Culturing Geotrichium from Kefir

[Owly055]

I started a Chevre of sorts on Sunday. A very simple soft cheese in which you add your culture, and rennet, etc, all at the same time, cover it and walk away, leaving it at room temp for 12 hours, or several days, or even longer. The quantity of rennet in this is far less than in most cheeses, and you do not cut the curd, just allow it to settle and ladle it out.
I used Kefir for a starter, and allowed to this to sit since Sunday evening. It's Thursday morning as I write. In the meantime I made Feta, and added my whey to the Chevre, my intention being to make Whey Ricotta from the total whey of the two cheeses (2 gallons of milk). The reasons for the long period were twofold. One was to achieve a very nice sour character, and the other was to cultivate geotrichium from my kefir culture......... and to verify that it was there.
I now have a beautiful bloom of Geotrichium, which I intend to allow to develop until this evening, and then ladle most of it off with the whey, to save in the fridge for a culture for future projects.. A lovely lightly wrinkled soft white pellicle.. I've also cultured P Roqueferti on bread, from a tiny bit of Gorgonzola.

You can make these things at home instead of spending $15-$35 for little foil packets............

H.W.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I started a Chevre of sorts on Sunday. A very simple soft cheese in which you add your culture, and rennet, etc, all at the same time, cover it and walk away, leaving it at room temp for 12 hours, or several days, or even longer. The quantity of rennet in this is far less than in most cheeses, and you do not cut the curd, just allow it to settle and ladle it out.
I used Kefir for a starter, and allowed to this to sit since Sunday evening. It's Thursday morning as I write. In the meantime I made Feta, and added my whey to the Chevre, my intention being to make Whey Ricotta from the total whey of the two cheeses (2 gallons of milk). The reasons for the long period were twofold. One was to achieve a very nice sour character, and the other was to cultivate geotrichium from my kefir culture......... and to verify that it was there.
I now have a beautiful bloom of Geotrichium, which I intend to allow to develop until this evening, and then ladle most of it off with the whey, to save in the fridge for a culture for future projects.. A lovely lightly wrinkled soft white pellicle..

I did not completely follow. did the geotrichium form on the curd?

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Wasn't aware kefir contained geo. Very cool, Owly, thanks for sharing.