Allround mesophilic cheese starter culture | for home cheese making – for 100L

This allround mesophilic starter culture for cheese is enough of 100 litres of milk. Not making this much in one batch? No problem! Save your remaining starter in the freezer for future cheese making. This is a Direct Vat Inocculation (DVI) culture, meaning you can add the starter straight from the freezer to the milk.

How does a starter culture (starter) for cheese work

The purpose of the starter cultures is to ferment the milk. By adding a starter, over 99% of the bacteria in your milk consist of those of the starter. They will therefore overtake any bad micro-organisms that are present in the milk. Virtually every cheese maker in the world therefore chooses to use starter cultures.

A starter culture consists of various lactic acid bacteria that convert milk sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. So your milk becomes more acidic. They thus influence the taste, smell, texture and shelf life of your cheese. In addition, a low pH is required for curdling the milk. You add the starters at the beginning of the cheese making process, but they continue to exert their effect even during ripening.

What is the difference between a mesophilic and thermophilic starter culture?

You can classify the starters roughly according to the temperature at which they do their work. Two variants can be distinguished, the mesophilic and thermophilic starters. The mesophilic works best at a temperature range of about 20-37 ° C. The thermophilic starters are heat-loving (thermophilic) and prefer 37-55 ° C. This is the temperature during the “cooking” of the curd. Mesophilic cheese starters (such as those from startercultures.eu) are the most versatile, and are used for cheeses such as: most soft white mold cheeses, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Stilton, Edam cheese, Gouda cheese, Münster, Blue and Colby.

About our mesophilic cheese starter culture

This mesophilic starter culture for cheese will give you 1 litre of starter, which is enough to acidify a 100 litres of milk. Not making this much in one batch? No problem! Save your remaining starter in the freezer. Check out the instructions below.

Contents

• 5 grams of mesophilic cheese starter culture (enough for 100 litres of milk, check instructions)
• Contains milk, so not suitable for vegan cheeses
• Allergens: milk

Micro organisms

Streptococcus cremoris, Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis and Leuconostic cremoris

Storage instructions

Cool, dark and dry

How to use this mesophilic starter culture for cheese

1. Dissolve the cheese ferment in 1 liter of sterilized (UHT) milk. You can just use the carton it came in. No need to pour it out.
2. Shake well, seal and let rest at room temperature (20-24 ° C) for approximately 16 to 24 hours. Do not touch it.
3. After another 12 hours of refrigeration, this culture is ready.
4. Use 1% as a starter for your cheese. So 10 ml per 1 litre of milk.
5. Leftover starter will be fine in the fridge for up to 10 days
6. Alternatively: to use your starter for many more batches: freeze it in icecube trays or bags.

Note: Needs to be combined with rennet to make cheese

Online on demand workshop ‘how to make vegan cheese at home’ (subtitled)

During this English subtitled workshop you will learn the theory and practice of making vegan cheeses at home, with a focus on vegan camembert and vegan blue cheese. Foodwriter ‘Meneer Wateetons’, author of several books on fermentation and alternative food preparation techniques,  will teach you all about fermentation, curing salts, food safety, pH, starter cultures, molds and drying conditions. Click here for more info.