making mesophilic starter culture

[gemma.tyson]

Have been reading a lot about people making their own starter cultures.
Thermophilic cultures made using a starter of fresh cultured yoghurt.  Got that.
Mesophilic culture made using cultured buttermilk.  I have only been able to find a low fat buttermilk, nowhere does it state that it is a cultured buttermilk.  Can I assume that it is.
Have been buying the powdered instant mesophilic starter.  Just not always available.  Can I make or innoculate milk with the powdered culture?  What quantities would I use?
Is one better than the other?
Thank you

[susanky]

Here is a frequently referenced thread by Sailor on making mother cultures:

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,5165.msg38655.html#msg38655
Susan

[gemma.tyson]

Thank you Susan.  I found it about two hours after I had posted.  Thought I had read that you can't use the direct cultures, but evidently it is OK so long as they are single strains.  Will check out what I have and have a go.
Thank you for the link

[Cheese Head]

Hi gemma, also probably your Buttermilk in Oz is cultured and alive, simple way to test is to make a simple lactic cheese like cream cheese using milk and see if you get a good lactic acid curd overnight. Here's a recipe for first increasing the activity level of your buttermilk. Many members here only use this as their meso starter culture.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Gemma,

Mother Cultures do not have to be single strain, however, I do not recommend using a Mother Culture to inoculate the next batch of Mother Culture (like a sour dough bread starter). By using a fresh DVI (direct) culture every time, you avoid contamination and you keep the ratio of mixed bacteria relatively constant. It only takes a little bit of DVI, so this is a very efficient method.

[susanky]

I was thinking of making a mother culture of Floria Danica.  Can I do this?  It's mesophilic, right?  So just follow directions (temps) for meso starter?
Susan

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

There is no buttermilk in Turkey, my recommendation is to use the water that is coming out when you are churning the cream to make butter. This seperated water is used for centuries to make feta in Turkey as a mesophilic culture.

Also if you can find a european cultured butter in the markets, take this (about 50g) and put into a small jar of milk (about 160ml) at room temperature (everything is sterile and clean), close the lid tight and wait a day. You can use this as a mesophilic starter and will be enough for 8 litres of milk and if you wait about an hour to ripen the milk it should be allright to add rennet. As you don't know the consistency of this culture you either need a pH meter and/or use flocculation technique to determine the cutting time.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

I was thinking of making a mother culture of Floria Danica.  Can I do this?  It's mesophilic, right?  So just follow directions (temps) for meso starter?
Susan

Hi Susan, if you have access to culture sachets, just use that rather than going through the chores of making a mother culture. do you have a freezer that can go down to -17 celcius degree? If not keeping the mother becomes hard and also the contamination becomes an issue.

If you are looking into creating a mother that is specific to the local pasture and place, you might want to do clotted milk with local fresh milk. This will be unique to that area and the type of cheese you are creating.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Susan - YES you can. Flora Danica is the same as Aromatic B, just different strains and ratios.

Gürkan - Mother/Primer Cultures are easy and do not need to be kept at -17C. Check out Susan's reference to my Mother/Primer Culture technique.

Making Mother Cultures

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Thanks Sailor,I will check your entry. With two kids running around and limited time to make cheese, I just find it easier to order the cultures