i bought a bigger pot for making more cheese at once, a 3 gallon canning pot. its ssteel, but very thin, and this morning's cheese turned out a tiny bit burnt tasting. i do not have another pot that is big enough for this one to set in, but i do have a nice skillet thing with a heavy bottom that it will fit, but only is about 3 inches high. would this help? i could put water in skillet, pot in skillet, milk in pot. but wasn't sure if the short sided skillet was enough to keep my milk from burning. takes a long time to get 3 gallons of milk to right temp., and with this thin pot, the bottom is going to an issue with burning. help!
Do you have a larger pot that so that you can set it up as a double boiler? What kind of cheese are you making? If you don't need very warm temps you can use you kitchen sink half filled with hot/warm water to warm your milk. Christy
all the other pots i have either let this one sit on the bottom or it wont' fit at all. i am making mozz. and then ricotta. i've been doing smaller 1.5 gallon batches and wanted to make a larger batch in one time.
Look around at yard sales or farm sales for a hot water bath canner or ceramic pots you can sit your ss pot in. That's what we use if needed. Most of the time though I just use the sink and hot water poured or ran around the ss pot.
not to be a real dunce here, but does the pot with milk have to be suspended in the hot water pot, or can it just sit on the bottom? i have a large skillet with a heavy bottom, maybe that'd keep it from scorching? thanks for the help!
Why don't you just warm the milk using hot/warm water in your kitchen sink? I use this method successfully. I don't like direct heat for cheesemaking Keep it simple. Sara
Most Mozzarella recipes do not require temps over 110F so I don't think scorching would be a problem. I agree with Sara, the kitchen sink is sooo much easier. Christy
On cheeses where I use this method I put some canning rings in the bottom of the pot with water in it and sit the milk pot on them.
