Hi every one
I'm new to making cheese. I recently move to Germany and found I can get raw milk easily (as oppose to Canada where is more or less illegal). I always wanted to give it a try and this really made me take the plunge.
I want to make fresh mozzarella and feta to start )my wife favorites). I when a head and bought what I think I need, rennet and cultures, both a thermophilic one, Chr. Hansen Culture ST-M5 Thermophilic Lactic Culture 50U, and a mesophilic one, a multi species DL culture (this one:
http://www.cheesemakingshop.co.uk/Cheese-Making-Cultures.html). I have read many recipes for mozzarela and I think I have a good idea of what to do. I get that one of the most important parts is to get the curd to the proper pH (5.1-5.3) to get the right consistency for stretching.
Here is where I have my first question (i'm sure there would be more). the package I bought of Thermophilic culture is very big, enough for 500 L of milk. I want to start small, like 2 L of milk, so i don't waste to much in case I fail miserably. Recipes I have seen call for 1/4 or 1/2 a tablespoon of culture for 6 to 12 galons of milk. This one (
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/make-traditional-mozzarella-cheese-recipe/) calls for 1/8 of a tablespoon of "bulk thermophilic culture" for 2 gallons. measuring less than 1/8 of a spoon is going to be hard (would need 1/32 of a spoon for 2 liters). so my questions are:
1) how much of the culture i bought would i need for 2 liters of raw milk. 1/32 of a spoon of the culture I bought or 1/250 of what comes on the package?
2)if i need something like 1/32 of a spoon and no precise balance at hand. should I dilute 1/8 or 1/4 of a tablespoon in, lets say, 100 ml of milk and then just add 1/4 or 1/8 of that to my milk? any other way to do this?
thank you for your help and any other advise before I make my first mozzarella are very welcome.