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Making cheese with out-of-date culture/rennet

Leila Rich
steward

Joined: May 24, 2010
Posts: 2331
Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Coastal, sandy, windy, temperate. Average yearly rainfall 1270mm
    
  29


I plan to make lots of cheese when I go 'down to the farm' and can get my 5l at the farm gate (for now, anyway... http://foodsafety.govt.nz/policy-law...ons/food-bill/)
The veg rennet's fridged and culture frozen, but they're at least a year or two out of date. Has anyone used old stuff successfully? I get the impression it's a matter of using more for the same effect, rather than the products being useless.
I'm a novice-ish cheesemaker, so 'eyeballing' worries me a bit!


Pam Hatfield


Joined: Jul 07, 2010
Posts: 508
Can't say as I ever have but ...WHY? Using something a day or two outdated is one thing but at least a year or more? I have made cheese and I wouldn't put in the expense, effort and time and run such a risk of having it make someone sick or be unpleasant/inedible after all. Especially if a novice cheesmaker, give yourself a break and use only the best ingredients you can,( which does NOT include ingredients "at least a year or two out of date") so as to maximize the chances of having a first class product. My opinion fwiw.
Leila Rich
steward

Joined: May 24, 2010
Posts: 2331
Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Coastal, sandy, windy, temperate. Average yearly rainfall 1270mm
    
  29
As far as I can find out, the rennet and culture won't make anyone sick, they just slowly lose potency.
I totally understand your point, but the rennet and culture are expensive and enough for waaay more cheese than I'll make, so if I buy more, I'll have the same situation again.
I'm an experienced cook, so while I haven't made much cheese, I'm ok if there's a bit of trial (and even error )
Maybe I just have get over it and buy more!
Anna Carter


Joined: Feb 11, 2011
Posts: 65
Location: Lacey, Wa
I'm more laid back than most people, but I've used out of date stuff- I just used more than was called for. You could also run a couple small test batches to see how effective they are at this point.


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