Now in stores and markets you can find and buy almost any product, even the most exotic, and it is not at all necessary to spend time preparing your favorite delicacies. This is the opinion of most people, and it can be understood: time is money, after work you just want to take the packaging out of the refrigerator and not think about where and how its contents came from. Attentive buyers, in addition to paying attention to prices, also read the composition and compliance with production standards (GOST, TU). And thoughtful and wise buyers learn in more detail about what they eat, after which they seriously think about switching at least partially to own cooking food. Homemade cheese, in addition to having an interesting and fresh taste, provides a guarantee that it was “produced” according to all the rules and without unnecessary unnecessary components. The fact that your cheese will be very different from store-bought counterparts for the better is the main reason to try it.
There is a small peculiarity in the preparation of cheeses. Good cheeses are made from large volumes of milk. By making a test sample of a liter volume, you can get something similar, but far from good quality homemade cheese.
Cheese is essentially milk concentrate. Thus, half a kilo of hard cheese contains the same amount of useful substances as are contained in 4.5 liters of milk. Having eaten in the morning fragrant piece bread with cheese, you can say that you drink a glass of milk with all its beneficial substances: riboflavin, calcium, vitamins. As the cheese matures, the content of B vitamins increases, so the cheese provides additional benefits.
Cheap cheese (up to 200 rubles/kg) is usually made from dry mixtures. In stores, such cheese is usually already sliced, and information about the composition and production standards is not available to the buyer. When making homemade cheese, you can be sure of the quality, because you will buy the milk for this yourself. The best option, when you live outside the city and have the opportunity to buy fresh real milk or keep a cow yourself. If you have to buy milk, it is important to choose the right supplier. Milk must be clean, free of foreign substances unpleasant odors, maximum fat content and, of course, fresh. Such milk can be bought at markets, it is sometimes brought from surrounding villages to the station areas, and sold in places where trains stop. If you can’t find something rustic, you can get by with the fattest store-bought milk(shelf life should be minimal) or use ready-made cottage cheese. The last option is even preferable for the first time, as it will save time, but will give a general idea of the process, and you can decide whether you need homemade cheese on your farm or if it’s not for you.
Cheeses come in varying degrees of hardness (or softness). Homemade cheese is usually soft. It can reach a solid state after prolonged exposure. Hard cheese is prepared on the basis of cottage cheese separated from the whey under pressure. The harder the pressure, the better the whey is squeezed out, and the harder the cheese becomes. Hard cheese can be stored a little longer than medium and soft cheeses. Aging hard cheeses significantly improves the taste. Soft cheese is not aged under pressure for long, so it has the structure of dense cottage cheese, is not stored for long and has a delicate, mild taste. Soft cheese is no worse than hard cheese - it's just different. It all depends on your taste preferences and patience.
In cheese making, you rarely get it right the first time, so be patient. If the preparation is serious enough, it is possible delicious cheese it will work the first time. To prepare, you will need an impressive list of tools. Some tools can be replaced with improvised means, and the main ones can be made independently.
You will need:
Choose a form according to your needs. The optimal diameter is 20 cm - not too large, but not narrow either. In the future, you can make cheese molds of different sizes. If you haven't decided yet whether to make cheese or not, try making simplest form from any large-diameter tin can with a volume of about a liter. Cut off the uneven edges on top so that they do not interfere with the piston entering, and make holes from the inside in the bottom of the jar to drain the liquid. The torn edges of the holes should be on the outside so as not to damage the future cheese.
The piston is a part of the press equal to the diameter of the mold. The piston should fit freely into the mold and not have large gaps at the edges. The purpose of the piston is to press and squeeze out excess moisture.
Press. You can make this device yourself or buy it. The simplest press, and at the same time a piston, can be considered two buckets, one of which is smaller. Small and will at the same time be a piston. In a larger bucket, make holes in the bottom for the whey to flow out.
You will need pots to collect the skim milk (the liquid left over from the milk). It is better to have several pots of different containers ready.
A colander will be needed to separate the liquid part of the curdled milk (skim). As a rule, gauze will work in tandem with a colander, retaining solid parts and allowing liquid to pass through.
The harder you want the cheese, the heavier the load should be. It is optimal to have a main load weighing about 10 kg and several additional ones weighing 5 kg. It is convenient to use ordinary bricks as a load.
Paraffin or wax will be required if you want to make hard cheese. Paraffin is used to preserve the resulting cheese. The easiest way is to melt several household colorless candles.
The spoon should have a handle long enough to reach the bottom of the container in which you will stir the milk. It is better if it is wooden. Don't use aluminum.
The easiest way to make cheese is from cottage cheese. Less time and effort will be spent, and an enzyme will not be needed to coagulate milk. Place the cottage cheese in a colander lined with a cloth to drain the whey, sprinkle with salt (1 tablespoon per kilogram of cottage cheese) and grind thoroughly so that the salt is distributed evenly and there are no lumps in the cottage cheese. Ideally, you should get a plastic curd mass. If the cottage cheese is dry or low-fat, you can add a little sour cream or cream. After this, transfer the curd mass into a mold, line the bottom of which with gauze folded in several layers and place under a press for 10-12 hours. Make sure that the cheese does not turn out too dry. The resulting cheese does not last long and should be eaten within a few days.
