Natural inoculation with kefir along with DVI

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  • #4653 Reply
    Pete Gorsline
    Guest

    First – I’m completely new to cheese making – I am still in the process of studying / gathering equipment and sourcing my milk – a lot of work to do yet.

    That said – I just finished reading David Asher’s book and it makes a lot of sense – inoculating a pasteurized milk with kefir grains to re-establish a natural culture profile. As my local laws (Utah) aren’t set up very well to get raw milk – I have to look at pasteurized.

    My question is whether it makes sense to establish a general & broad profile of bacteria etc. with kefir grains and then further inoculate with a specific DVI culture to move the flavor and development of an aged cheese in a specific “direction”.

    Thanks for your input – I look forward to hearing from you.

    #4721 Reply
    Tom Moran
    Guest

    Pete, you are beginning way out in front of me. I would have never attempted to make my own starter and I applaud you for it. I can tell you that I have made plenty of both raw and pasturized milk cheese’s and both have their pros and cons. I find pasturized is easier to predict but needs age, and a lot of age, to get any depth of the flavor. Good luck and keep experimenting.

    #4756 Reply
    Pete Gorsline
    Guest

    Tom – thanks for the reply. I need to go into the other forum and make an introduction – I’ll put that on the list of things to do.

    If I understand you correctly – you seem to be making my point (along with the premise of David Asher’s book) that the pasteurization process kills off the myriad of natural flora/fauna – and – that aging would take longer to develop the more complex flavors. Inoculating with kefir would not fully re-establish the original cultures – but will get a lot growing and going again. I’d think that the ageing of a pasteurized milk with kefir would be more successful in this regard.

    Take that a step further by introducing specific strains of DVI culture (albeit a “processed” culture) – you could “guide” the flavor profile in the direction you wanted. Asher in his book develops these naturally – read his book if you have not already had the opportunity.

    Thanks again for your input

    #4853 Reply
    Shelley
    Guest

    I too have taken David’s course and am trying to go the natural route. We can purchase pasturized but non homogenized milk here and have made the mozzerella but it is terribly grai y and does not stretch despite loads of time… it is getting terribly frustrating!

    #4889 Reply
    Pete Gorsline
    Guest

    Hi Shelly –

    A couple of things;

    You said you took the course? How was it? Love to hear some details/impressions. (could get you an email address to discuss)

    Stretched Mozz – as I understand, a little more advanced cheese because of the ph requirements. Stretched mozzarella is very dependant on a specific ph and temp development. Have you considered a meter?
    Also – were you making the cheese in an aluminum/metal container – the grey color may be an indication of the pan leaching off – the acidity may be eating at the pan some…

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