Starter Culture - Purpose

[judyp]

Hello.  I just made my first hard cheese 2 days ago .  I have been told that Flora Danica is such a nicer culture than Mesophilic starter.  I made my first cheese with it.  It looks good but I won't know if the taste is good for another 3 months.  Since I don't know what these cultures do, I am not sure if I can substitute the  Flora Danica for every call for Mesophillic starter or not.  Does anyone know about this?

Thanks, Judy

[linuxboy]

Hi Judy,

Which cheese?

[Sailor Con Queso]

FD is a Meso starter, so what are you comparing it to? Do you want all of your cheese to taste the same? What cheese did you make?

[judyp]

I made Manchego and Cheddar with FD.  What is the purpose of a culture?  Is it just flavor or is there another purpose?  I am so new to all of this.  Thanks for your patience with such a novice.     Judy

[linuxboy]

Judy, a culture has five primary purposes. Not all cultures serve all purposes

- To acidify
- To provide primary flavoring, such as diacetyl, in fresh cheeses
- To create openings in the cheese by producing gas
- To provide flavor as the cheese matures by releasing enzymes in the cell wall and in the inside of the cell
- To increase body by forming chains and by having exopolysaccharides available on the cell wall

In aged cheese, it is mostly the enzymes that make a difference for flavor and texture. And different strains and different cultures provide for different flavors.

[judyp]

Thank you for sharing the purpose of the starter!!!  It's critically important! 

One more question, when a recipe calls for 2 oz. of prepared starter, I  froze the starter in ice cube trays.  The cubes can differ greatly in size.  What I thought was a 2 oz. cube  weighs less on the scale.  Should I be weighing these cubes to get 2 oz. or should I be thawing them and measuring 1/4 cup for 2 oz.?  Thanks so much for your help!!!  I'm using a standard ice cube tray, but cube sizes still vary quite a bit. 

Judy
PS...I remember a few years ago when I ventured into making my own bread, I knew nothing...at least now I can trouble shoot many bread problems....mostly from experience.  I wish I had had a forum for bread questions back then!!  The good thing about bread, when it's a flopped loaf, it still makes great croutons.  Does flopped cheese make anything good?

[linuxboy]

You should use 1-2% by volume when using bulk starter. This is in fluid ounces. 1 cup = 8 fl ounces. So measure how many fluid ounces each ice cube space is.

Yes, flopped cheese can be made into processed cheese. It's done all the time commercially.

[Boofer]

Does flopped cheese make anything good?

I've had some flops (Boy, have I!  ) that I ended up using grated on pasta, on toast, or combined with something else. That is, unless they were really bad! In which case, I dumped them.

-Boofer-