Milk Production and Cheesemaking Flashcards
Main Ingredients in Cheese
Milk, Salt, Cultures, Rennet
Composition of Milk
Water and Solids (Fat, Vitamins, Proteins, Minerals, and Carbohydrates)
What is the main carbohydrate in milk?
Lactose
What is the main protein in milk?
80% are caseins, the rest are whey proteins.
What is the main mineral in milk?
Calcium
How much cheese can you make from milk?
It varies by breed, but a 10% yield is a good assumption. For example, 10L of milk = 1 kilogram of cheese.
Steps of Cheesemaking for Crumbly/Hard/Hard Cooked Cheeses
- Warm milk and add starter culture
- Add rennet
- Cut the curd
- Process in the vat, stirring (and scalding and washing for some hard and hard cooked cheeses)
- Draining the whey
- Moulding and Pressing (salting may occur before or after this depending on cheese type)
- Maturation (or storage).
What are the makes?
Soft, crumbly, hard, and hard cooked.
Steps of Cheesemaking for Soft Cheeses
- Warm milk and add starter culture
- Add rennet
- Cut or ladle the curd
- Moulding or bag-draining the curd
- Draining the whey
- Salting
- Maturation (or storage)
What are starter cultures and what do they do?
Starter cultures are usually cocktails of Lactic Acid Bacteria that ferment the lactose, producing lactic acid in a process called “acidification.” They also help keep away “bad bacteria.”
What is rennet and what does it do?
Rennet is an enzyme that speeds up coagulation and curd formation. Rennet can come from the stomach of a baby animal, or from plants or species of yeasts and bacteria for vegetarians.
What is the milk mixture called after rennet is added?
A junket.
Describe the curd cut size for each make of cheese.
Soft: The junket is cut into large pieces or not at all.
Crumbly: Dice to pea sized curds.
Hard: Pea to grain sized curds.
Hard Cooked: Grain to rice sized curds.
At what temperature should you scald each cheese make?
Crumbly - 35 celsius
Hard - 36-40 celsius
Hard Cooked - Around 50 celsius or higher
What is cheddaring and why would you do it?
Cheddaring is cutting curd into blocks, turning them, and stacking them on top of one another. The purpose is to further acidify the curd and squeeze out whey.
