Homemade Starters or Store Brought

[ancksunamun]

Another newbie question.

I see you can make your own starter here which I kind of knew but didn't realise how easy it was.

I also realise that store brought starters will be much more complex and refined but how different are they?

More curious than anything. I am happy buying my starters, knowing I am getting a product that works.

[DeejayDebi]

The difficulty is not in making the culture itself but in replicating the various types of cheeses. Commercial cultures are availble to easily replicate just about anything. Your homebrewed cultures may get you really close to the cheese you are targeting but not perfect due to the inherent chacteristics of the milk, microflora etc in the area the cheese is originally produced in.  That being said I think you can develop your technique and recipes to make a variety of really great cheeses using homemade cultures it is just a bit more difficult as you are limited by the base ingredient as manufactured and by the bacteria in your locality. For some cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan and romano for example you will have to age far longer to get the complex flavors that would develop in a mater of a just few months with comercial cultures. I hope that helps.

[susanky]

I can't speak for her but it sure helps me!  So far I have just used buttermilk, citric acid and Junket tablets.  All obtained locally.  But I'm ready to branch out and going to get some real cultures, and lipase to enhance my mozarella.  I considered making my own.  But if I can reduce the risk of just one problem it is worth it.  It seems that many prefer thecheesemaker.com.  Is that true or am I reading a skewed collection of posts?
Susan

[DeejayDebi]

I would suspect that depends on where you are from. I like Dairy Connections or Glengarry best. I made a trip to to Wisconsin last October and took a side trip to meet the folks at Dairy Connections last year. Wonderful experience! They told me to buy a few molds they had from Glengarry because that's where they get them and it would be cheaper for me. I bought them from DC anyway just for saying that.

Margaret Morris is another wondeful woman to deal with. I have spoken with her a few times and if she is available she will take the time to chat about cheese or her products.
She also makes runs to New York to mail US orders to save us on shipping and get them to you faster. Great lady!

[MrsKK]

I really like Steve Shapson with thecheesemaker.com - I've received shipments from him as early as 2 business days after placing my order.

As for homemade cultures, I discovered one day that I didn't have any mesophilic starter but really wanted to make a colby, so I used some Greek yogurt I had - and discovered that I liked the resultant flavor so much that I only use Greek yogurt as my colby culture now.

It really is in how adventurous you want to be.

[Brentsbox]

So far, im really enjoying making Romanos, Provolones, and Mozzarellas from homemade starters.  I got a beginers kit from New England cheese supply and that got me started but im much happier with the homemade starters and think for what im doing right now they have a much better flavor.    The only thing i want right now is some lipase.   

As for the homemade starters,  I also think its a great place to start to get familiar with what your doing.  There is little cost involved and that accommodates any mistakes you make along the whey  (pun intended)   

Ive now have my press, my cave is set up, and i have my homemade starters and im learning something new everyday. 

[ancksunamun]

Karen

So how do you use the Greek Yoghurt? And how much?

I'm keen to try it even just to see what it turns out like and experiment a little.

[MrsKK]

I use a cup of yogurt to five gallons of milk.  I whisk the yogurt first, then add some warm milk to it, whisk it in, and continue with that until the yogurt is thin enough to pour into the vat of warmed milk.  I then stir the yogurt into the vat and continue as with any other culture.

[Sailor Con Queso]

You could actually stand to use just a little more yogurt. If you follow the 1.5-2% guideline for Mother cultures.

5 gallons = 640 ounces

   ...so...

1.5% of 640 = 9.6 ounces

2% of 640 = 12.8 ounces

A cup is 8 ounces so 1-1/4 cup = 10 ounces

[MrsKK]

This is Greek yogurt, though, Sailor, so more condensed than regular culture as it has been hung to drain much of the whey out of it.

[linuxboy]

Moisture content does not significantly change the amount of viable bacteria if the liquid is removed after coagulation. Yes, bacteria do stick better to a solid substrate, but it's not that significant in this case because they go out in the whey, too. The only way it may be significant for that style is if the milk was adjusted with powder to have a higher protein content and make a thick yogurt without having to drain.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Strictly speaking, a Mother culture IS a concentrated source of bacteria. You put the breaks on by refrigerating at optimum concentration, just before it becomes too acidic and the bacteria start dying off. Just like yogurt.

I always adhere to the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. However... since you are under the 1.5% level you might want to try just a little more starter and see what happens. Jumping from 8 ounces to 10 ounces doesn't seem like much, but that would be a 25% increase in starter bacteria. There are several things that will do. These may be even more important and give more consistent results if you aren't using a pH meter.

1- Increase acidification rate substantially from the very beginning.
2- Given the same amount of ripening time, that will give a lower pH at rennet.
3- That will improve the efficiency of the rennet.
4- Should give a little better curd set.
5- Will give a better pH curve throughout the entire cheese make.
6- The entire make will happen a little faster.
7- This will NOT make your cheese drier or more acidic. Just watch your times and tactile clues a little more carefully.
8- The higher levels of bacteria will contribute to aging and proteolysis.
9- I don't do many soft or lactic cheeses, but I'll bet the higher 1.5% concentration will give better results on a lactic set.

You're doing great, so feel free to ignore.

[MrsKK]

I appreciate the feedback!  And I will try bumping up the levels a bit once I've got milk again.