Basic Cultures A Newbie Should Start Out With

[ellenspn]

To be perfectly honest, I'm confuzzled by all the varieties of the cultures. Some are obvious like buttermilk but the varieties of meso and thermo cultures   

I know I want to make more feta, Gouda, cultured mozzarella, and eventually cheddar for sure. So what should I order?   

[linuxboy]

please read http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6845

and then post back.

[ellenspn]

Okay, after reading the tread I almost couldn't find my original post since I posted it in the wrong group 

I would like to get good at making feta.  However, my husband doesn't like feta and I would occasionally like to make something that he actually will eat.  I know as I work on feta I'll be taking lots of it to work, class, etc as I don't need to eat All The Feta.  My husband likes cheddar, provolone, and mozzarella.

Mostly I'll be working with p/h cows milk.  I currently have a small amount of kid lipase from Mad Millie and a few small single use packets of a handful of cultures I bought off of EBay.

I'm quite aware about mastering something one needs to focus on it and get the rhythm of the treadle and the feel of the fibers.  Spinning a fine laceweight yarn takes different skills than spinning a bulky yarn.  It also takes different equipment as there is no one size fits all spinning wheel for such a wide range (as any honest handspinner would tell you.) 

If I'm looking for the best feta, one culture or mixture of cultures may work best for me in my environment versus what someone in New Mexico uses.  That takes experimenting.  But if I know there is a starting point I need to work from in my learning, is it M100?  And if I want to try my hand at something new or to make for my husband should I just keep M100 and an appropriate thermo culture on hand so I can make something without waiting until an order comes in from my favorite cheese supply house? Along with  b. linens and prop...um can't remember what you need for the eyes in Swiss and baby Swiss. 

Also I know if I want the best feta I'll be experimenting with varieties of lipase and different brining techniques.

Clear as mud? 

[linuxboy]

Okay, after reading the tread I almost couldn't find my original post since I posted it in the wrong group

Lol.

is it M100? 

For feta? I feel like feta needs some thermo. Danisco's Feta B is a decent all purpose feta blend.

And if I want to try my hand at something new or to make for my husband should I just keep M100 and an appropriate thermo culture on hand so I can make something without waiting until an order comes in from my favorite cheese supply house?

This is an excellent starting point, yes.

[ellenspn]

Thanks! Up to now I've just used meso culture from Mad Millie with the Home Cheesemaking recipe. I'm looking forward yo my experiments.

[linuxboy]

If you want to create just good, all-purpose cheese and have awesome milk as the starting point, then regular meso culture is fine. If you want to create distinctive or specialty cheeses or differentiate flavors, you have to be very exact with culture selection. So, like I tried to say in that thread, it depends what your goals and needs are.