TA-61 (s. thermophilus) and MD-88 (or -89) in small packs and curd making...

[tananaBrian]

Hi,

  I want to try LinuxBoy's recipe for extended shelf life cheese curds (see recipe at the Washington Cheese Guild web site), but it needs s. thermophilus (TA-61) and either MD-88 or MD-89 for the small batch non-professional types ...but I'm not finding any outlet that sells both cultures in small packs (a few packets where each is intended to be used with 1 or 2 gallons of milk).  I see that Leeners.com has small packs for the s. thermophilus, but doesn't sell MD-88.  The DID however send me email very recently that said they would VERY SOON be carrying small pack amounts of MD-88 and MD-89 in their online store ...which means I could buy from them and pay shipping just once.  Does anyone know of another source that stocks small pack TA-61 and MD-88 in the same store?  New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. sells both but only in large packs ...and since I just wrote to them, I don't have an answer on small pack availability yet...

Brian

[ArnaudForestier]

Dairy Connections sells both S. thermo and MD-89 in small packs.

Edit:  Sorry, just saw that by "small" you're talking 1-2 gallon size, not the commercial "small" DCU.  Still, at $6.46, not bad, and you can keep it in the freezer.

[tananaBrian]

Good call.  I wrote and asked about MD-88 at Dairy Connections since their prices are so much better on a per-batch scale.  Their "small" treats a much larger volume of milk than similar "small" packets sold at other locations.  $20 for the small TA-61 and small MD-89.  At a competitor, it costs $26 for TA-61 plus MD-88 to treat less than a quarter the gallons of milk...

Brian

PS: How does MD-88 compare to MD-89 for flavor, ripening (pH drop) speed, and other characteristics such as eyes in the cheese?

[ArnaudForestier]

Tanana, not certain, but I think MD-88 is just a phage alternative to MD-89.  For all intents and purposes, essentially equivalent.

[tananaBrian]

"phage alternative"?  Hmmm... what's that?

Brian

[ArnaudForestier]

Tanana, culture bacterias are subject to attack from bacteriophages, viruses.  Much like enzymatic action, phages have specificities - they can only attack certain bacterial strains, with certain receptors.  "Phage alternative" is a means to basically deal with the ubiquity of phages - they are everywhere.  There are many tools to deal with them.  "Phage alternative" simply means a culture rotation, to minimize the buildup of phage concentration in a given culture stock.

[tananaBrian]

Tanana, culture bacterias are subject to attack from bacteriophages, viruses.  Much like enzymatic action, phages have specificities - they can only attack certain bacterial strains, with certain receptors.  "Phage alternative" is a means to basically deal with the ubiquity of phages - they are everywhere.  There are many tools to deal with them.  "Phage alternative" simply means a culture rotation, to minimize the buildup of phage concentration in a given culture stock.

Here's what Dairy Connection stated in response to the email that I sent them ...basically it says exactly what you said (you were both answering the same questions in parallel!):

"Hi Brian,

They are a series and they have the same composition used for rotation. The difference is so small its undetectable. Used as a adjunct you would not be able to tell the difference between the two. Built for phage protection.

Thanks, Patrick"


Sooo... for my purposes, I will order either MD-88 or MD-89 and not worry about it ...call them equivalent for my kitchen experiments.  I'll go do it right now 

Brian

[dthelmers]

I've recently placed a couple of orders with www.thecheesemaker.com and am happy with the products and service. He has 50 dose packs of both of these at $16.97 each, shipping included.
I tried the fresh curd recipe with MM100 and Thermo C; didn't cheddar the curds and made a pressed cheese. We finished it within a week, very flavorful. I'm going to try washing the curd next time and see how it comes out.
Dave in CT

[tananaBrian]

I'll check out The Cheesemaker web site as well ...however I did just place an order for the large-mesh mat material, some MM100, some TA61, and some MD89 at dairyconnection.com.  I appreciate the links...

Brian