Hi,
I bought a sachet of Choozit MA400 that can innoculate 50 l of milk. My problem now is how to separate the right amount of culture for a gallon of milk. I have a very good scale but I don't know the weight of the sachet. I wouldn't like to take out of the sachet everything in order to weight it.
Does someone know how much it does weight? I read that the weight is meaninless but I cannot understand it. They use unit or DCU instead. But what is that?
Any help will be much appreciated.
I am a beginner. I have done so far 3 cow milk cheeses and 2 goat's.
Thanks
Danisco (DCU is Danisco Culture Unit) is sold in sachets that are not fixed weights. The amount of culture is defined by activity. To use them you need to know:
1. How many units per how many litres of milk (i.e. 1 unit does 1000L milk)? Check Fromagex's website for cut sheets.
2. How many units are in the sachet you bought?
You must dump out the contents of the sachet and weigh it. Then take the total weight, divide by the numeb of units and voila, you have the weight of culture per unit. Divide by any fraction for the quantity of milk you are using. This will give you consistant acidification.
Francois's advice is spot on. You probably would have been better served by purchasing D/S cultures to start with. They are packaged more for home use in smaller amounts usually able to acidify 2-3 gallons.
Thanks you very much. I couldn't understand the Danisco was measuring the activity and not the weight. It is very clear now, it actually makes a lot of sense.
I thought it would be more difficult and expensive to buy D/S culture in the UK...
Thank you again for yours answers.