Testing Starter Culture
I know I've seen some posts from salami makers, but can't seem to find any of them now. I want to try a recipe for summer sausage and don't currently have any starter culture in my sausage making supplies. I've tracked down the culture called for in my recipe and its relatively expensive for one or two time use. $15 for enough to treat 200lbs of meat. Unlikely to use that much in a life time. Says it keeps for 6 months frozen. OTOH I'm still using a bulk pack of yeast that's been in the freezer for ten years. My belief is that 6 months is a pessimistic number, but my question is whether there is a "proof" test for starter culture to tell whether it's still active?
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None that I know of. Could you ask the supplier this question? Similar to yeast and other living cultures, they probably become less viable with time gradually, rather dying all at once at the end of six months. There is probably a way to test the viability, but likely to be more involved than you'd like to get. I personally would consider using slightly more than suggested if it's older than six months. What product is it?
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