Hi all.
Great forum,spent many hours last night reading forum archives and am feeling well informed.
Just a couple of small questions:
Is there anyone that contributes here from New Zealand? We have very limited supply outlets for cheesemaking and I am having trouble accessing thermophilic starter.
And secondly,am I able to use standard yellow food colouring in cheese?Again having trouble purchasing any of the “real” stuff.
Would appreciate any comments from others that may be able to suggest alternative products that I could try.Many thanks.

Ozz has lots of suppliers so it should not be hard to mail order them from Oz if their arnt any locally. If u need to color your cheese and u dont have access to natural ones then I would make sure the artificial ones dont have preservatives or it might influence your aging. I used turmeric a couple times but have not experimented enough to know the effect since it has natural antiseptic properties and u might pick up the taste of turmeric.
Welcome aboard :D

i would use for thermo , good fresh plain yogurt like this

Yogurt is fine for basic stuff but it does not give the “cheese” quality to the finished product. Thats what I was told from the producers when I first got into the cheese making

Hey there Leea, yes- I am in NZ.  I appreciate your problem. I only do meso myself. I use R704 & Fl. Dan. by Chr. Hansen from curds & whey. I think a lot of starters have meso & thermo combined. It may be possible to use a combination of one of those available to us with the yoghurt, but I haven’t a clue what proportions to use. Will check it out when I have more time.
  I wonder what the situation is with biosecurity (MAF) as regards importing cultures from overseas? could be worth a phone call…...
  Take heart though- at least we have the best rennet & enzymes inthe world courtesy of Renco

There are some on p2 of curds & whey price list http://www.cuisineaccessory.co.nz/images/Curds&Whey;_Price_List_2007.pdf

http://www.cheesemaking.co.nz/index.php?action=comp_content&function=view&contentid=2&itemid=432

http://www.cheeselinks.com.au/MissionVision.html

Might end up better to order form a good distributer. http://www.danlac.com/ that were I get mine ( and I live 4 hours away from him )

Thank-you all for your comments and suggestions. Much appreciated.