The Cultured Life…
/Hello Cheese Enthusiasts!
Photo courtesy of cheesemaking.com
I have been thinking a lot lately about what I like to call “Cheese Essentials”…they are ingredients, or terms that we use in the cheese industry, but their definition, use, need, or even their ‘essence’ may get lost over time. I have tried to focus on a few of these in the last few months, such as my story on Rennet (you can read it here), or last week’s post on Mold. These may not be romantic cheese stories, but if you enjoy reading and learning more about what ingredients that you are consuming, then I think that blog posts like these are important pieces on this body of work, simply known as Cheese Traveler.
Much like Rennet, Starter Cultures play an important role in the early stages of creating a cheese. Not only do they raise the acidity levels of the milk, but they can play a large part in what the finished cheese will taste like.
While researching this topic, I discovered this wonderful article written about cheese starter cultures, so rather than re-invent the wheel, I am posting it here in its entirety:
“What is starter culture for cheese and what does it do?
The term ‘starter culture’ is used to describe bacteria specially grown to ‘start’ the transformation of milk into cheese.
A starter culture is used in the making of the vast majority of cheese, to turn the milk’s natural lactose sugar into lactic acid. This is beneficial for cheese-making for several reasons:
Firstly, acidifying the milk forces it to curdle and split, helping to form the curds which are the essential ingredient in cheese.
Secondly, creating lactic acid ‘uses up’ the lactose sugar and milk nutrient resources and the milk becomes more acidic. These two factors make it harder for ‘bad’ pathogenic and spoilage bacteria to grow – they don’t like acid, and to grow they also need the sugar in milk. Preventing the growth of bad bacteria, therefore, naturally helps preserve the cheese (and is one of the reasons why cheese keeps longer than milk).
Thirdly, the process starts to create flavor which will go on to influence the final texture, smell and taste of the cheese.
In order for all of this to happen bacteria are essential. The bacteria are more often than not added to the milk right at the beginning of the cheese-making process, hence the term ‘starter culture’, and are primarily Lactic Acid Bacteria (abbreviated to LAB).
What types of starter culture are available?
The use of starter cultures in cheese-making has carried out for hundreds of years. In recent years, however, with advancing scientific knowledge, technicians became adept at selecting and breeding certain strains, creating preparations and blends of bacteria designed specifically to help acidify the milk, give different flavors and acidifying rates.
Broadly they are characterized into two types:
Mesophiles, which are used to make most cheeses. They perform best at temperatures between 20-30°C (68ºF - 86ºF)
Thermophiles, which are used mainly to make continental cheeses that are supple and sweeter in flavor (Gruyère, Comté, etc.) and perform best at hotter temperatures, between 45-50°C (113ºF - 122ºF)
Most starters are now produced in laboratories on a large scale by multi-national companies, before being packaged in a form which is easy to use.
These starters are commonly added to the vat by one of three methods:
· Direct to Vat Inoculation (often called DVI) - These are sachets of freeze-dried LAB powder which are stored in the freezer and can be simply sprinkled straight onto the milk in the cheese-making vat. They are easy to use, easy to store, quick, consistent and convenient, and consequently favored by many producers. But some argue they are too simplified and the resulting flavor is not as rich or complex. An analogy would be using freeze-dried yeast for making bread – easy and simple, but it never makes the most amazing bread.
The most famous producers of DVI are Danisco® and Chr. Hansen. Their starter cultures are available to buy in various sachet types and sizes.
· Bulk Starters - A slightly more traditional method, these are cultures that were obtained from farms and are now kept alive and managed by different laboratories throughout Europe. In England there is one laboratory still making these traditional bulk ‘pint pot’ starters: Barber’s. These cultures aren’t as refined as DVIs and contain more strains of bacteria. Being a living product, they are more difficult to handle for the cheese-maker, requiring further ‘incubation’ and ‘bulking’ on the farm so they are already working when they are added to the milk in the vat. Yet in-turn they can produce a more complex flavor. Using the bread-making analogy again, this is a bit like using proper bread yeast – it gives better flavors but is more fiddly, difficult to control, and time-consuming.
· Natural Methods - Prior to the wide use of commercial bought-in starter cultures, cheese-makers on farms would use various methods to harness their own population of lactic acid bacteria in order to acidify the milk. This included making their own starter from soured or ‘clobbered’ milk, ‘back slopping whey’ and specifically using wooden utensils. Often now termed natural cheese-making, using this method is rare but can still be found (especially in Europe). It gives the cheese-maker an opportunity to make a cheese truly unique to the place where it is made, but it can also provide difficulties in production.
I would like to thank Andy and Kathy Swinscoe of The Courtyard Dairy of Austwick, North Yorkshire, England for allowing me to reprint this article. If you would like to read the entire article, you can read it here. If you are a home cheese maker, they have some wonderful posts on making your own cheese! The Courtyard Dairy was voted one of the top 15 Cheese shops in the U.K., and if that was not enough, Andy won “Cheesemonger of the Year” in 2013 at the World Cheese Awards!
A little closer to home, The New England Cheese Making Co. sells all the supplies needed to make your own cheese…including Starter Culture! I took a cheese making class from Ricki Carroll at the American Cheese Society’s 14th annual conference in Seattle, WA in 1997. She was so engaging that I purchased her book on cheese making.
Here is to a good “start”!
Until next week,
Trevor
