Meso II cultures clumping

[Fritz]

Hi all!
So I'm banging off a Derby and a Queso Fresco today, and one more time, I'm dealing with clumpy/sticky Meso II /C61 culture in the foil envelope. I keep my cultures in the freezer and put a new strip of scotch tape across the folded over the opening of the envelope between (each) uses, effectively resealing air tight again. Even a freshly opened recently purchased envelope (by Biena) seems a bit tacky and sticky. Of course, it doesn't dissolve well in the surface of the milk and stays unmixed after stirring. I get that it does not take long for cultures to pick up humididty, especially here with our Canadian Summer's here in Ontario. But, really?

Does anyone have any tips or tricks they can share about this issue? is it just the Biena product?

[awakephd]

Interesting, and I can understand the frustration.

I don't know if this helps any, but here in VERY humid North Carolina, I have had good results as following: Like you, I store the cultures in the freezer, but I don't tape them closed. Instead, I roll up the package to eliminate as much air as possible, then bag the package in a small "ziploc" plastic bag, again rolled up to remove all air. When I use the cultures, I take them out of the freezer only just before using, and put them back (rolled and bagged) immediately afterwards. One tip: it is important to roll up the package so that one can see the label of what is in them. You can guess how I figured out that tip ...

Using this approach, I've only had one bag of cultures start to get a bit sticky/clumpy as I was getting close to using it up -- as I recall, it was a bag of Flora Danica. But I have never used any Biena cultures; most of what I get is Danisco, with an occasional packet from Hansen (all bought on-line from ArtisanGeek), so it may be that the difference has more to do with the brand than the storage technique.

[Boofer]

Good guidance from Andy.

When the cold material is removed from the freezer, it forms condensation as it warms. A recommendation from here on the forum was to allow the condensation to mitigate before returning the cultures to the freezer.

I also vacuum-seal the multiple foil bags before putting them back into cold storage which has effectively reduced the moisture/clumping tendency.

-Boofer-

[Fritz]

Thanks for your suggestions guys, I subscribe to the ziplock within ziplock technique already... I'm sure there is no air in those darn foil envelopes before taping 'em up... I feel rolling them up would actually compress said sticky culture into cement.

Boofer may be onto something here though ... Leaving the envelope open before putting it back into the freezer... Let's think about this scientifically  ...
Does the condensation happen when the cold culture is first exposed to the air upon first opening ? Or does it happen when the now warmed envelope is sealed again and returned back to the freezer?
... Darn grade 10 physics ! Lol

Wondering if Meso II cultures other that Biena have this issue ...

[valley ranch]

Good to hear the precautions you've used. I had a culture go bad, was stored at room temperature, and ruined a batch of cheese.