Hello,
I'm pretty new to the world of cheese making and I'm trying to get a handle on what type of cultures I have. I have a few questions:
1) I purchased Abiasa's Mesophile Aromatic Type B and Type III from Glengarry Cheesemaking. It isn't clear on their website or Abiasa's if these are DVI cultures or intended to be used to propagate mother cultures. At this point I've been used them directly in my vat as well as to make mother cultures and both methods seem to work okay. None the less, I'd assume not spend a bunch of money getting new cultures from Glengarry all the time if I can propagate safely myself.
2) I've read a bunch of books and threads about the best way to keep mother cultures and I'm still getting some mixed information. Once cultured, can I continue to open and use my mother culture for a number of weeks (I've read anywhere from 2-4) before it is no good or do I need to use it all right away or freeze it to keep the bacteria ratios correct?
3) Can I create a new mother culture from a frozen mother ice cube or should I always go back to my powdered culture?
4) If I'm suppose to use 3/8 tsp to make 1L of starter (as it says on the package) and only want to make a 1/4 L of starter can I just use a tiny pinch of my culture or does it have to be very accurately measured? Does the rate of inoculation impact the final starter bacterial ratios or will it just take longer for the starter to be ready if my inoculation rate is a bit low?
Can anyone shed some light please? Thank you!