Cheese Needs
Online store & Cheese making classes
We will be upgrading the site and could be down for a day or two sometime in January.
Thank you for your understaning.
- Understanding starter cultures -
When you first start making cheese, one of the biggest hurdles to get over is understanding all those cultures. It can be very confusing at first and if you don't grasp it right away, "don't get your cheesecloth in a knot." You can feel relieved that its not just you. Here is how we explain it in classes for beginners.
To make it easy to understand we break it down into the two main groups of Starter Culters for Cheese making. Match the colors of cultures to the cheese you want to make to know which ones you need.
The first group of Cultures are called Mesophilic Culters
The second group of Culturs are called Thermophilic Cultures
Now picture Mesophilic cultures and Thermophilic cultures as an umbrella.
Mesophilic Starter Culture
Used to make Soft and Semi-soft Cheeses cooked between 32°c and 38 °c
Thermophilic Starter Culture
Used to make Harder cheeses
cooked between 40°c to 53°c
Under each umbrella are different kinds of Culture that do different things to the cheese you are making.
Some cultures will add a buttery flavor to the cheese
Some cultures will add more gas to produce air holes in the cheese
Some cultures will make a cheese more or less acidic
Mesophilic Cultures
Thermophilic Cultures
Flora Danica A favorite among cheese makers for its rich buttery taste and texture.
TW3 LYO Our basic culture line uses less culture
for a superior flavor.
MP62 LYO Pasta filata and Mozzarella cheese.
Y92 LYO A very Popular Thermophilic culture for beginner cheese makers. Used for Parmesan style cheeses.
There are many more cultures made from different companies with different names.
This is where so many new cheese makers get so confused.
At Cheeseneeds we cater to the beginner and try to keep it simple.
In our store we have TW3 LYO For Mesophilic culture.
In our store we have and MP62 LYO and Y92 LYO For Thermophilic Culture
All the beginner cheese maker needs to make
Butter, Cream cheese, Cottage Cheese, Chevre, Havarti, Cheddar, Gouda, Manchego, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, Feta, Ricotta.
and many more cheeses only need
One of or both of the Mesophilic or Thermophilic cultures! Lots of cultures are interchangeable within their same group. A Thermophilic culture should not be replaced with a Mesophillic culture and a Mesophillic culture should not be replaced with a Thermophillic culture.
There is so much more science to cheese making than this simple explanation and lots more to learn. Cheese making is a continuous learning experience that never stops. Parmesan cheese requires a Thermophilic Culture and Lipase to give it that awesome kick. Or you can use our special culture that has everything in it. Y92 LYO. No mixing and matching cultures.Very simple very easy and a very good cheese. Lipase is an enzyme and used for adding flavor to Parmesan, Feta and Mozzarella.
You can find all you need in our store.
Just click a button
To make Brie/Camembert you need to add Penicillium Candidum
(white mould powder) with a Mesophilic culture.
To make Blue Cheese you need to add Penicillium Roqueforti
(Blue mould powder) with a Mesophilic Culture.
We don't want you to be confused so go slow and only play with 1 or 2 cultures to start with. We suggest our 3 Cultures to make all the cheeses listed above!
We are forever expanding the store and will carry many more cultures in the near future. Send us a message if you are looking for something specific. We probably carry it.
