Making

Cheese Making Homepage

Cheese Making Steps

Basic Principles
Milk:
◦ Types
◦ Processing
◦ Yield
◦ Products
Acidification
Starter Cultures:
◦ Function
◦ Manufacturers
◦ Manufactured Products
Lipases
Colourants:
◦ General
◦ Annatto
Acids
Coagulation
Calcium Chloride
Rennets:
◦ Animal
◦ Plant
◦ Microbial
◦ Fermentation
Milk Additives
Curd:
◦ When to Cut
◦ How to Cut
Salt:
◦ Function
◦ Types
◦ Salting Curds
◦ Salting Rinds
Pressing Curds
Brine:
◦ Making
◦ Using
◦ Maintaining
◦ For Preserving
Turning Cheeses
Ripening
Rinds:
◦ General
◦ Natural
◦ Ash

Defects

General:
◦ Coagulation
◦ Surface
◦ Body
◦ Aroma
◦ Flavour
Specific:
◦ Blue Mould
◦ White Mould

Equipment

Books
Cheese Caves
Cheesecloths
Hygrometers
Mats
Miscellaneous
pH Meters
Scales
Vats (Stockpots)
Thermometers

Defects - General, Body

This webpage is divided into the following topics:

• Cracks
• Dry
• Holes
• Moist
• Plasticity
• Rubbery

Cracks

Description

• Body, interior of cheese has unwanted cracks.

Causes

• Temperature during aging was too high which caused expansion of air in internal cracks to expand resulting in cracks in cheese.

Dry

Description

• Texture of cheese is too dry and thus hard.

Causes

• Too much rennet used resulting in excessive whey expelled from curds.
• Curds cut into too small pieces resulting in excessive whey expelled from curds.
• Cur curds stirred excessively or for too long or at too high a temperature resulting in excessive whey removed form curds.
• Cheese too acidic, ripen for less time or add less starter culture.
• If natural rind, ripening/aging environment's humidity is too low.

Holes

Description

• Body of cheese has unwanted holes or eyes.

Causes

• Yeast contamination of the curds resulting in production of carbon dioxide gas within the cheese.

Moist

Description

• Texture of cheese is too moist and thus soft.

Causes

• Too little rennet used and thus too much whey retained in the curds.
• Curds cut into too large pieces.
• Cut curds stirred too little or for too short a time or for too low a temperature resulting in too much whey retained in the curds.
• Cut curds warmed too rapidly initially causing rapid expulsion of whey from surface of cut curds which results in a dehydrated layer inhibiting further expulsion of whey from interior of cut curds.
• Acidity level is too high, ripen longer or use more starter.
• Inadequate pressing (weight and time) for hard cheeses.
• If natural rind, aging environment's humidity is too high.

Plasticity

Description

• Cheese will not stretch, has low plasticity in Pasta Filata (pulled) type cheeses.

Causes

• Acidity level was not within 5.0-5.2 range. Check pH, if too low (greater than 5.2), ripen the curd longer, if too high (lower than 5.0) then shorten the ripening time of the curd.

Rubbery

Description

• Texture of finished cheese is too rubbery.

Causes

• Using too much rennet.
• Overheating during making stage.
• If washed curd cheese, remove less whey or replace removed whey with less fresh water.