Chevre: Batch 2

So. Batch 2 was as much of a flop as Batch 1 was a success. Even more so, actually. The milk never coagulated, even though I let it set for 24 hours (!!)--that's four hours longer than the maximum recommended time. When I say it didn't coagulate, I mean not at all. Not even a little bit. As I was pouring the milk through a collander and down the drain (in the hopes of catching at least something), I didn't see a single sign of curd or anything that looked like it might at some point become a curd. It just looked and smelled like milk that had been sitting on the counter for an entire day.

How did I screw this up? Well, let us count the ways:

• Still. Didn't. Calibrate. Thermometer. Why? It requires *another* thermometer (which I don't have) and some sort of tool, which I'm sure I have but can't be bothered to dig out of the tool box. Thus, I think I got the milk a little (or maybe a lot) too hot.
• I stirred in the culture directly from the freezer. I don't think this was a mistake, per se, but it is something that I did differently than in Batch 1, when I removed the culture from the freezer and left it on the counter while the milk heated up. Also, I think maybe the packet didn't contain enough culture, because between the time I shook the packet into the milk and turned to get my spoon to stir it, the powder had already evaporated.
  
• When I moved the pot of milk from the stove, I placed it on the countertop directly above the dishwasher. And then proceeded to wash a load of dishes. I think the steam from the dishwasher came in direct contact with the pot for its entire cycle, which was bad enough, but it also made the air in the kitchen a lot more humid. Fail. Fail. Fail. And...all the more reason to let the dishes pile in the sink? ("It's for the good of the cheese!")
• I also think I was using the wrong lid. My two stockpots look a lot a like and are roughly the same size, but one's mouth, and corresponding lid, is about a quarter of an inch bigger in diameter than the other...I think I used the smaller pot and the bigger lid, thus giving the humidity even more of a chance to screw up the cheese.
  

So...lessons learned/things to do in the future:

• Calibrate the damn thermometer or get a new one that is simple to calibrate so that I can have two calibrated thermometers.
• Find a better place for curd-setting, preferably one that is nowhere near the damn dishwasher or any other humid-making device.
• Don't do the damn dishes, ever.
  
• Devise system for lid-pot matching, or pay closer attention to how the damn lid is fitting.
  
• Don't get cocky. After the coworkers raved about Batch 1, I was all, "Oh! I'll bring more tomorrow! I've already got another batch going, and I think it's going to be even better!" Wow. I wonder if the good people at Murphy's Law need a poster child.
  

Damn. Damn. Double damn.