Cheesemaking Update
We left off, before Pesach, with a laundry-list of cheesemaking ingredients which would require attention in regard to Kashrut. Since then, I’ve discovered that a large segment of the cheese additives available are manufactured under kosher supervision. Manufacturers include:
* Danisco (cultures)
* Rhodia (cultures, microbial rennet)
* Chr. Hansen (cultures, microbial rennet)
* DSM (microbial rennet)
* Imac (cultures)
What has been challenging is finding a retailer that sells these products in consumer-appropriate quantities, and does not repackage them into smaller containers without supervision.
Fortunately, I have found one online retailer based in Canada that sells Dansico products in their original manufacturer’s packaging: danlac.com. The website is rather confusing, but with some help from the fellow who runs it, I was able to identify the products I need for my first cheesemaking attempt: mesophilic starter culture and microbial rennet. He also provided me with the requisite kashrut documentation, just to be certain.
The special equipment I’ll need at first (dairy thermometer and butter muslin) I can get from New England Cheesemaking Supply.
So far, so good.
What if you keep Chalov Yisrael? Since all of the cultures I have seen are kosher dairy, how can you make that work?