The second method is to grind the cottage cheese with salt and leave it in a dry place for 5 days. Mix the dried and yellowed cottage cheese again, transfer it to a greased pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until liquid forms. homogeneous mass no lumps. Pour the finished mixture into containers and cool. The finished cheese can be eaten within a few hours. Sometimes with this method, an equal amount of milk by weight is added to the cottage cheese, heated and allowed to cool in the molds. Cheese obtained by these methods also does not last long.
Cottage cheese will not produce hard varieties that can be aged and stored for a long time. Real cheese can only be obtained with the help of whole milk and a fermenting agent. Pepsin is the most accessible enzyme. Since, due to the specifics of its production, pepsin is quite difficult to obtain in pure form, instead of it, the drug “acidin-pepsin”, freely sold in pharmacies, is suitable. There is no need to worry about medications containing pepsin. Pepsin is just an enzyme produced in the stomach of animals, it coagulates proteins well. In its pure form, pepsin is a medicine for certain types of gastritis and poor digestion of food. In the case of cheese, pepsin acts as an enzyme that quickly converts milk into the required thick mass. By the way, you can use pepsin only once; subsequently you can use the starter. Another option is natural rennet. This is the gastric enzyme extracted from the stomachs of animals. This is why vegetarians do not eat rennet-based cheeses. Instead of rennet starter, you can use sour milk, live yogurt or a couple of cups of curdled milk homemade, but in this case the process will take some time.
Remember that 4 liters of milk will yield about 0.5 liters of finished cheese. Cheese is best made from large volumes of milk (from 7 liters). Salt is an important element in cheese making. Avoid over-salting. On average, for every liter of milk, from one teaspoon to one tablespoon of salt is spent. The degree of salinity is selected individually.
Stages of cheese preparation.
1. Maturation.
Heat the milk to 32 degrees (use a thermometer) and add the starter. If it is sour milk, then it needs about 500 ml per 10 liters fresh milk. Mix thoroughly and cover with a lid. Leave in a warm place overnight. The temperature of the container should not increase.
2. Addition of rennet.
Add ½ teaspoon of rennet or a solution of one “acedin-pepsin” tablet per 100 ml of water to milk (temperature 25 degrees). Mix the mixture thoroughly and cover with a lid or cloth. Wait 30-40 minutes for the milk to curdle.
3. Cutting.
The curdled milk should thicken and the whey should separate. Using a long knife, cut the mass into equal pieces with a 3 cm edge, cutting vertically, and then, tilting the container, cut horizontally. Stir the pieces with a large-handled wooden spoon.
4. Heating.
Place the mixed curd mixture in a smaller container, which you place in a larger one. Pour water into a large one and heat in a water bath, slowly increasing the temperature (by 2 degrees every 5 minutes). Bring the temperature to 38 degrees and keep it at this level, stirring the curd mass for about 30-40 minutes. Stir gently and do not allow the cubes to stick together, and periodically check for consistency by gently squeezing and releasing sharply. The state is considered ready when the cubes break in your hand and do not stick together. This condition can occur 2-2.5 hours after the rennet enters the milk. This is an important point; you must wait for the required density of the curd cubes, otherwise a bad aftertaste may appear.
5. Spin.
Filter the whey from the curd mass. To do this, you can use a colander covered with a cloth. After this, transfer the mixture into a fairly flat container and turn from side to side so that the remaining whey comes out completely. From time to time, loosen the mixture with your hands or a fork to prevent a lump from forming. Control the temperature. At 32 degrees, the cottage cheese should be rubbery and squeak when chewed.
The amount of salt is selected experimentally. For the first time, take a little less salt than seems sufficient. For the initially selected proportions, the guideline will be from 1 to 2 tablespoons. Distribute the salt evenly and mix thoroughly. When the salt has dissolved and the mass has cooled to 30 degrees, it can be transferred to a mold for pressing.
Line the inside of the mold with a cloth and fill it with cheese mixture. Swaddle the mass on top with the free ends of the fabric and place under a press. To begin, load the piston with a load of about 15 kg (3-4 bricks). Gradually add one brick at a time until total weight up to 40 kg (8 bricks) and wait until the whey stops flowing (about an hour).
8. Wrapping.
Remove the pressure, remove the piston, take out the cheese, wash, wipe so that the top layer of fat comes off, smooth out any unevenness and folds. Cut a piece of material so that it overlaps the piece of cheese by 5 centimeters. The cheese should be tightly and securely “wrapped”. Place back into the press mold (after washing and wiping it dry) and place under pressure for a day (40-50 kg).
Take out the cheese, remove the cloth, and wipe it with a dry, clean cloth. Rinse with warm water, and at the same time smooth out cracks and irregularities (with your fingers or a table knife). Wipe the cheese with a clean cloth and place in a cool, dark place. The optimal storage place is a wooden cabinet. Rub and turn the cheese daily for 4-5 days until a crust forms on the surface.
10. Paraffin.
If the cheese turns out to be quite hard, then for the best result you can cover its surface with paraffin. Heat 250 grams of paraffin in a water bath until liquid. The container should be larger in diameter than the head of cheese. Dip the cheese into paraffin for a few seconds and let it harden for 2-3 minutes. Make sure that the entire surface is evenly covered with paraffin.
