Here are the results of an experiment at producing home made rennet.
Rennin is an enzyme which, in an acid environment, digests the water soluble milk protein casein into insoluble products. When these precipitate out of solution, the milk coagulates. The test is the famous “clean break” of cheese making.
Here, the abomasum of a suckling kid was cleaned, salted and dried. A small piece (0.75 gm) of it was suspended in warm water (30 C), and added to 1 gallon of inoculated milk. While a clean break was not achieved in three hours, by the evening (about 7 hours) the milk had formed a very firm coagulant.
This is my first attempt at using home made rennet. I am sure that the process and conditions can be improved. Let me know if you have suggestions.
See the bottom of the page for suggestions from Mr. Wolfgang Pachschwöll, of “Hundsbichler company Austria – producer of natural rennet.”
Here is a view of the abdominal contents of a suckling kid. The lungs and heart are in the lower left, the stomach is in the upper center (liver below) and the intenstines are to the right
Here the stomach has been dissected out of the abominal contents. The duodenum is the to left, the pyloric region and abomasum next (lower left), the reticulum the round structure to the upper center, and the rumen, the large darker chamber to the right.
Labeled view of Stomach
The stomach chambers have geen opened up to show their interior traits: abomasum: lower left. omasum: small, center (above and R of abomasum) reticulum: upper left rumen: right
Labeled view of four chambers of the ruminant stomach.
Here is the interior lining of the rumen, the major fermenting stomach of a ruminant animal. Note that there are thousands of villi which project in, dramatically increasing the surface area of the rumen.
Here is the reticulum (sold as a delicacy in Italy and other Latin countries) as tripe. It is used to make a delicious soup, for those who have the gumption to taste it…
This is a close up of the omasum (lower center). the reticulum is above, the abomasum is to the left, and a small portion of the rumen is to the right.
Trim off all of the stomach chambers to leave only the abomasum. Note the folds (plica) in its inner wall. (Note: Wolfgang Pachschwöll of Austria, (see below) says leave intact, do not wash (it removes enzymes), and blow up like a balloon to dry.)
Spread the abomasum out on a screen (stainless steel, in this case), and sprinkle salt to cover.
Rub the salt into the surface of the abomasum. Let it dry in a cool dry location.
The dried, salted abomasum is laid out, and 30 mL of 30 C water measured out. [Better to suspend in cold acidified whey. See below.]
Cut off a square of abomasum about 2 cm square. (About 1 gram)
Cut the piece of abomasum into small pieces, stir into the warm water. [Probably not necessary to cut up.]
Let the pieces of abomasum soak in cold acidified whey over night in the fridge. (For instance, use the whey left from making ricotta.)
Remove the pieces of soaked abomasum by pouring through a sieve.
Stir the extract of abomasum into inoculated, warmed milk (as in a basic cheese recipe.)
For the conditions described here, a clean break was acheived in only one hour!
Here are some points of expert advice on making rennet from Wolfgang Pachschwöll of “Hundsbichler company Austria – producer of natural rennet”, sent in response to my initial posting of this page. (Thank you very much Wolfgang!)
1) Do not thoroughly clean out the inside of the abomasum. The “slime” inside contains rennin. Therefore, also no washing nor squeezing.
2) Lightly salt the abomasum, store undried with 30% salt in a closed container to activate the enzyme over three months. (Pepsin, another stomach enzyme, is also secreted in the inactive form (pemsinogen), and activated by acid or enzymatic action.)
3) The traditional way to then dry the abomasum is to inflate it like a balloon and dry by hanging in a cool dark place.
4) Dissolving and activation of rennin occurs best in acid conditions at a cool temperature.
David Fankhauser 