CHEESE MAKING
What is cheese?
Cheese is a preserved form of milk made by using live cultures to transform the milk through chemical processes, and then by the coagulation, pressing, and salting of the milk protein casein.
Cheese is popular for its versatility, longevity, and nutritional values. Cheese is a staple food with a longer shelf life than milk, and it is an affordable food for any budget. There are numerous styles, shapes, tastes, and textures of cheese, all developed in different regions, climates, and cultures of the world.
History
It is an ancient practice pictured in the murals of the Egyptian tombs.
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| http://www.sabor-artesano.com/gb/history-production-cheese.htm |
The making of cheese is described also in Homer’s Odyssey, a very early Grecian work of literature thought to date back to around the 8th century BCE.
Animal skins and internal organs were used frequently in the early days, so it is likely that some farmer merely filled an inflated animal stomach with milk to carry or store it for a time. The lining of animal stomach contains the enzymes used in cheesemaking even now, so maybe when the shepherd returned to retrieve his milk, or the hearth keeper went to pour milk for her cooking, the vessel was full of curds and whey. Drainage and salt are all that was needed to make this new, exciting food into what we know as cheese today.
CHEESEMAKING PROCESS
Traditionally, cheese is made by culturing milk either by encouraging natural enzymes and bacterial action (in raw milk) or by using the culture (in pasteurized milk).
A coagulant, such as rennet, lemon juice, or vinegar is then added, causing the milk protein casein to curdle and separate as a white, firm curd from the clear, watery whey.
The curd is then cut, using a specialized curd cutter, into smaller cubes (now curds), to be mashed and formed to a specific style. Next, the curds are drained and crumbled if used as a soft cheese, or spread (pressed), using a round cheese press.
Curds are compressed in a cheese press for as long as the specific style requires, then wrapped in some type of bandage or cloth, sometimes brined or rubbed in butter or lard, and put into a dark, cool environment to age naturally for as long as needed.
https://www.burnettdairy.com/about-us/cheese-making-process