11. Maturation.
Turn your cheese every day. Wipe the cabinet, ventilate and dry it every week. After 6 weeks, the cheese will acquire density, its taste will be soft and delicate. The storage temperature should not exceed 15 degrees. If you want to wait for a spicy taste, then you should age the cheese for 3-5 months. At the same time, lower the storage temperature to 5-7 degrees. The lower the storage temperature, the longer the cheese can be aged, and the more elegant and sharp its taste will be. For the first cheese, it will be enough to age it for several weeks. Before pouring paraffin, you can divide the cheese into several parts and test one part for taste. But many believe that only whole head able to ripen qualitatively.
These recommendations are intended to provide guidance in the production of cheeses, to show the reality of their preparation at home. Detailed recipes There are quite a few ways to make cheese, and they will all be different from this one to some extent. In cheese production, each of the stages described affects taste, aroma and texture. By experimenting and trying, you can get your own “signature” variety and call it whatever you want.
Surely everyone has seen on store shelves an unusual-looking cheese braided into tight braids. This national Armenian dish is smoked Chechil cheese. It is especially valuable because it is made by hand, and its bright taste makes the product great snack for any drink, be it wine or beer.
What it is?
Chechil is a pickled extracted cheese; its closest relative is a similar Armenian cheese called Suluguni.
The name “Chechil” literally translates as “confused”, which exactly reflects it main feature– form. A tight rope is formed from the elongated cheese threads and braided. This cheese also comes in simpler interpretations - in the form of straws or rolled into a ball.
Chechil has a bright, slightly spicy taste, with pronounced smoked notes. It does not have a pronounced odor that distinguishes it from other types of cheese. Compared to Suluguni, it has a stronger stratification and sour-milk flavor.
Composition and expiration date
Chechil cheese can be made from goat, cow or sheep milk. As a rule, low-fat milk is used for its production, which makes it possible to make cheese with a fat content of 10%. Due to its low fat content, this cheese is an excellent replacement for fattier varieties for people trying to lose weight. The calorie content of Chechil is on average 2 times lower than that of classic cheeses, and is about 300-350 kcal. At the same time, this type of cheese contains practically no carbohydrates, but a lot of protein, which makes it an extremely valuable food product.
Chechil contains a large number of salt (from 4 to 8%), which, in turn, suggests that excessive consumption of it in food can harm the body. This especially applies to people who have problems with urinary and of cardio-vascular system. It is also worth considering that salt retains fluid in the body, which can cause unwanted swelling.
When buying cheese, you should inquire about its composition, as it is now on store shelves. great amount Chechila, which is not smoked using the classical method, but is treated with chemical smoke substitutes, dyes and preservatives are also added. All these additives make the cheese less tasty and healthy, but it lasts longer. The maximum shelf life of high-quality Chechil is 60 days, and smoked one is 75 days.
Varieties
The classic form of Chechil cheese is a tightly braided braid of long threads. This form is patented and created not just for beauty - the weaving allows you to preserve the properties of the cheese and the juiciness of the product.
On sale you can find Chechil in various types- a straw, a twisted rope, a ball or a wreath. For example, to consume this cheese in fried It is most convenient to use thick sticks. On store shelves, this form is most often from the cheese manufacturer Umalat, which has won many positive customer reviews. The “Spaghetti” form is also common.
Classic Chechil has a standard color scheme –from white to yellow. It is worth purchasing white cheese as a priority, since yellowness may indicate the addition of dyes to the product. As for smoked Chechil, its color will range from beige to brown. You also need to pay attention to the uniformity of color - with natural smoking, the color of the cheese will be transitional.
If Chechil is a uniform color, then most likely liquid smoke was used.
How and from what is it prepared?
How is this traditional Armenian cheese made? Chechil cheese is based on milk, which must sour in natural conditions. To speed up the process, a starter is often added to the milk, for example, an already sour product and rennet extract, while heating them. After the milk has soured, it is curdled under the influence of temperature. Flakes are formed, which are strips up to 10 cm long. They are taken out of the whey, cut into thin strips and shaped. After this, the cheese braids are sent to special smoking chambers.
How to make it at home?
It takes a lot of time and effort to make this cheese, but the result will be worth it.
Ingredients you will need to make Chechil:
- milk (about 10 liters of milk are required to prepare 1 kg of cheese);
- rennet or pepsin;
- sour milk, whey or starter;
- salt.
The milk is left to sour at room temperature, if time is limited, you can add a little sourdough to it (in such conditions, 12 hours will be enough for souring). When the milk is ready, it is placed on the fire and heated until it curdles. At this point you need to add pepsin or rennet. Thanks to these substances, a clot is formed in the pan.
The mixture is boiled to a temperature of 50-60 degrees, stirring constantly. The flakes are crushed with a spoon, and gradually a long ribbon is formed by stretching, which must be removed from the pan when the desired temperature is reached. The tape is placed on a convenient surface and cut into thin strips no more than 5 mm thick. A pigtail is already formed from these strips. Next, the cheese is placed in cold water for washing, and then into brine for salting. The salt concentration in the brine should be about 15%.
After a few days, you can take out the Chechil and eat it or smoke it.
During the entire storage time at home, it is better for Chechil to be in brine.
You will learn more about how to make Chechil cheese at home in the following video.
Recipes with “cheese braid”
If you love Chechil, but want to try something new, then you can easily prepare it yourself interesting dishes based on this cheese.
