Starter Culture, Liquid - Amount?

[Bowl]

Hi, Im planning to make some edam.

The recipe calls for 4 oz of starter for 1 gallon of milk.

I am planning on making it with 4 gallons, so will I need 16oz of starter culture?

It just seems like a massive amount...

Please help!

[linuxboy]

1.5% starter. About 8 ounces for 4 gal milk.

[mtncheesemaker]

I think not the dried kind but the kind you culture yourself.

[DeejayDebi]

Oh yes this is definately not the commercial cultures you could not aford to make cheese if it were!

[iratherfly]

So what is it? Buttermilk? I can't think of any starter where you need so much per gallon. Dry Mesophilic culture is only 1/8 teaspoon per gallon....

[DeejayDebi]

You can make a homemade Mesophilic starter culture from cultured buttermilk or a Thermophilic Starter Culture from Yogurt. Many of us use(d) them quite extensively for years. I did for the first 28 years I made cheese. I never used a commercially manufactured culture until three years ago. I used buttermilk, yogurt and Junket for the first 27 years of my cheesemaking. I believe Alex and Karen still use them quite I bit. I am just having fun experimenting with the new cultures right now.

[iratherfly]

Yes, that's what I asked - is this a buttermilk starter recipe? I then added my comment about the dry starter. I always use the commercial starters because they give me a lot of freedom and predictability (and the cost per dose is lower) and the ability to really control many of the characteristics of the end product. How much buttermilk do you use per gallon?

[DeejayDebi]

Yes this would no doubt be a buttermilk based starter culture the recipe calls for but just like with commercial cultures you can combine a meso and a thermo culture to achieve different results. Commercial cultures are so easy to predict and to use I have gotten rather spoiled and lazy using them as of late but when or if I want to I can also go back to making my own.

[Bowl]

So should I use 16 oz?

Or should I add less and see if I get a clean break in the curds?

[Mondequay]

I read in another post to use 4 ounces per gallon of milk but LB says to use 1.5%. That will save a lot of buttermilk!

[linuxboy]

Yes, for bulk starters use 1.5-2% for most cheeses. This has to be active, living starter at the peak of its life (about 12-24 hours old). The only reason to use more is if the starter is old and has low counts of viable bacteria.

[iratherfly]

I doubt store-bought cultured buttermilk is *THAT* fresh

[linuxboy]

Then you have to adjust for the expected percentage of degradation and use the right amount. It's why I never use commercial buttermilk starter, because I have no clue where it's been. I was answering the question thinking it was bulk starter. My bad. If it's buttermilk starter, I would take the buttermilk and reculture it so you're working with the freshest starter possible. And then use 1.5%

[DeejayDebi]

I believe the process for making a buttermilk or yougurt starter in in the begining of the forum under the recipes section. Once it is made you can freese the starter in ice trays should be about 3 tablespoons per 1 gallon of milk so adjust the amount of cubes according to what size you have.