Dosage and pack size
- Large size (20UA in foil sachet) will inoculate 600 to 2,000 litres of milk depending on dosage used
- Small size (5UA screw cap bottle which is 1/4 of a large pack) will inoculate 150 to 500 litres of milk depending on dosage used
- An approximate guide for usage is 1 smidgen mini spoon or 1/32nd spoon to 8 litres of milk. But this dosage level in not critical and can be increased.
Types of Cheese LH can be used on
LH is not a stand alone acidifying culture. It is used in Cheddar, Edam and Gouda, Swiss styles, large eye, small eye, hard Italian and Swiss styles, Parmesan, Romano.
Description
LH is a thermophilic multiple strain flavour and aromatic thermophilic culture that contains Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Lactis. The Lactobacillus helveticus is the dominant culture of these two. It is a very low lever acidifier and is not a stand-alone culture but needs to be used in conjunction with other starter cultures. It can be used to add a ‘Swiss’ to numerous styles of cheese. The Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Lactis in LH have multiple roles:
- to produce a very small level of lactic acid and enzymes for ripening
- help reduce bitter flavours in cheese. The LH breaks down the peptides into even smaller peptides in a different way to the rennet and the other starter culture enzymes.
- The cultures produce nutty and sweet flavours (‘Swiss’ flavours) in the final cheese.
- It is galactose positive, so the cultures will provide secondary fermentation to break down the residual galactose in the cheese within 24 hours after manufacture, so those sugars are not present during the cheese ripening. This is a very important to stop brown/pink discoloration of hard Swiss and Italian styles of cheese.
- Note: LH is a thermophile, so temperatures greater than 30°C during manufacture and within the first 12 hours after hooping is very helpful in reducing this discolouration.
Flavour profile: 4 out 5