Fried Chechil
One of the most simple snacks is fried Chechil. To do this, the braid is unraveled into individual fibers or you can immediately take straws.
You should not take smoked cheese, as it will not lend itself to frying, having already a fairly dense smoked crust on top.
Thanks to various traditions and production cultures, today there are more than 2 thousand types of cheeses in the world.. Currently, there is no exact classification of cheeses due to inconsistency in names and manufacturing technologies in different countries.
Milk (cow, goat, camel, sheep, etc.) is used for preparation. But it's not that simple. It happens that cow’s milk is used for preparation, and the production technology is the same, but the taste characteristics of the cheese are completely different.
T.I. draws attention to this phenomenon. Ilyichev in his book “Butter, Cheese and Milk”.
The quality of milk largely depends on what the livestock is fed. The big difference is whether the cow ate fresh or dry grass, clover, alfalfa or buttercups. The milk was taken in winter, when the animal was fed hay and kept in a stable. Or maybe the cow ate too much silage, which also affected the quality of the milk. An important role is played by the wet or dry, cold or warm climate of the animal’s habitat. And the quality of cheese largely depends on the quality of milk, the main raw material for cheese making.
Cheese making technology at a mini cheese factory
International standards state that cheese is a raw material product, which is milk or mixtures of it. Mandatory in the manufacturing process must be the influence of rennet with the further separation of whey, which is the result of milk coagulation.
In Russia, projects for 50, 300, 1000, 1500 kg of product per work shift have been developed and are used by entrepreneurs.
Most often, the raw material is cow's milk of the highest, and in some cases first grade, which is filtered and cooled to a temperature of 4 degrees immediately after milking. Reception at the cheese factory begins with a check of organoleptic indicators. These include color, smell, consistency, taste. Then they are cleaned, cooled, separated and normalized in terms of fat content and protein. Then it is left to ripen, since only ripened coagulates well when rennet is added.
Depending on the technological process the milk is pasteurized. At the same time, all gases and air are removed, and its coagulability is improved by up to 20%. After pasteurization, they are cooled and placed in special containers, the so-called cheese makers.. Here a certain temperature of the raw materials is maintained and all the necessary components are added. Among them are starter cultures, rennet, and calcium chloride.
As a result of the reactions, a clot is obtained, which is cut, crushed, the whey is collected and the cheese grain is kneaded.. in the end, dried, compressed, round-shaped cheese grains are obtained.
Forming the cheese
Formation can be done in two ways:
- From the layer under the whey layer using molding machines
- Bulk of cheese grain using special equipment.
In order to remove the remaining whey and compaction, pressing is carried out. There are some peculiarities here too. You can use self-pressing or apply external pressure. It depends on the technology.
An important stage is salting, carried out in special pools, during which flavor accents are added and microbiological and enzymatic processes are regulated.
The final stage is placing the cheese wheels in chambers with special temperature and humidity conditions. Maturation and storage take place here.
Depending on the type of cheese, the ripening time for soft cheese is up to 10 days, for hard cheese it is several months.. Be sure to periodically wash and dry the heads of cheese.
Making cheese at home
This low calorie product can be prepared at home, but it does not last long. To prepare it, you need to heat 5 liters of milk to 26 °C. After adding 200 g of starter, then you need to cover it and keep it in a warm place for a day. Cut the curled layer into centimeter cubes and place in a container, which must be heated, stirring constantly, in a water bath to 40°C.
Bring the mass to the state you need (soft or hard). The product is then washed warm water in a colander lined with cloth. Transfer the finished cheese to another container, adding cream and salt to taste. Refrigerate.
This recipe is delicious homemade cheese Suitable for treating family and guests. Producing 0.5 kg of such cheese at home will cost you 300 rubles. But this method is not suitable for organizing a cheese business, since it requires continuous high-tech conveyor production.
Blue cheese
There is a legend according to which a shepherd was tending sheep on the mountainside, climbed into a nearby cave and fell asleep. And when he woke up, it was already evening, he drove the herd to the village. But I forgot my lunch. After some time, returning to the cave, he found the cheese that had been left earlier. It was very unusual, covered with mold, with bizarre patterns. When the villagers saw this miracle, they decided to continue leaving the cheese in that cave in order to receive the product from unusual design. This is the story of the creation of Roquefort cheese.
When preparing blue cheeses today, mold spores are added to the cheese mass.. Using long needles they create channels through which it diverges blue mold during product ripening.
Distinctive features of the blue cheese technology are the use of high temperature pasteurization of milk (74-95 °C with exposure for 20-25 s); adding increased doses of bacterial starters (0.3-3%) to pasteurized milk, consisting mainly of strains of lactic acid and flavor-forming streptococci, and for certain types of cheeses - lactic acid bacilli; increased maturity and acidity of milk before curdling and obtaining a stronger curd; clot crushing in large pieces(“Russian Camembert”, “Tea”, etc.); no second heating (except for homemade cheese); production of fresh and ripening cheeses with the participation of lactic acid bacteria, as well as molds and microflora of cheese mucus. Many cheeses in this group, unlike semi-hard ones, have a delicate, soft consistency and increased content moisture during the ripening period and in the finished product.
