> Hi!

> After making buttermilk, yoghurt, sour cream, neufchatel, chevre, queso blanco, and mascarpone I decided I'd try a basic hard cheese. 

So far so good...

> I followed David F.'s recipe, but at the monet of truth, I didn't get a clean break.

> I take it my milk's pH wasn't low enough for the rennet to act on the casein - my question is:

> Can I do anything to salvage the batch and continue with the recipe? Like, say, add more mesophilic culture (aka buttermilk)? The curd is a very soft, almost powdery texture.

> Failing that, can I salvage the curd into some other cheese?

You can filter the very fine curd thru a fine (non-terry-cloth) dish towel.  Either use it immediately (like cream cheese or creme fraish (sp?) or salt it strongly and press it.  ONce it has clabbered, there is no possibility of a clean break.

For a clean break, you must have acidified milk, functional rennet, and proper temperature.  See my web page for details.

Buona fortuna!

David F,

P.S. hope this only posts a single time this time...