Economic feasablility

[Phogi]

Hi everybody,

I've made about seven batches of cheese so far...queso blanco and thirty minute mozzorella and whey riccotta. I've been using a local dairy's milk that they sell at the store. So far everything is going well, I really enjoy making it and want to do more. I'd like to get into cheeses that use a starter. However, part of my motivation for making cheese is that the cheese tastes way better than the store cheese, and it is much cheaper. When I look at the prices for starter, I'm shocked. I saw one website that asks nine dollars for a packet of starter that is only good for two gallons of milk. This would nearly double the cost of making the cheese. So, where do you get your starter?

[dthelmers]

Way too much. I've been getting mine lately from www.thecheesemaker.com, $16.97 for 125 doses for my MM100. It's even cheaper if you make mother cultures from the DVI packets - search the forum for Sailor Con Queso's tutorial on mother cultures. I've also bought DVI packs from Mid-West Brewing Supply. The cost is in the packaging, so larger amounts are more economical. You can also use buttermilk for meso and yogurt for thermo if you don't need a particular culture.

[smilingcalico]

I've used both glengarry and new england cheesemaking.  IIRC glengarry is $13.99 for the 125DCU of MM100.  I second everything Dave says.

[dthelmers]

I should mention that Steve's prices include shipping. Shipping is another consideration in cost. It costs the same amount to ship one envelope as to ship a small box of envelopes, but how many cultures do I want at a time? So sometimes I buy the cultures from MidWest Brewing, because when I order a fifty pound bag of malt I can throw in a couple of packs of DVI with no shipping cost. I've tried to convince my local homebrew supply store that cheese making is the up and coming thing, so they should stock rennet and cultures, but so far they just stock Ricki's kits.