During the production of ripening cheeses, a large amount of lactic acid accumulates in the cheese mass in the first 2-3 days, which subsequently retards the development of lactic acid bacteria. Therefore, further accumulation of bacterial enzymes in the cheese mass by the lactic acid microflora involved in the ripening of cheeses is possible only with a significant decrease in the acidity of the cheese mass under the influence of cultural molds and cheese mucus microflora developing on the surface of the cheeses.
The peculiarities of the microbiological processes occurring in such cheeses are determined by the influence of the milk-clotting enzyme and enzymes secreted by microorganisms. The main role in cheese ripening belongs to lactic acid bacteria, which constitute the main microflora of cheese. As a result of the vital activity of dairy microflora, not only the components of the cheese change, but also the reaction of the environment. As a result, conditions are created that are favorable for the development of other microflora that are involved in the ripening of soft cheeses - the microflora of cheese mucus and some types of mold that develop on the surface or inside the cheese.
Developing on the surface of the cheese, microflora decomposes protein with the formation of alkaline products that penetrate into the cheese and reduce the acidity of the cheese mass. With a decrease in acidity in cheese, conditions are created that are favorable for the development of lactic acid rods and the action of proteolytic enzymes. Molds are involved in the ripening of these cheeses Oidium lactis,P. caseicolum, P. camemberti and etc.
Oidium lactis- milk mold, the mycelium of which is a low-branched, multicellular filament. It develops not only on the surface of the cheese, but also in depth with minimal air access. Milk mold develops well at a pH of 5.2, and with an increase in pH to 3, its growth almost stops. Milk mold decomposes lactic acid and quickly hydrolyzes milk fat, causing it to go rancid.
P. caseicolum- a necessary element of the microflora of the snack cheese group. It has white spores, and even the oldest colonies retain this original color to the end. On the surface of the cheese, this mold forms a thick white fluffy layer of mycelium, which penetrates the surface layer of the cheese dough, and together with it can easily be separated from the cheese. During development, it consumes lactic acid, as a result of which the acidity of the cheese mass decreases. Has proteolytic and lipolytic activity.
P. camemberti It forms a thin layer of mycelium on the surface of the cheese, which grows in so firmly that it cannot be separated from the cheese. The mycelium is white, and the spores have a faint bluish or lead-gray tint, sometimes dark blue or blue-gray. The dark color of the spores spoils appearance cheese.
When producing white dessert cheese “Russian Camembert”, white molds are used, specially cultivated on the surface of the cheeses. Mold that develops on the surface of cheeses, which has a pH of 4.7 - 4.9, neutralizes the surface layer of cheese with its metabolic products, which promotes the breakdown of proteins in the cheese mass. Therefore, these cheeses ripen gradually from the rind to the center of the cheese. With the development of white mold, the cheese develops a specific mushroom flavor.
The ripening of cheeses begins with the mass in the bath. The conditions for milk coagulation and curd processing are aimed at obtaining fresh cheese mass with a developed lactic acid process, high content moisture and high acidity.
CHEESE
a dairy product usually made from cottage cheese. Milk is a natural aqueous suspension of many substances, which coagulates when exposed to precipitating factors (heat, lactic acid and rennet) and is separated from the watery whey in the form of a curd mass, from which different ways and make cheeses. Cow's milk is most widely used in cheese making, but cheese is also made from the milk of goats, sheep, horses and reindeer. At the dawn of history, people invented cheese, probably as a food product long-term storage. Nowadays, cheese is valued for its taste and nutritional qualities. Cheese made from whole milk is high-calorie product with a rich content of proteins, calcium, vitamin A and B vitamins. The ratio of fats and proteins in it is very well balanced. Moreover, in mature cheese, i.e. aged for at least 20 days, there is absolutely no lactose left - milk sugar, which has a detrimental effect on the well-being of many people.
see also DAIRY INDUSTRY.
Classification of cheeses. Cheeses vary in hardness, degree of ripeness and manufacturing technology (primarily the type of microflora used). Based on their hardness, they are divided into very hard, or grated (such as Pecorino Romano and Parmesan), hard (like cheddar), semi-hard (like Munster) and soft (like Limburg or Camembert). More than 2,000 types of cheese are registered, but their number continues to grow. Cheese is usually named after the area where it was first produced. Sometimes the same type of cheese goes by different names. For example, Emmental cheese (or Emmenthaler, which was first made near Emmen in Switzerland) is called Swiss cheese in the USA. However, behind all the many names of cheeses, there are only about 25 of their main types. Cheeses are also divided into natural and processed. Natural ones are made directly from milk; they come in two types - fresh (also called young) and mature. Fresh cheese (such as homemade or cream cheese) is made from cottage cheese and is not aged after that. Cheese that must ripen in order to acquire its inherent structure and density, aroma and taste (for example, cheddar) is kept in storage at a certain temperature and humidity for a given time, during which chemical and microbiological processes take place in the cheese dough. Processed cheeses are made from various combinations natural cheeses, which are crushed, heated and melted; the molten mass is mixed and various salts are added to it.
Unusual types of cheeses. There are many unusual cheeses produced in different parts of the world. Thus, in France, cheeses with a very unique taste and smell are made from goat and sheep milk, the surfaces of which are painted in different colors. Cheese wheels are made in the form of a bar, cone, cylinder, round cake, heart, etc. The USA also has its own original cheeses- brick, leaderkranz, monterey, etc. In Venezuela, queso d'autin cheese is produced - a cylinder, the surface of which is coated with a mixture of cow butter and ground coffee, black pepper and spices. In Mexico, they make queso enchilada cheese, the dough of which includes hot red chili pepper sauce. In Latin American countries there are many similar cheeses with different names.
