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Hello all. New cheese maker from the Phoenix area. I'm into Wine making, Beer brewing, charcuterie, kombucha, classic cars, kiefir, and sourdough bread making, so I figured that I should give cheese making a shot.  In my spare time I'm a real estate agent  .  For my first cheese, I started a raw milk Camembert three days ago which seems to be going well. I'm interested in learning as much as possible here at the forum and would like to make one of my favorite cheeses next, Humboldt Fog.

My first question has to do with raw milk and the amount of starter culture and rennet to add compared to pasteurized milk. I read somewhere to use half of the recommended amount of starter culture. Does that apply to rennet as well? For my first batch of cheese i used the recommended amounts in the recipe   which was for pasteurized milk (did not add calcium).

Welcome to the forum! To answer your question for sure use less culture (about half) but rennet is usually the same. You can leave out calcium chloride in raw milk as well. To get the right amount of rennet figured out for your milk you will want to research the floc test

Thank you for your reply. I will research the floc test. I hope I haven't ruined my first batch by using a full dose of culture. I used a packet that contained the culture, p-Candidum, and Geotrichum all together.

What recepie did you use and what cheese are you making? Is that the only culture you used? Those two you mentioned are actually moulds used typically in Camembert or other surface ripened cheese (they are the two moulds that create that lovely white surface). Without another starter culture used to acidify the curd before the mould takes over in aging you probably won't have much luck with that cheese. Still worth a shot I guess but might not be what you are hoping for? As for the half dose of starter culture in raw milk this is typically done to get the cheese to match the acidity curve of a pasturized cheese otherwise the acidity will take off too fast towards the end of the make

Here's a link to the culture and mold packet I used, https:
//www.thecheesemaker.com/products/Camembert-or-Brie-Cheese-Making-One-Time-Use-Packets.html.

The recipe I used is:  heat one gallon on raw milk to 85F, add packet and rehydrate 3min then stir in and rest 40min.  Add 1/4tsp animal rennet, stir, rest 90min. Cut curds to 3/4in and stir 2-3min. Rest 10min and scoop into molds and drain 3hrs. Flip and place into sealed plastic tote to keep humidity up and drain 12hrs. Flip and drain 12hrs again in tote. Flip, add 1/4tsp salt rest 4hrs, flip and salt other side, leave overnight to drain further. On day 3 morning , remove mold and place in ageing container in 52F.  Flip twice daily.

Welcome to the forum Blaze.

You are good with that culture. The mm100 is the culture that will do the acidification for you the pcand Geo will make the rind. Using the full amount should still work out ok with raw milk. Hope the cheese works out well for you!