What is the difference (practically) between different types of rennet?
I recently started cheesemaking and I purchased some vegetarian rennet from an online retailer. I believe it's microbial (it's a clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water).
When a recipe calls for X amount of calves' rennet (liquid or tabs), I've looked online to try to figure out how this translates into the kind of rennet I have. Online recipes for different cheeses differ - for 2L of milk, a "standard dose" can vary from 1.5mL to 5mL.
Is it possible to add too much (diluted) rennet? Is it better to add too much than too little?
Best Answer
From what I've found it's pretty much a one to one ratio, if you are subbing vegetarian rennet for anmial rennet. They act simmilarry in equal doses, so you should be fine just following the instructions for calf's rennet.
I do perfer using calf's rennet over vegetarian, but that may be just be me being anti-vegetarian.
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What type of rennet is best?
Calf rennet is considered to be the best choice for longer aged cheese, because some of its residual components help to complete the breakdown of proteins. Some of the complex proteins in vegetable rennet can impart a slightly bitter taste after 6 months of aging.How many types of rennet are there?
There are four main types of rennet that cheesemakers can choose from- animal rennet, microbial rennet, plant rennet, and fermentation-based rennet. The two most popular types of rennet are microbial and animal rennet. Without rennet, there would be no coagulation; meaning milk would never curd into cheese.What is the difference between animal rennet and vegetable rennet?
Their animal rennet is 90% chymosin (calf) while their vegetable rennet comes from the mold Mucur Miehei. And, according to their website Cheesemaking.com, which rennet you use is a matter of personal preference. Rennets are standardized so all choices work the same to coagulate milk.Which is better liquid or tablet rennet?
Rennet is standardised, so all the different kinds of rennet (liquid or tablet) work in the same way to set milk. Liquid rennet is the easiest to work with because you can measure it very precisely. However, tablets will keep better under more adverse conditions and are shelf stable as well as more readily available.Different types of Rennet
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