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

Microbial Based Rennet

This webpage is divided into the following topics:

1. General
2. Formats
3. Concentration
4. Storage
5. Amount
6. Preparation

General

Several forms of milk coagulating enzymes are based on microbial fungal sources, the most popular being Rhizomucor miehei, others being Cryphonectria parasitica or Endothea parasitica. Here the mold is grown in large vats and the enzyme extracted and purified and stored with salt.

While microbial rennets are effective at coagulating milk, they are not as good at making aged cheeses as their pathway after coagulation develops poorer flavor and texture than animal based rennet.

In general, microbial based rennets are cheaper than animal based rennets.

Formats

Microbial rennet is normally available in concentrated liquid, powder and tablet formats.

Tablet microbial rennet normally also contains microcristaline cellulose and sodium chloride (table salt).

Concentration

Liquid microbial based rennet is normally available in single or double strength.

Storage

Most calf based based rennet manufactures recommend:

1. Store liquid product at temperature below 50F, ie in household fridge, not in normally warmer cheese cave, will last 6 months if handled and storred following manufactures guidelines.
2. Store tablet product in household freezer, will last 3 years if handled and storred following manufactures guidelines.

Amount

As rennet can come in different strengths, any specified amount of rennet in a cheese making procedure should be overwritten and the amount of rennet used per volume of milk should be based initially on the manufacturer's directions, either on package or from their website (many of these files are posted in CheeseForum.org's Library) and with experience and results based on the users experience with the type of milk they are using.

Preparation