I have read lots of information about Type E, A, and B starter cultures. I have bought Country Brewer Cultures and I don't know how to translate the information for the different cheeses. I am currently trying to make camembert cheese and would like to know exactly how to make the starter with these cultures. I am very confused with the differing names and amounts in recipes I have read.
If you watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tE_ISsnBMc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tE_ISsnBMc) , it will give you a good idea.
He has a shop close to you where you can get the ingredients.
Hi Upper Run,
I just responded to your introductory post! Chances are extremely good that Country Brewers is reselling (possibly repackaging) cultures produced by one or more of the few manufactures culture - Danisco, Abiasa, Chr Hansen, Sacco Clerici, maybe one other that I'm forgetting. Several of these manufacturers use A or B (don't recall E) as part of the names of various products, but they don't use them the same way. Or to say it another way, just the letters E, A, B are not sufficient to identify the cultures in the packages. Is there any other information on the package? In particular, does it indicate mesophilic or thermophilic?
At the risk of repeating things you already know, here's a bit of overview: Mesophilic and thermophilic are the broad categories for the two major families of cultures used to ripen cheese. Mesophilic bacteria can survive up to around 105°F (40°C), while thermophilic bacteria can survive up to around 130°F (54°C). Thermophilic bacteria are typically used for alpine and Italian cheeses; meso for all the rest. (There are of course exceptions, and sometimes both are used.) For a camembert, you need a mesophilic bacteria.
The foundational mesophilic bacteria is LL (Streptococcus lactis ssp. lactis); this is most often combined with LC (aka LLC - Streptococcus lactis ssp. cremoris). You can make camembert with just these bacteria; however, I like to use an "aroma blend" that contains these plus LD (aka LLD - Lactococcus ssp. biovar. diacetylactis) and/or LM (aka LMC - Leuconostoc cremoris) - these bacteria cannot be used alone as they would not provide the primary acidification (ripening), but used with LL/LLC they add some gas production (possibly creating small holes in the cheese, though you won't see that with camemberts) and "buttery" flavors.
If you know what the E, A, B cultures are intended to be used for, you can probably make a guess at what sort of culture they contain. If any of these is described as suitable for chevre, for example, I would feel free to use it to make camembert.
Of course, camembert depends not only on the ripening bacteria, but also on the addition of a yeast (geotrichium) and a mold (Penicillium candidum). It may be that Country Brewer has a package that combines the geo and PC along with a meso blend, but as far as I know none of the major manufacturers sell a combination like that; instead, you have to buy the meso (or meso blend) separately, then the geo (there are several varieties; I have been using Geo13, but want to try 15 or 17 one of these days) and the PC (again several varieties; I have been usiing PC43 ABL). You just need a tiny amount of the PC (I use 1/32 tsp for a 2-gallon batch) and even less of the geo (I use 1/64 tsp). You could leave the geo out and count on the natural geotrichium in the environment, but I don't think you could leave the PC out and count on it showing up - I may be wrong, as I've never tried!
I hope this a) has been helpful, and b) hasn't bored you with information you already know! If you don't have it yet, a superb resource is Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell.
Again, welcome to the forum!
Couldn't agree more about getting Giancalis Caldwell's book. Lots of table and charts to help with these type questions, too.
If you go to the Country Brewer website (https://www.countrybrewer.com.au/categories/Cheese-Making/Cultures-and-Additives/?sort=featured&page=1), you can find out what the contents of their various cultures are.
I can also vouch for Caldwell's book.