Bacteria Culture and Whey question

[Aris]

A month ago, when i was making a simple hard cheese with yogurt as starter culture. I overcooked the curds, i dont know the temp but the whey was scalding hot probably near boiling point. I probably killed the starter culture but what i find strange is that the whey acidified after 2 days even in the fridge. Is it a good indication that the bacteria survived because the whey acidified after 2 days in the fridge?

[linuxboy]

That, or got infected from the air. If the whey was sweet to begin with, then some bacteria converted the lactose to lactic acid.

Try taking a small whey sample and culturing a cup of milk to see if it turns to yogurt or buttermilk. That should help

[Aris]

That, or got infected from the air. If the whey was sweet to begin with, then some bacteria converted the lactose to lactic acid.

Try taking a small whey sample and culturing a cup of milk to see if it turns to yogurt or buttermilk. That should help

I guess the yogurt bacteria survived the high heat. Yes, the whey was sweet and it became sour after 2 days. Thank you for the tip.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Goes to show that pasteurization, at 160F or so, doesn't kill everything.

[cheesehead]

Goes to show that pasteurization, at 160F or so, doesn't kill everything.

pasteurization isn't supposed to kill everything. sterilization is supposed to.


If there were two raw milk samples and one had 1,000,000 bacteria calls and the other 1,000 - after pasteurization the first one may still have 1,000 and the second one only 1.  Thats why a good raw milk source is essential to a good cheesemake.