Cheese making. Cow's milk, from which most cheeses are made, contains 12-13% solids, the main component of which is the milk protein casein. Under the influence of precipitating factors, milk proteins, fats and almost all other liquid-insoluble components of milk stick together, forming a curd curd. At cheese-making enterprises, after pasteurization, milk is usually infused with starter - a special bacterial culture that produces the amount of acid necessary for coagulation and prevents the proliferation of unwanted microorganisms. Then rennet is added to the milk, which speeds up the curdling process. Rennet is extracted mainly from the 4th section of the stomach of a killed calf, and it is this enzyme that acts as a precipitating agent that promotes the rapid formation of a clot.
Fresh cheeses. Fresh cheese is made from either skim milk (cottage cheese) or whole milk (cream cheese). Milk is curdled with lactic or some other acid. The main components of fresh cheese - water, fats, casein, mineral salts and milk sugar - are the same as the cheese mass for mature cheeses, but there is more water in it and almost all of the casein is not converted, and low-fat homemade cheese has little fat and dairy Sahara. Typically, 45 kg of skim milk yields approximately 7 kg of low-fat cottage cheese. When making ricotta cheese, made from whole milk, it curdles under the influence of acid and heat (when heated to 80 ° C); the resulting curdled clot contains not only casein, but also quite a lot of albumin and globulin. As a result, from 45 kg of whole milk containing 3% fat, you can get 9-10 kg of cheese with a high moisture content. Fresh cheese production is usually carried out in 7 stages. When producing, for example, homemade cheese, the following occurs: pasteurization of skim milk; introduction of microbiological cultures of Streptococcus lactis and S. citrovorus together with lactic acid; heating the whey to 52° C; decanting the liquid part of the whey; washing the cheese mass; introducing salt into the cheese mass; adding cream to it. Cheese, a type of fresh cheese with a high moisture content, is made from skim milk, like homemade cheese, but unlike the latter, it is not heated during production. Its dough is smooth, like cream cheese, but has a coarser-grained appearance.
Mature cheeses. Cheeses that must be aged are made from whole or partially skimmed milk. Typically, 45 kg of whole milk produces 4.5 kg of ready-made mature cheese. Initial stages the production of mature cheeses is almost the same as that of fresh cheeses; the main differences in their manufacturing technology lie in the methods of curdling milk and introducing specific microflora into the cheese mass before or during the ripening stage. In order for young cheeses to ripen, they are placed for a certain time in storage with controlled environmental parameters. Thus, some types of cheddar are aged from 9 to 22 months in a room with a temperature of 4 ° C and a relative humidity of 85%. All mature cheeses are made from milk that is curdled with rennet; in this case, the cheese mass is more homogeneous, soft and tender than under the influence of lactic acid alone (as in the production of fresh cheeses, which have a characteristic sour-milk taste). When producing cheddar, milk is heated to 32° C, then fermented milk starter is poured into it, and after 15-30 minutes rennet is introduced. After another 30 minutes, curdling occurs. The curd is crushed and heated again to 37° C. The resulting cheese grain is thoroughly and continuously mixed, separated from the whey and compacted. The compacted cheese mass is cut into blocks, which are sent to a vat for about two hours. During this time, whey is removed from the cheese mass, and thanks to the action of increasing concentrations of lactic acid on casein, the cheese mass becomes even more homogeneous. Then the blocks are finely ground, this grind is dry salted and the heads are pressed from it. After pressing the head young cheese are placed in storage for maturation, during which the cheese acquires the desired taste and consistency.
Processed cheeses. These cheeses are made from natural rennet cheeses with appropriate taste properties, which are ground and, when crushed, heated in melting pots to a temperature of about 80 ° C. At the melting stage, some salts necessary for the process technology are introduced into the cheese mass (anhydrous sodium phosphates, sodium citrate and etc.), can also be added food colorings(for example, red or yellow extract from the plant Bixa orellana), sodium chloride ( salt), cream and water. Process salts reduce the acidity of the melt and prevent the separation of fats and proteins; Thanks to the interaction of the ions of these salts with the proteins of the cheese mass, the homogeneity of the cheese dough is ensured. A few minutes after the introduction of salts, the hot cheese melt is poured into molds, which are sealed, or poured into a thin layer onto a moving belt; then this layer of cheese is cut into slices, which are packaged. In terms of fat content and moisture content, processed cheese should not differ from the original natural one, and its taste properties are distributed evenly throughout the dough.
Historical information about cheese. Cheese appeared a long time ago - around 5000 BC. It seems that it was first made in southwest Asia, in the mountain valleys of Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Most likely, the first cheese was soft and made from goat milk. Then cheese making spread to the Mediterranean countries, where the Greeks traded in mature brined white cheese, transporting it in brine. Through the Romans, cheese making reached Western Europe.
