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Manufactured Cultures - Which Ones To Stock For Average Cheese Maker?

Started by steampwr8, April 07, 2011, 07:33:32 PM

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steampwr8

I have been studying here at the Cheese Forum University now for about nine months. The education has been phenomenal and I am thankful for the knowledge given so freely and friendly here.

I wanted to ask of the veterans here, if I were to keep 4 or 5 cultures on hand at all times, what would they be?

I realized that depends on style, make, type, and sub type of cheese. But if I was inspired by a recipe and wanted to go to the freezer and get the cultures what would it be?

I have done a couple of Cheddars, and  Red Dragon, and now a Lancashire.

Gouda and Leiden, Leyden are a family favorite. As is the Asiago and the Stilton I've tried.

Thank you,
Mark

zenith1

Hi Mark-I think that you answered your own question. Have on hand the cultures that you need for the cheese types you are making.

Tomer1


steampwr8

Well sort of...but Aroma B is somewhat but not the same as Flora Danica etc.

Say I get inspired by one of your recipes that is out of my type. Then what should have on hand that covers a spectrum and not a specific type.

I am really curious as to the basic stock someone like you and Linuxboy and Sailor keep on hand.

steampwr8

Quote from: Tomer1 on April 07, 2011, 08:50:43 PM
What spices does one need to keep in his kitchen closet? :)

Other than salt and pepper, Meso c101 and Thermo c201? Makes for a boring Garham Marsala. But...what's next?

Surely there's more to your basic kit than that.

linuxboy

Quote
I am really curious as to the basic stock someone like you and Linuxboy and Sailor keep on hand.
I don't think I'm a good standard of reference. Sailor might be, but he makes something like 20 different types of cheese.

I can tell you that the cultures you have really influence flavor. FD is not Aroma B is not probat 222 is not any of the continental CHN lines from Hansen, etc. They're similar, but make different cheeses. I can also tell you that you can use the same culture to make very different cheeses from different families. For example, take the ubiquitous MM100. Done in a cheddar, you get cheddar. Done in a lactic type, you can have chevre. Done in a bloomy rind, you can have something like a camembert. Done in a washed rind, you can have limberger. Done in a blue, you can have a basic stilton or rindless blue. Wash the curds, you can have gouda. But the hard cheeses, they to me all all variants on a theme. Say for gouda I did one of the CHN cultures instead of MM. Totally different cheese.

So it really depends, are you after making many families of cheeses and want to stock up on an all purpose culture? Or are you specific about making 4-5 types of cheese and want to focus on making the best of each type that you want?

Similar idea for thermo cultures. Strains make a big difference. If you want an all-purpose, generic culture, pick any meso that has an acidification curve that you like, and then focus on making different families of cheese for different flavor.

steampwr8

That's what I mean.

If you were to tell your students for example;
,
First stock Meso A and  Thermo A

Then have on hand B,C, and D so you can easily vary a recipe or try one that you come across.

I am having a great time learning from all of you AND making cheese. I found a local source of Pet Food milk, now I need to invest in the cultures.

Hope to hear more.

Mark

linuxboy

I look at it differently. When I talk about food, the growing of food, and the creation of food, I tell people that it should spring out from that place in their being that is beyond the limits that rationality imposes. The creation of cheese from milk, by extension, must ideally reflect the purest that the creator may express at the time of creating the cheese. For a factory worker who must follow rules and regulations at the behest of authority, that purity of expression is to do the utmost to earn a living to pay expenses. For the shepherd whose love springs forth from a devotion to animals, that purity of expression reflects those ties, and often entails doing as good of a job as possible to take pride in the creation of the animals, selling cheese at all costs to provide for their upkeep and care. For the businessman who wants to run a small-scale plant, is enamored of modern buy-local movements, and is a middle ground between modernity and farmer, that motivation is yet again different, ultimately residing on doing a job "good enough" to make sales, and grow the business. For the artisan whose only purpose is to unreservedly throw himself into the madness of art, it is again altogether different, because this person competes against self alone and is driven by more than mere mortals comprehend. And for the mother feeding her children it is different, and for the engineer it is different.

I urge people in taking on the task of making food to first understand who they are and why they do as they do. After this discovery, it is easier to make some generalization about what to purchase, or whether to purchase at all. Is it about a distraction for you, to captivate your mind by the possibilities? If so, then your limit is only your budget. Is it about seeing the possibilities achieved with the same ingredients but variations on a theme? Is it about preserving tradition? Is it about replicating that cheese you had in France "when the world was younger and you had everything to lose"? 

You can succeed in any of the ways I specified, and in many more. I can help figure out some best options if I know what you want to do and why.

mikeradio

I started with these from Cheese Maker, they can be used to make many different cheeses


Thermophilic (DS) - 5 packets   Item C201

Used to make Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provolone, Romano, Swiss, Gruyere, and other Italian style cheeses, which grow in higher temperature ranges.

This culture is added directly to your milk and takes all the muss and fuss out of the culturing process.

CULTURE INCLUDES: malto dextrin, streptococcus thermophilus, lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, lactobacillus helveticus

YIELD: Each packet will set 2 gallons of milk.



Mesophilic(DS) - 5pack  Item C101

Used in making a variety of hard, moderate temperature loving cheeses including Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Stilton, Edam, Gouda, Muenster, Blue, and Colby.


This culture is added directly to your milk and takes all the muss and fuss out of the culturing process.

CULTURE INCLUDES: malto dextrin, lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris

YIELD: Each packet will set up to 2 gallons of milk.

DIRECTIONS: Add 1 packet to your milk at proper temperature when recipe calls for adding starter culture.

susanky

Quote from: linuxboy on April 07, 2011, 10:33:21 PM
I urge people in taking on the task of making food to first understand who they are and why they do as they do. After this discovery.........
Good gracious!  If I have to figure that out first I may never get to make cheese!
Susan

linuxboy

hehe :). I was feeling a bit philosophical. It doesn't have to be complex or ultimate; I was more saying in regards to cheese. It's different to make cheese as a way to preserve milk and carry you through the winter, or feeding your brothers/sisters in the monastery, vs having a hobby and having fun making all sorts of different cheeses. And the cultures depend on that, depend on the motivations and needs and preferences.

Boofer

Wow, linuxboy, how lyrical...and inspirational! I love it.

Steampwr8, I would think you'd want to have some Propionic shermanii and Bacterium linens on hand. The PS can be used in quite a few hard cheeses. The b. linens can be used in soft, semi-soft, semi-hard, and hard cheeses. Seems like a lot of folks are always using b. linens in something around here. I've got an Esrom developing with SR3 right now. Before that, a couple Tommes.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

ArnaudForestier

Let me add an appreciative nod, too, for your comments, Pav.  Go as philosophical as you'd care to; I'm all ears.
- Paul

steampwr8

Okay;

Let's start here...

Philosophically I am making cheese to a.) see if I can, and add to my knowledge base. I have done charcuterie also to add to my cooking. b.) to go to England or France via the cheese since I probably will never get the chance to go in person. c.) I get bored and then inspired so I teach myself another craft and its all fun.

Someone here, maybe Linux, said in another thread, "Take a cheese and research it. Learn all can about it, then make it." Fortunately you most always get cheese, unfortunately you don't know how close you came because you don't have the original to compare. But I try.

Let's start here

What basic Meso do you stock?

What basic Thermo do you stock?