Excess DS Sour Cream Starter

[Mondequay]

I have an excess of sour cream starter from cheesemaking.com because I can't find a source for cream that is not UP.

CULTURE INCLUDES: s.lactis, s.cremoris, l.b.diaetylactis, m.s.cremoris and malto dextrin

Is there anything I can do with this besides make sour cream?

[Sailor Con Queso]

Use it as a meso starter. What you just described is an MM100 meso culture plus M.s.cremoris plus malto dextrin. The sour is caused by acidity and should disappear if you age it.

[linuxboy]

Yep, what Sailor said. It's similar to Aroma B or FD, has aromatic heterofermentive and normal lactococcus. You can make all sorts of cheeses with it like gouda, bloomy rinds, blues, etc. Not so good for cheddar because it has CO2 formation.

[Mondequay]

Thank you both for saying just what I wanted to hear! I'm not ready for blues yet, but a gouda sounds great! I'm thinking this would be good for my colby too? Don't know why we like colby so much!

[linuxboy]

Eh, a bit tough for colby because it's just another cheddar form. But you can try, just won't be the classic taste, should still be good.

[Mondequay]

Colby in the cheddar family? So much I do not know! Thanks for telling me; I don't want to mess with the colby!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Colby is a washed curd cheese. In other words you remove about 1/3 of the whey after cooking at 104F  and replace with equal temperature water. (I use carbon filtered water). This removes a lot of the lactose so the bacteria will not produce as much lactic acid. So the cheese ends up milder and it doesn't have to age very long.

[linuxboy]

Yep, also some colby styles will use a cold water wash to reintroduce lost moisture in the cheese (as opposed to warm or room temp water, which either stabilize moisture or remove some from the curd). With the higher final moisture content, the cheese will age faster and also be a little milder.

[Mondequay]

Thank you both for sharing your knowledge!

Sailor, about 20 or so years ago I read Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. Your Monty Python reference reminded me that I loved that book. And I love Monty Python too!

[Gina]

...because I can't find a source for cream that is not UP.

Our local Costco sells heavy whipping cream (Producer's Dairy brand, out of Fresno CA) in 2 quart containers for just under $5. It's 'pasteurized', not UP.

[Mondequay]

Thanks, Gina. My "local" Costco is about 50 miles away but I wonder if BJs has it. I drive around with a cooler in my car now just in case I find it!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Keep in mind that they do NOT have to say ultra-pasteurized on the label.

[Mondequay]

Ok, I am ready to try a gouda tomorrow. I'm going to use those little white packets of DS sour cream starter from cheesemaking.com How many packets do I use to ripen 2 gallons of milk?

[Mondequay]

So, I did it! I used 1 packet of sour cream starter for 2 gallons of milk. We had a tiny taste before vacuum sealing at 1 week. It had a few machanical openings and a lovely spread of very tiny holes. And it tasted pretty good! It is well on its way to being a gouda! I was so happy with the recipe that I made another yesterday. Today I am brining and I am noticing a slight bulging (caused by the CO2 formation?) I missed this the first time because my daughter brined for me while I was away. Thanks to Sailor and LB; I am very happy with this result.

[woodsman]

I always assumed that the "pasteurized" in sour cream meant that the cream was pasteurized before it was turned into sour cream - not afterwards. Am I wrong in that assumption?