Hi folks, I have been making cheese for a while, with varying success, but this is a first for me. The whey is SLIMY! Is this a normal thing? I used fresh, clean milk, a sterile pot, and fresh buttermilk culture. Let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. The curd looks normal and tastes fine, but the whey . . . Is this stuff safe? Thanks for your help!

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), September 03, 2000

Answers

When in "?", toss it out. Ain't worth it. Slimy only feels good to a frog!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), September 03, 2000.

Laura, I can't tell you why you got slime, but I'd pitch it too. Now the problem is figuring out what happened so it doesn't happen again. SCALD everything, well skip the udders, but SCALD everything else. EVERYTHING. It may just have been some sort of fluke with the milk, but most likely you've got something started on your equipment now. There's even a risk that it is something airborne in your kitchen. Clean, clean, clean. Scald it, bleach it, scald it. Cupboard doors, undersides, everything. Yuck. I'd buy a new house first. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), September 04, 2000.

I've had that happen,too, after using commercial buttermilk as a starter. I think the buttermilk has something to do with it, because it doesn't happen if I leave it out. Some of the batches were slimy all around, curds, whey, and all, and it happened even when the utensils were cleaned very well, so I don't tihnk it's the pot, spoons, etc. Maybe another brand of buttermilk will work better, or maybe the storebought buttermilk just isn't good for cheesemaking anymore. I kind of wonder if the culture in it is still alive when we get it. I didn't eat the slimy cheese-too gross, and smelled odd,too.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), September 04, 2000.

Thanks, everybody, for your answers. Gerbil, you're cracking me up! It was a new kind of buttermilk. Guess I'll go back to the tried and true. I threw the yucky stuff out and all equipment has since been sterilized. Thanks again!

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), September 05, 2000.

I bet it is the buttermilk , I had this happen sometimes when I put too much yogurt in (like if my yogurt didn't come out hard , i sometimes experimented makin cheese out of it). Do you make ricotta with the whey??? Ricotta is the best part of cheesemaking!

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), September 05, 2000.