Testing cultures

[Trumpeteer]

Its been about a year since i last made anything and I am looking for a way to test the cultures in my freezer to make sure they are still active, especially since they are getting up there in age, is there an easy way to go about doing this? I've considered just heating a small portion of milk and adding the culture then letting it sit overnight, but im not entirely sure what i should be looking for come morning, ( will it start to coagulate or thicken) I dont have a pH meter yet so that is out, and i would rather not have to wait to order a new packet of cultures.

Any insight would be helpful.

[Boofer]

I've been using my cultures from the freezer for the past 5 years. No problem.

A simple test might be doing part of Sailor's "Making Mother Cultures" photo essay.

-Boofer-

[Gregore]

Boomer is correct they should be okay , but if you need to be sure because you are using a lot of milk ......

You can put a very small piece of the ice cube into a 1/2 cup of milk  in mason jar with lid and leave in oven over night near light , in morning it should be thicker and taste tart.

[ellenspn]

I just found this thread. It seems to answer my question I posted above