Happy Bacteria Cultures - Home Grown Mesophilic Bacteria

Yesterday I was busy finishing up my feta cheese making – it was a great experiment all round and fun too. It is a marvel to watch the milk curdle and then clump into solids and liquids as it separates during the ripening phase.

With my microbiology background (yes, that too) I am always curious about the bacteria normally present in raw milk and of course, then my mind goes into thinking….can I get them to grow at home?

Of course the answer for the most part is, yes. It is actually quite easy – and because I have wonderful raw milk from my own goats – the way to go about producing my own mesophilic (bacteria that grow in moderate temperatures such as 20 to 30 degrees) is relatively simple.

During the past couple of days I took a clean empty glass jar and filled it with milk right from the goats. Then I set it out on the kitchen counter (with the lid loosely on) and watched it. It feels as if I have done a lot of watching and waiting this week….

However, after a few hours, you kind of ignore it – because this process takes about 30 to 36 hours (in my case) for the milk to curdle. After 24 hours nothing was happening so I moved the jar to a slightly warmer place until I went to bed.

Just before I turned in for the night, I moved the jar back to it’s cooler location and left it there. This morning – I had soured, thick, clumpy milk – it was wonderful to see! I gave it a couple of little shakes to evenly distribute the curds and then poured it into small trays to freeze.

This was evidence that bacteria had grown and was now ready to use in some way...

If all goes well – I should be able to take one frozen cube out of the freezer and use it to inoculate my yogurt, buttermilk or cheese making adventures for at least some of the types I hope to make.

At the very least – it was nice to how more of this cheese making process can be done at home. I have an issue with mass produced, factory grown bacteria….I think they aren’t as happy as the ones grown in my kitchen.

April

Mesophilic bacteria starter in trays