Author Topic: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?  (Read 2944 times)

Stinky

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Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« on: February 11, 2015, 01:38:39 AM »
My brother is currently interning on a dairy farm, where they make some cheese on the side. He said that recently he and some fellow interns tried a Colby, and they all agreed that it had a distinct taste of strawberries. Do any of you know how this could be?

SOSEATTLE

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2015, 02:15:46 AM »
Most likely the microbial fermentation occurring in the cheese is producing ester compounds. Esters are the ones responsible for fruity aromas/tastes. From what I learned in a cheese tasting class is that microbial flora in a cheese can produce many different compounds. When our bodies detect them  they associate them with what is most similar to what we have had in the past. It can be anything from strawberries and bananas to stinky gym socks. I have had comte that has a carmelized onion flavor.



Susan

Stinky

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2015, 09:16:28 PM »
Hmm, so I was reading up on this, and one that's said to have a strawberry smell was furaneol- but in Gruyere, mostly. It said that when it was noticable in Cheddars, it would be more of a caramel flavor. Do you think that may be it?

SOSEATTLE

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2015, 02:16:29 AM »
Could be. I will see if I have any more specific information on the subject  :D. At the class they had a whole chart of compounds and their flavors. I will see if it is included in the notes we got.


Susan

Stinky

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2015, 02:42:40 AM »
Thank you. :)

SOSEATTLE

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2015, 06:33:04 PM »
My notes didn't have what I was looking for  :(, but I did some looking around and furaneol could indeed be a possibility. Also benzyl acetate is associated with strawberry aroma. I found a reference that said there were 30 flavor/aroma compounds identified in strawberries themselves that contribute to the flavor of the fruit. As far as some other esters that can be found in cheese, ethyl octanoate has an apricot aroma, ethyl acetate has pear and apple aroma, ethyl hexanoate has the aroma of pineapple and banana, ethyl butanoate also has pineapple aroma, and ethyl hexanoate has a strong banana flavor.



Susan

bill shaver

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2015, 01:54:52 PM »
Have seen some Wensdedale cheese from Uk that was like this, intentionally flavored with strawberries, belive it was , anyhow...off tastes or aroma in cheese could come from, the barn & milk hows where milk kept & milking done, cows eating turnips, garlic, etc, etc....wonder if they ate aples  and grape pumice would it have same effect...wow another markting ploy, apple & grape flavored cheese...naturally......ya gotta wonder, but have fed cows turnips, generally we fed them after milking....they ahd been through a procesor, like feeding all typed of root vegs....

SOSEATTLE

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2015, 03:31:26 AM »
Today I just finished a beginning cheesemaking 3 day short course given by Washington State University and one of the interesting things I learned is that strong aromas inhaled by milking animals just prior to milking can be transferred to the milk. In the past there was an issue with dairy cows being fed pea vine silage. The silage had a very strong aroma and gave the milk from these cows an off taste. making the pea vines into hay solved the problem



Susan

bill shaver

  • Guest
Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2015, 02:34:30 PM »
any legume fed right out of the field will do that, it may not be objectionalbe, but its there and some get upset about it, onthe other hand for your own artisnal cheese it could be to your advantage, oders such as a barn smell defenatly right out no good, happens when milking in pails, pipeline help mitigate that, step svers were astep in right direction though, pipelines just made it easier. turnips as i had mentioned before, one had to know when to feed them, but certainly viable for a charbohydrate in animals diet. silages like alfalfa  will do it, haylage loaded with alfalfa right out of the field will aftect to aroma of the milk...could be refused at the pick up.

bill shaver

  • Guest
Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2015, 05:44:20 AM »
Wonder what else they talked about as to what would give objectionalbe odors to milk along with pleasant aromas...as well...this panns out on benifical growths in your pastures.

TimT

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Re: Cheese that tastes like strawberries?
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2015, 12:21:58 AM »
Would bacterial microbes normally produce esters? I suppose it's possible given there's heaps of them out there. I more commonly associate them with yeasts though. (They DO produce esters, and one reason they do is to attract the insects that then spread them to other places. They also do it because it makes brewers happy.... ;) )

I have a cheddar that I thought may have had a yeast infection as in the initial curdling stage it was giving off a very sweet biscuity/bread-like smell. I invited the Baron (my partner) to have a sniff and she smelled the same thing: bread. This is a telltale sign of yeast.

However, since then it hasn't risen noticeably so I'm crossing my fingers!