MAIN TYPES OF CHEESE
American cheese. This name is given to natural cheddar produced in the USA. Sometimes it is confused with processed cheese. Bel paese, soft italian cheese with a delicate sweetish taste. Blue (blue) ripens with mold developing inside it; produced in the USA, Denmark, France and other countries. Its soft or crumbly dough is white to cream in color and contains particles of the bluish-green Penicillium mold. Brie, a French cheese that ripens from the surface inward; it has a soft, buttery dough and a soft whitish mold crust. Traditional brie, in the form of large round loaves, is made on several farms in the Brie district near Paris; modern types of brie are produced by many cheese factories in France. Brick (brick) is produced in the USA in the form of a bar with a reddish-brown crust, reminiscent of a brick, and its semi-hard dough is the color of straw. Gouda, a cheese of Dutch origin (now produced in many countries), comes in varying densities, from almost soft to hard; dough it good taste, like Edamian, but fattier. Gorgonzola, a Northern Italian cheese riddled with streaks of bluish mold. Gruyère (“crane”), a Swiss cheese, with its very pleasant and spicy taste reminiscent of Emmental, but has a denser and less brittle dough with very small eyes. Homemade cheese, sometimes called stewed cottage cheese, soft fresh cheese, which rural residents of Central Europe first began to make at home; it is now very popular in the USA, Canada and the UK. This cheese is made from skim milk, and its dough consists of many delicate - small and large - curdled grains. Camembert, soft cheese with light yellowish dough and white crust. In 1791, the technology for its production was improved by M. Harel from the Norman village of Camembert. Colby is a cheddar-type cheese, but with a dough that is softer and more delicate in texture and taste. Peasant cheese, a type of homemade cheese first made by peasants in France; sometimes it is pressed into various shapes. Liederkrantz, a small-sized American fragrant cheese that ripens from the surface inwards; his homeland is New York State. Limburg cheese, originally from Belgium; it has an almost soft buttery dough with pungent taste and a very pungent odor. Mozzarella, an Italian cheese, is widely used in baking pizza and other dishes. Italian cuisine; When heated, it expands to incredible sizes. Monterey Jack, a high-moisture cheddar-type cheese, was first developed in Monterey, California, USA. Munster, a cheese that ripens from the surface inward, is usually salted in brine, and its shell is colored orange; it is reminiscent of Limburger cheese, but not as spicy. Neuchatel, a soft, fresh cheese containing only 20% fat and made in the same way as cream cheese; his homeland is Neuchâtel-en-Bray (northern France). Parmesan, a very hard, dry cheese that matures for up to two years. This cheese Italian origin has a pungent, slightly rancid taste; it is used in grated form as a seasoning for dishes from pasta, including spaghetti. Pontlevec, a soft cheese that ripens from the surface inward, is produced in Normandy (France) in the form of small rectangular bars with homogeneous dough spicy taste. Pordusalut, a semi-soft cheese with a delicate flavor, was first made in France by Trappist monks. Provolone, a hard Italian cheese produced in the form of a pear, sausage, ball, etc.; it is usually smoked. Ricotta, a soft, fresh Italian cheese, is made from lightly salted curdled milk. In some places it is produced from sour whey and skim milk, and then dried to the state of grated cheese. Roquefort, a French cheese with bluish-green streaks of mold, is made only from sheep's milk. The cylinders of its cheese mass are filled with spores of the mold Penicillium roqueforti, after which they are sent to mature for 6 months in natural caves near the village of Roquefort. The heads of mature cheese are packed in parchment and then wrapped in foil. Romano, a very hard, mature grated cheese, was first made in the area of Rome, Italy. Cream cheese, fresh cheese with dough in the form of a homogeneous mass without separated particles; fat content not less than 33%. Stilton, a delicate English cheese streaked with blue mold; first made in 1750; it is fatty and juicy, with a very piquant taste. Feta, white pickled cheese (like feta cheese) Greek origin, is now produced in large quantities in Denmark. Fontina, a cheese of almost soft to hard consistency, yellowish in color, with a delicate piquant flavor and pleasant aroma; It is made in its homeland (Italy) from sheep's milk, and in the USA - from cow's milk. Cheddar, a hard, mature cheese, is the most consumed cheese in the world; named after the village of Cheddar in the Somerset Valley in England, where it was first developed; It is distinguished by a plastic, homogeneous dough with a color ranging from white to orange. The necessary organoleptic properties of this cheese are achieved by repeatedly turning its heads in a vat during the initial stages of cheese processing, when a process called cheddarization occurs. Cheshire, sometimes called Chester, is an English cheese similar in hardness to cheddar, but with a looser, crumblier pastry that can be white but is usually deep yellow in color. Swiss cheese- this is what emmental is called in the USA; in Europe and other parts of the world it is any cheese of Swiss origin. Available in the form of large bars with soft and elastic dough containing large eyes. The main characteristic features of high-quality emmental are its piquant organoleptic properties. Edam, a mature cheese with a pleasant taste, has long been made in the Netherlands (in the area of Edam, near Amsterdam). It usually comes in the form of spherical heads in a bright red shell; Its dough is dense, elastic, with small round eyes. Emmental cheese, (derived from cheese from the Emmen Valley in Switzerland), is produced in the form of thick discs or large bars with a dense dough dotted with large (average diameter 2.5 cm or more) eyes.
