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Saturday, January 29, 2011

how to make cheese

How to Make Cheese
Cheese-making is a four-step process:

* curdling (or coagulation),
* draining and flavouring,
* moulding and pressing,
* and ripening or ageing.

making cheese

Curdling
Curdling or coagulation is the separation of the solid from the liquid components (whey separation) which is achieved by adding ripening cultures such as rennet or lactic acid bacteria. All cheeses are put through this process. There are two basic curdling methods and these are determined according to the type of cheese being made.

Sour-curd cheeses are made by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk, which make it clot into small grains of curd. Fresh-curd cheeses, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and soft-curd cheeses like Brie and Camembert are examples of sour-curd cheeses.

Rennet cheeses are made by adding an enzyme which causes the formation of larger grains of curd. Hard cheeses are made this way.

Some cheeses are made by mixing both sour curd and rennet. Veined cheeses and semi-firm cheeses are examples of sour-rennet cheeses.

Draining
Draining consists in separating the curds and the whey to obtain the required moisture content for cheese. Sour curd is drained by letting the whey filter through the grains of curd into another tank for several hours at a time. To drain rennet curd, several active or manual techniques are used like stretching, kneading, cutting, mixing and heating.

Pressing
When a curd mass is placed in a cheese mould, it expels more whey and draws together. As a rule, hard cheeses are submitted to more pressure and have lower water content. For cheese types that are meant to have a relatively high water content like sour-curd cheeses, pressing is done by letting the upper layer of curds press down on the lower layer. Rennet cheeses are submitted to different levels of active pressure to the curd mass. It is sometimes heated as well.

The curd is transferred into perforated moulds of different shapes and sizes to continue whey expulsion or draining. Pressing is usually reserved for hard and semi-hard cheeses, but semi-soft cheeses are also lightly pressed. Cheeses are sprinkled or rubbed with salt or put in a brine bath. Salt acts as an antiseptic and also contributes to skin or rind formation and flavouring.

Finally, cheese can be waxed and sealed with Penicillium, or bacteria. It can also be washed in water, alcohol or brine. The cheese may also be covered with wood ashes, herbs, oil, or it can be smoked or painted like Port-Salut and Saint-Paulin.

Ripening
Ripening is a process by which the constituents of milk are further broken down to produce the required flavour, texture and aroma of a specific cheese. This delicate procedure requires an environment in which moisture, temperature and oxygen are controlled to promote maturation. There are two principal ripening methods that can be used.

Non-surface ripening
Ripening begins and continues homogenously from the inside of the cheese mass outwards. The cheese is later hermetically sealed or coated with wax to prevent the action of oxygen on its surface. Swiss cheeses with curd-hole formation and Cheddars are examples of non-surface ripened cheeses.

Surface ripening
Surface ripening begins on the outside of the cheese and progresses inwards. Micro-organisms are added to the surface of the cheese to promote skin or rind formation. Bloomy-rind and washed-rind cheeses are surface-ripened.

history of cheese

History
maturing cheese
Cheese is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history. There is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheesemaking originated, either in Europe, Central Asia or the the Middle East, but the practice had spread within Europe prior to Roman times and had become a sophisticated enterprise by the time the Roman Empire came into being. As Rome's influence receded, distinct local cheesemaking techniques emerged. This diversity reached its peak in the early industrial age and has declined somewhat since then due to mechanization and economic factors.
Cheese has served as a hedge against famine and is a good travel food. It is valuable for its portability, long life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is lighter, more compact, and has a longer shelf life than the milk from which it is made. Cheesemakers can place themselves near the center of a dairy region and benefit from fresher milk, lower milk prices, and lower shipping costs. The substantial storage life of cheese lets a cheesemaker sell when prices are high or when money is needed.

Origins
cheese selection
The exact origins of cheesemaking are debated or unknown, and estimates range from around 8000 BCE (when sheep were domesticated) to around 3000 BCE. Credit for the discovery most likely goes to nomadic Turkic tribes in Central Asia, around the same time that they developed yogurt, or to people in the Middle East. A common tale about the discovery of cheese tells of an Arab nomad carrying milk across the desert in a container made from an animal's stomach, only to discover the milk had been separated into curd and whey by the rennet from the stomach.
Folktales aside, cheese likely began as a way of preserving soured and curdled milk through pressing and salting, with rennet introduced later— perhaps when someone noticed that cheese made in an animal stomach produced more solid and better-textured curds. The earliest archaeological evidence of cheesemaking has been found in Egyptian tomb murals, dating to about 2300 BCE. The earliest cheeses would likely have been quite sour and salty, similar in texture to rustic cottage cheese or feta.
From the Middle East, basic cheesemaking found its way into Europe, where cooler climates meant less aggressive salting was needed for preservation. With moderate salt and acidity, the cheese became a suitable environment for a variety of beneficial microbes and molds, which are what give aged cheeses their pronounced and interesting flavors.

what is cheese

What is Cheese
Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats , sheep, and other mammals. Cheese is made by curdling milk using a combination of rennet (or rennet substitutes) and acidification. Bacteria acidify the milk and play a role in defining the texture and flavor of most cheeses. Some cheeses also feature molds, either on the outer rind or throughout. Cheeses

There are hundreds of types of cheese produced all over the world. Different styles and flavors of cheese are the result of using milk from various mammals or with different butterfat contents, employing particular species of bacteria and molds, and varying the length of aging and other processing treatments. Other factors include animal diet and the addition of flavoring agents such as herbs, spices, or wood smoke. Whether the milk is pasteurized may also affect the flavor. The yellow to red coloring of many cheeses is a result of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked as part of various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.

For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids such as vinegar or lemon juice. Most cheeses, however, are acidified to a lesser degree by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid, followed by the addition of rennet to complete the curdling. Rennet is an enzyme mixture traditionally obtained from the stomach lining of young cattle, but now also laboratory produced. Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are available; most are produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei, but others have been extracted from various species of the Cynara thistle family.
alangkah rindu yer ngan air tangan ibu n nenek...
aku ingin mengumpul resepi hasil air tangan ibu2 n nenek kalian...xkira dr negeri maner or negara maner...sekira yer ader recepi yg enak2 belaka bole lh berkongsi rahsia n ilmu...