximum temperature reached was 89°C.
- The lemon powder (citric acid) addition produced a faint unpleasant odor. This powder does not completely dissolve in 1/4 C of water.
- Yogurt made from experiment 2 and experiment 3 had stringiness and the whey did not separate.
Kona runs free 