Hi,
I want to try LinuxBoy's recipe for extended shelf life cheese curds (see recipe at the Washington Cheese Guild web site), but it needs s. thermophilus (TA-61) and either MD-88 or MD-89 for the small batch non-professional types ...but I'm not finding any outlet that sells both cultures in small packs (a few packets where each is intended to be used with 1 or 2 gallons of milk). I see that Leeners.com has small packs for the s. thermophilus, but doesn't sell MD-88. The DID however send me email very recently that said they would VERY SOON be carrying small pack amounts of MD-88 and MD-89 in their online store ...which means I could buy from them and pay shipping just once. Does anyone know of another source that stocks small pack TA-61 and MD-88 in the same store? New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. sells both but only in large packs ...and since I just wrote to them, I don't have an answer on small pack availability yet...
Brian
Dairy Connections sells both S. thermo and MD-89 (https://www.dairyconnection.com/commerce/catalog.jsp?catId=10) in small packs.
Edit: Sorry, just saw that by "small" you're talking 1-2 gallon size, not the commercial "small" DCU. Still, at $6.46, not bad, and you can keep it in the freezer. :)
Good call. I wrote and asked about MD-88 at Dairy Connections since their prices are so much better on a per-batch scale. Their "small" treats a much larger volume of milk than similar "small" packets sold at other locations. $20 for the small TA-61 and small MD-89. At a competitor, it costs $26 for TA-61 plus MD-88 to treat less than a quarter the gallons of milk...
Brian
PS: How does MD-88 compare to MD-89 for flavor, ripening (pH drop) speed, and other characteristics such as eyes in the cheese?
Tanana, not certain, but I think MD-88 is just a phage alternative to MD-89. For all intents and purposes, essentially equivalent.
"phage alternative"? Hmmm... what's that?
Brian
Tanana, culture bacterias are subject to attack from bacteriophages, viruses. Much like enzymatic action, phages have specificities - they can only attack certain bacterial strains, with certain receptors. "Phage alternative" is a means to basically deal with the ubiquity of phages - they are everywhere. There are many tools to deal with them. "Phage alternative" simply means a culture rotation, to minimize the buildup of phage concentration in a given culture stock.
Quote from: ArnaudForestier on March 29, 2011, 03:39:51 PM
Tanana, culture bacterias are subject to attack from bacteriophages, viruses. Much like enzymatic action, phages have specificities - they can only attack certain bacterial strains, with certain receptors. "Phage alternative" is a means to basically deal with the ubiquity of phages - they are everywhere. There are many tools to deal with them. "Phage alternative" simply means a culture rotation, to minimize the buildup of phage concentration in a given culture stock.
Here's what Dairy Connection stated in response to the email that I sent them ...basically it says exactly what you said (you were both answering the same questions in parallel!):
"Hi Brian,
They are a series and they have the same composition used for rotation. The difference is so small its undetectable. Used as a adjunct you would not be able to tell the difference between the two. Built for phage protection.
Thanks, Patrick"
Sooo... for my purposes, I will order
either MD-88 or MD-89 and not worry about it ...call them equivalent for my kitchen experiments. I'll go do it right now ;D
Brian
I've recently placed a couple of orders with www.thecheesemaker.com (http://www.thecheesemaker.com) and am happy with the products and service. He has 50 dose packs of both of these at $16.97 each, shipping included.
I tried the fresh curd recipe with MM100 and Thermo C; didn't cheddar the curds and made a pressed cheese. We finished it within a week, very flavorful. I'm going to try washing the curd next time and see how it comes out.
Dave in CT
I'll check out The Cheesemaker web site as well ...however I did just place an order for the large-mesh mat material, some MM100, some TA61, and some MD89 at dairyconnection.com. I appreciate the links...
Brian