Rennet notes
January 2025
Harvested abosunum from a Brahma bull calf 10 days old.
Washed, salted, treated like a casing. Dried by the stove until crisp.
Soaked in 2 quarts fermented whey for 48 hours. Tested at 24 but seemed weak, soaked another 24 and improved slightly.
Test— 1/4 tsp in 1qt warm milk began to curdle in 13-15 minutes. Will try a gallon amount soon.
Filtered rennet liquid into an Amber 1/2 gallon jar. I think it’s about half strength of what I buy.
I’ve made one cheese so far. Using twice the volume of my normal liquid animal rennet. The curd is soft. Not fragile, but not with a brittle clean break that I’m used to. It slides like silk. I got around 6 cups of filtered liquid from one Brahma calf abomasum. Not financially worth making your own calf rennet with the calf market high like it is. Jersey bull calves are worth $250 and beef calves up to $800. I can buy a quart of good quality animal rennet for $90.
But it was a worthy experience. (This particular calf couldn’t walk, that’s why he was harvested).
I hope you enjoy the photos and notes!
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