# cheese cultures - can you make your own?



## FromScratchGirl (Sep 25, 2008)

Is it possible to make your own cultures to make cheese, once you've purchased the initial batch (kind of like yogurt) or is this something you will need to continually buy to make cheese?

Sarah


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

i seek out and use cheesemaking recipes that call for either buttermilk or yogurt for the cheese starter culture. So in my case, yes, I can and do reculture my buttermilk and yogurt for cheesemaking cultures. I start the cultures once, each Spring, and reculture the entire cheesemaking season, using the buttermilk and yogurt both as a food and a culture. This limits the kinds of cheeses I make. I only make ricottas, mozzarella and chevres.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Instead of buying the 'direct-set' packets, get the 'reculturable' ones. You can really save money doing it this way.


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## Sabrina67 (Mar 24, 2008)

Do you sterilize your milk like it says on the packet?


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

Sabrina67 said:


> Do you sterilize your milk like it says on the packet?


yes, I do. And I bring the temp of the milk to 180*F for each batch of recultured buttermilk and yogurt throughout the cheesemaking season. If you want to use your own recultured buttermilk and yogurt for cheeses and also to reculture the buttermilk and yogurt, you must heat the millk to 180*F. If you don't, you will be culturing unknown bacterias and the cultures will be useless as future cultures. The purpose of culturing buttermilk and yogurt is to keep alive specific bacterias.

That said, I use raw milk for my cheeses. I am just careful to use heat treated milk to make the cultures.


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## Sabrina67 (Mar 24, 2008)

Thanks so much. This can be so confusing..I gotta get a book. lol


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