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Making cheese Cheese is a fresh or ripened product made from coagulated milk. Cheese can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel. For all of them however, there are four major stages in the basic process:
The first step in cheesemaking is to coagulate the milk solids into a curd. It can be done either by acid coagulation or rennet coagulation. Acid coagulation is caused by adding an acid substance (lemon juice, vinegar) or by adding a bacterial culture that turns the lactose into lactic acid. Renneting consists in adding the rennet to the heated milk. Coagulation, which cannot take place under 10 C, is activated at temperatures between 20 and 40 C. The coagulation period depends on the type of cheese and varies from 30 minutes to 36 hours. Shaping of the curds The curds are broken down in a vat to separate the curds from the whey. As larger cheese curds contain more water than small ones, a large curd is prepared for soft cheeses, a medium-sized curd for firmer cheeses and a small curd for hard cheeses. The curds are cut up into lumps. The curd mass is constantly stirred to prevent it from agglomerating again. The duration of this cutting up (de-curding) period also varies according to the cheese. For many cheeses, a medium- sized curd is prepared first. It than gives off more whey when it is stirred and warmed. There are several methods for removing the curds from the vat for draining. A draining-board in long grooves is used and the entire vat poured onto it for goat's cheeses. Ladles may also be used to transfer the curds directly into moulds containing holes through which the whey can run off. With pressed cheeses, strong cloth which allows the whey to filter through the holes and retains the curds, is used. Salting, washing and seeding Salt plays a substantial role in cheesemaking. Salting serves a number of functions, it speeds up the drying process, heightens the cheese's flavour, helps the rind to form and slows down the proliferation of micro-organisms. Each type of cheese has a specified salt content. The most common method is an immersion in a brine bath. Depending on the cheese, the brine will contain between 250 and 350g salt per litre. Dry-salting is done by rubbing the cheese with salt on repeated occasions after it has been removed from the mould. Washed-rind cheeses are brushed or washed with salt at regular intervals during their maturation, preventing the formation of mould and keeping the rind soft. Cheeses may be washed in spirits (wine or bear). Cheeses can be seeded with fungus to produce the soft white down of their "bloomy" rind, or the blue-green veining of "blue" cheeses. Maturing The environment in which the majority of cheeses are ripened is usually a ripening cellar or a special storage room. Cheese-makers are often putting their cheeses in drying-rooms to speed up the maturation. The ripening cellar may be humid and warm, or relatively cool. The climate of the cellar is determined by the ambient temperature and relative humidity, as well as by the natural movement of air in the space. The temperature can range from 32 to 77 F, but the majority of cheeses are ripened at between 46 and 60 F. During the maturation period there is a constant exchange between ripening gases, such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, from the cheese and oxygen in the air, which is essencial for the growth of both aerobic surface flora and interior flora. |
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