The Basics of Making Cheese

Cheese making is a craft that has been around for ages. It is a milk based food product that is produced in a wide variety of flavors and textures and consists of proteins and fat from milk. Cheese making has an interesting history behind it. It is often said that the first cheese was made by the Nomadic tribes of Central Asia. Since they used the internal organs of animal and their skins as a vessel for their food stuffs, it is very probable that the process of cheese making was discovered accidentally when milk was stored in the stomach of an animal, where the rennet from the stomach must have turned the milk into curd and whey.

What milk should you use in cheese making

Since milk is the most important element in cheese making, it should be carefully selected to make sure that no harmful agents or antibodies are present in the milk that can affect the process. In addition, though cheese can be made from skimmed milk, or the milk of cows, goats, buffalo or even sheep, the kind of milk used will affect the flavor and the texture of the cheese to a very large degree.

Goat milk will give a tart, tangy flavor to the cheese. Sheep milk gives a distinctive flavor and aroma to the cheese. Whole milk boasts three and a half to four percent butterfat; its cream content is intact. Hard cheeses made from high-fat milk are generally softer than skim milk varieties but their “mouth feel” is superbly rich and silky.

Whole milk is usually used for making hard cheese that have a superbly rich and silky “mouth feel”. Skimmed milk produces cheese that contains zero to two percent butterfat. These low-fat cheeses are highly in demand, today.

The process

During cheese making, the milk is selected and then heated at a specific temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. This is pasteurization. The starter culture is then added to the milk. This changes a small amount of the milk sugar into lactic acid, which helps to acidify the milk at a faster rate. Next, rennet is added, and within a short time curd is produced.

The curd is then cut up neatly into small cubes and heat is applied to the cubes to begin the shrinking process, which soon changes into small rice-sized grains. These grains are allowed to fall off at the bottom of the cheese making vat, at a specific temperature.

Once this is done, the whey, water and milk sugar is allowed to be drained off. Salt is then added to the slabs and allowed to mature, giving shape to hard-pressed cheese.

Supplies for cheese making

Here are all the various cheese making supplies that you will need, along with a short description for each of them.

Acidifier: The acidifier will help you to convert the milk sugar to lactic acid and thereby ripen the milk. Simple lemon juice or special bacterial starter can be used as an acidifier.

Rennet: This is the special enzyme that separated the milk into curd and whey. Both animal and vegetable rennet can be used. It can also be purchased in solid or liquid forms.

Citric Acid: This will be required for preparing mozzarella, or cheese with a tangier taste.

Flavorings: Flavoring like garlic, oregano, sage, basil, thyme and other combination of herbs can be used to give the cheese a delicate flavoring of its own.

Salt: Non iodized and coarse salt should be used for cheese making, as this draws the moisture from the curd.

Finally, cheese making may be a somewhat complicated process. But it can easily be made at home by people who are ready to put in the effort and the time. In fact, with the ready availability of cheese making supplies and equipments, you can prepare cheese in matter of hours.