New to cheese making

[Corina]

Hello, my name is Corina and I live in Romania. I think I am the door opener from this country.
I have a great source of fresh milk, cow, goat, and I want to start making cheese. I make yougurt buttermilk and kefir at home.However, the only source I have for starters here has different names for starters than those in all the recepies I found on the internet and on this great forum that I spent days reading.
Can anyone help me, can you point out which is termophilic, wich is mesophillic?
I do not know what to use!
All help is welcome, as my mind is a mess with all this
http://www.fabrica-de-branza.ro/culturi.html

The first one on the list, it said is fos simple cheese and butter, what kind of cheese can I use it for?

Uh, my fingers are aching to make something, and I am lost....
I read all your instructions for newbies and how they have to start with soft cheese, I want to try that.But I do not no what starter to buy.... I am so impatiend, I am so hooked

[Scarlet Runner]

If you could post the type of bacteria in the packets, we could help you identify which are thermophilic and which are mesophilic.  Most of them look like cultures for soft cheeses, and some yogurt and kefir. Meso's will sound like Lactococcus lactis or cremoris, while thermos will be more like Streptococcus thermophilus and others. Can you figure out which bacteria are in there?

[Cheese Head]

Hi Corina, yes you are the first one so I just added to you to our list and added a Romanian Country Board in case you have any local type posts.

You can use your buttermilk as a mesophilic lactic acid producing starter culture and yogurt as a thermophilic starter culture in cheese making, many of our members only use them and no manufactured cultures.

The buttermilk will work for making soft cheese like cream cheese, for hard cheeses you will need some rennet.

We have a Wiki: Starter Cultures Function article which gives info on meso vs thermophilic lactic acid producing starter cultures and a listing of different manufactured starter cultures in the Wiki: Manufactured Cultures article.

Sorry but I can't read the Romanian on that website, hopefully as Scarlet says you can match up the ingredients with the list linked above.

[Corina]

Thank you, this night reading brought some light and I found out what you said, about starters, and I also put some milk to make buttermilk.
This forum is really addicitive, as I had little sleep last night, trying to read as much as I can.
Can anyone recomend some begginer starting cheeses?
I have in plan some feta on sunday , to break the ice! Any other suggestions?
Thank you.

[Tomer1]

Alo corina,
You can start out with homemade starters or use these direct set starters.

cultura iaurt is your basic thermo
PROPIONI is for gas production
cultura branza is basic messo
The other are molds

cheag LACTOFERM is rennet.

[Corina]

Thank you!Thank you! Tank you!

[Corina]

Well, after reading intesivelly for some time, and admiring someone here that plunged with all energy in making cheese, not like me, just reading and not daring to do something, I made my first feta.
Thank you all for pointing everywhere that we should start with simpler ones.
First,I had great succes with the gelling part and cutting, but I spilled some of the mix when trying to  put it in the drying fabric.
Then I was sooo anctios to see what is happening, that I checked the cheese every half an hour, and my familly was laughing at me.
But in the end, I have some feta in the brine, and I am so happy.
Thank you all for being here and being so willing to share your experiences and to have patience with all the newcomers, that I think ask almost the same questions and have the same failures.

[ArnaudForestier]

Hi Corina - welcome to the forum.  I've an old friend from Romania, brings up many happy memories.  Best of luck with your cheese adventures. 

Paul

[Corina]

Thank you,
Adventures indeed