In the past we’ve talked a little bit about various ways to reduce the cost of your home cheese making adventures.
It seems costs savings are still on the minds of some home cheese makers since we’ve been asked a few times now if existing cheeses can be used as cultures for making new cheese, as a means towards saving money. Read more
Dry, pasty, crumbly cheese.
It’s the curse of any cheese that you hoped would turn out smooth and soft.
There are cheeses that we expect to have a slightly drier or crumblier texture, but when it isn’t planned, it’s a real disappointment, and the worst part is that you usually don’t know your cheese has gone that way until after you’ve waited weeks, or months, and then cut it open to find less than desirable results. Read more
Have you thought about selling your cheeses? Is it time to test your delicious creations out in the commercial market?
While most home cheese makers find making cheese for their family and friends enough of a thrill, some cheese making hobbyists decide to take things to the next level, and start thinking about selling their cheeses at markets or, if possible, in local stores.
With cheese making, there are a couple of real ‘buzz moments’ for me.
The first is when I get a really good, firm curd and get a strange satisfaction from cutting it in clean, neat lines. The other is when I make Camembert and see that gorgeous fluffy white mold growing over the cheese.
That beautiful Camembert cheese mold, there’s nothing better than watching that white blanket start to cover over each round, signally the beginnings of another successful Camembert batch. Read more
This article will guide you, step by step, to make your own cheese cultures at home.
By doing this you will save a lot of money from buying thermophilic and mesophilic cultures so often.
Allowing you to make more homemade cheese for less costs.
That’s not all…
We will cover what are cheese cultures, mesophilic cultures and thermophilic cultures. Outlining which cultures should be used for certain cheeses.
The bottom line is I have been doing this for years and it has saved me a pretty penny.
It has allowed me to make more delicious cheeses then I would have been able to, if I had to buy starter cultures all the time.
Cheese starter cultures are a form of bacteria used in the production of cheese. They are added to the milk at the start of the cheese making process (not for all cheeses though, there are exceptions such as Haloumi) in order to determine taste, smell, texture and mouth feel.
The main cheese starter cultures are Thermophilic and Mesophilic. Thermophilic cultures can handle being heated to higher temperatures, Mesophilic cultures suffers at higher temperatures.
There are also specific culture strains made by commercial manufacturers which fall into each of these types (Therm and Meso) and each subtly changes the results you will get with your cheese. Your recipe should tell you which culture type you need.