LITERATURE
Dilanyan Z. Kh. Cheese making. M., 1973 Begunov V.L. A book about cheese. M., 1974
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
Synonyms:See what “CHEESE” is in other dictionaries:
cheese- cheese/ … Morphemic-spelling dictionary
CHEESE- one of the most complete and nutritious foods; The edible part contains up to 32% fats, up to 26.8% proteins, up to 3% organic acids, up to 4.5% mineral salts, up to 2.5% table salt, vitamins A and B. The protein substances of cheese in the process… ... Concise Encyclopedia of Housekeeping
We can safely say that cheese is a universal product. It can be eaten separately, with bread, or added to various dishes, soup is made from cheese and, of course, it is impossible to imagine pizza without it. According to their own nutritional properties cheese is almost as good as meat, which is why it is an integral part of the vegetarian diet. There is a huge number of the most different types cheese, they all differ in fat content, composition and taste. It is the composition of the cheese that determines its type, grade and taste. Let's talk about what this popular product is made of. So, first, let's look at what cheese is made from.
What is cheese made from?
- Milk. Milk is the main and most important ingredient of any cheese. After all, even according to legend, cheese appeared when milk was forgotten in one of the caves, and when they arrived, they found the first analogue of cheese. Today, cheese is made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and sometimes from a combination of milk from different animals. Depending on the milk content, cheese varies in its fat content.
- Leaven. The characteristics of one or another cheese differ depending on the use of one or another starter. It allows the cheese to ripen, giving this product a special taste. Today, the most commonly used bacteria are lactic acid bacteria, and sometimes propionic acid bacteria.
- Rennet element. It is needed to turn milk into cheese. The best option is an enzyme obtained from the stomachs of calves. But quite often it is replaced by various chemical analogues. In addition, calcium chloride - the table salt familiar to all of us - always complements the rennet element.
These are the main ingredients that make up cheese, but most often you will not find a single mention of them on the label. On any of the purchased cheeses you can read quite larger list in the composition. Let's dwell on them a little:
General composition of cheese
Cheese production is a complex process. Therefore, there is no need to be scared when you come across words unfamiliar to you on the label. In general, in addition to pasteurized milk, cheese may contain: rennet powder, pepsin (edible or beef) - this is the ingredient required for milk coagulation. As well as some enzyme preparations, here are the most common and approved according to GOST:
- Table salt. Must be non-iodized, not lower than first grade;
- Annatto extract;
- B-carotene, soluble in water;
- Calcium chloride, necessarily dehydrated, not lower than first grade;
- Potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate;
- Potassium nitrate grades A, B, C, according to GOST.
It is worth saying that the composition of the cheese may contain various additives with the prefix E. Be sure to check their safety on the Internet, especially when it comes to processed types of cheese.
Chemical composition of cheese and nutritional value
If we talk about a product such as cheese, then we cannot fail to mention the various beneficial substances contained in its composition.
- The nutritional value. It is determined by the fat content of the cheese, in other words, its fat content. Each type of cheese has its own fat content, and the type of cheese and its taste depend on it. For example, Alpine cheese has a fat content of 25%, and feta cheese has a fat content of only 14%. Remember that than fattier cheese, the more it is high in calories.
- Vitamins. Cheese is a vitamin-rich product. Most often it contains vitamins A, B and D, as well as pathotheic acid.
- Squirrels. If you take into account that cheese is made from milk, then, as you understand, it is quite rich in proteins. So, different varieties cheeses have different amounts of proteins.
- Amino acids. Cheese, like no other product, is rich in various amino acids, such as valine, leucine, lysine and phenylalanine. All of them are very useful for normal functioning our body.
The cheese contains various useful material, for example, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium. They are necessary for mental and physical activity. It is because of these elements that cheese is useful for the prevention of cancer, as well as tuberculosis. It is worth noting that in this case we considered only the composition of hard cheeses. Processed cheese is somewhat different in composition from its hard counterpart; it is important to understand that not all processed cheese is equally healthy. Let's take a little look at their composition.
Processed cheese: composition
In general, processed cheese is made from hard cheese, followed by the addition of milk powder, cream and butter. And for better thickening, various chemical melters are added. All processed cheeses can be divided into the following types:
- Sliced cheeses. It is made from hard cheeses with a fat content of 50-70%. They contain a minimum of chemical additives, and the taste of such cheese is rich, difficult to distinguish from its hard counterpart.
- Sausage cheeses. They are made from low-fat hard cheeses. Some chemical melters and thickeners can be found in the composition. Sometimes cumin is added.
- Pasty cheeses. These cheeses have a very strong characteristic taste and are made from medium-fat cheeses.
- Sweet cheeses. They contain sugar or its substitutes, coffee or cocoa, honey, and various syrups.
Modern manufacturers sometimes add various preservatives and dyes, as well as flavorings, to processed cheese to give the cheese the most different tastes. Carefully read the composition of the cheese on the packaging; if you doubt it, it is better to prefer hard varieties of cheese. In addition to melted types, there are soft cream cheeses. The most famous soft cheese is Philadelphia.
Philadelphia cheese: composition
This type of cheese consists of skim milk and milk fat, a concentrate for turning milk into cheese, salt, and various stabilizers - guar gum or xanthan gum. In addition, vitamin A palmitate and sorbic acid are used quite often.
Now you know what cheese is made of. Remember that this product can be both beneficial and harmful to your body. If you are intolerant to dairy products, you should avoid eating cheese.
