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Cheese Information
There are probably well
over 1000 or more cheeses in
the world. Certainly Europe
and the United States
produce the majority. There
are several categories that
cheeses fall into. There's
fresh cheese such as ricotta
and cream cheese, soft
cheese such as Havarti and
Port Salut, semi soft
cheeses such as Fontina,
Cheddar, Morbiere and fresh
Asiago, hard cheeses include
Parmesan and Pecorino
Romano, double and triple
cream cheeses such as Saint
Andre and Explorateur whose
butterfat content can
sometimes be as high as 70%
or more. There's blue cheese
which with the addition of
penicillin bacteria during
the aging process creates
the edible blue mold in the
cheese, washed rind cheeses
such as Epoisses and
Limburger that spoil if they
were not washed with salt
water through the aging
process of many weeks,
bloomy rind cheeses such as
Brie and Camembert only take
several weeks to age.
Processed cheeses such as
Boursin and Wisepride,
goat’s milk cheeses like
Montrachet logs and Crottin,
sheep's cheeses such as
Manchego, Roquefort and
Feta.
So how is cheese made? Some
basic steps---
Step 1. Fresh milk is
brought to the production
plant. It may be cow’s milk,
goat’s milk, water buffalo’s
milk, sheep's milk or other.
One consideration a cheese
maker may make, is where the
animal lives and what it
eats as it will determine
the final quality and taste
of the cheese.
Step 2. Tasting the milk for
purity and quality.
Step 3. The milk may be
pasteurized that is heated
to retard spoilage and
promote product uniformity,
even the milk fat can be
adjusted at this time. If
producing a cheese made with
raw milk, this step is
skipped.
Step 4. A harmless bacteria
or culture is added, known
as a starter, which will
determine the flavor,
texture and growth rate.
This culture is what
actually curdles the milk.
Step 5. If the cheese is to
be a yellow cheese, coloring
is added, this coloring is
from the Annatto seed.
Step 6. Rennet is added to
coagulate the milk proteins.
The milks proteins then
coagulates, turning the milk
into a custard like gel.
Step 7. Cutting; the curd is
cut and shaped into cubes of
different sizes. There are
different cutting techniques
for different cheeses.
Cutting divides the gel into
small Kurds. It's allows the
way to begin to separate
from the curd and drain off.
Step 8. Stirring and
heating; the curd is
continually stirred and cook
until the desired firmness
is reached. The length of
cooking time is dependent on
the kind of cheese being
made. Please note, in some
cheeses, there is no
cooking, which is the case
with Camembert and Brie.
Step 9. Draining the Whey;
whey is now a watery
solution and is what remains
after the cheese curds have
formed. It is trained in
pumped into another system
for further treatment and
some countries this way may
be fed to pigs. Such is the
case with the weight that's
produced when making
Parmigiano Reggiano, that's
why Prosciutto di Parma is
so tasty!
Step 10. Molding and
pressing the curd; the curd
is cut, gathered in cheese
cloth, drained and pressed
into molds for final drying.
Pressing will determine the
shape of the cheese and
forces out the final drops
of whey.
Step 11. Aging and caring;
the curd, now cheese, is
aged or cured to conform to
regulations for the specific
type of cheese being made.
Depending on the type of
cheeses being made, forms
are salted, salted and
soaked in brine or sprayed
with mold spores to get to
the next stage of
development. Then, the
cheeses are placed on racks
in a caring room, caves or
sellers, for the appropriate
ripening period, during
which temperatures and
humidity are kept at certain
levels.
There is a
very good book written by
Ricki Carroll called Home
Cheese Making, Recipes for
75 Homemade Cheeses,
published by Storey
Publishing. In it you will
find a wealth of information
to get you started making
your own cheese. Ricki also
owns New England Cheese
Making Supply, 54B Whately
Rd, South Deerfield, MA
01373. Visit
http://www.cheesemaking.com/
for all your cheese making
supplies.
rev. 12
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