Cheese always requires prior preparation of dense particles resembling flakes. They can be obtained from milk when the raw material goes through the ripening stage. This explains the technological need to first separate the solid fraction from whey in order to obtain the desired raw material.
In professional cheesemaking terminology, this process is called curdling. Depending on what influenced the acceleration of the procedure, two types of product are distinguished. The first is a fermented milk category, where special microorganisms come first. In the second case, the main character is rennet.
Organic Helper
To quickly separate the protein components from the main milk liquid, experts use a special enzyme. From a chemical point of view, this is a complex organic type compound that includes two components: pepsin and chymosin.
Both components help to obtain high-quality solid goodies, as they are listed as a natural catalyst for curdling. And if initially only private cheese dairies or people who prefer to cook everything at home used this method, today factories are interested in this method. With its help, it turns out to reduce time costs, which has a beneficial effect on financial costs. At the same time, the finished product fully complies with the requirements that GOST insists on. All organoleptic properties remain unchanged, which guarantees the preservation of taste and aroma characteristics. Non-professionals will not be able to tell the difference between two different versions of a cheese product by telling exactly which ones were affected by rennet.
After an unusual starter enters the prepared semi-finished product, it forms a dense clot that needs to be crushed. So it will be possible to separate the whey, in which, with uniform stirring, there is a cheese grain. If you leave the specifications at this level, then cottage cheese is created instead of cheese.
Specialists at dairy factories figured out this feature a long time ago and now they use it to get curd mass without significant time and financial costs. Consumers don’t even know about it.
After the grain reaches the required moisture mark, the experts begin to give the mass a characteristic shape. To do this, the workpiece is transferred to a mold with holes for the free flow of whey. The semi-solid concentrate is then pressed and salted.
The term of salting varies from case to case, but usually never exceeds ten days. After the stage is completed, the resulting bars are sent to storage so that the goodies ripen there. This will take about three weeks.
But if we are talking about elite varieties that are created according to special recipes of private eminent cheese factories, then one head can be aged for several years. After the desired condition has been achieved, the head is sealed and sent for subsequent implementation.
Having become interested in an unusual method of cheese making, many amateurs begin to look for where to get a miracle helper and are surprised at its rather high cost. But due to the fact that the minimum consumption is provided here, the consumer still wins. You can buy the ingredient at a pharmacy or in specialized stores.
History of origin
Historians have not yet found exact information about where the tradition of obtaining rennet came from for the first time. But there are plenty of legends about this.
The original component is isolated from the stomachs of newborn calves. Moreover, these should be animals that have not yet reached a certain age and, until the moment of obtaining the enzyme, ate only mother’s milk.
Not all farmers are ready to destroy domestic livestock stocks in order to obtain a precious component. Yes, and animal advocates are not asleep, believing that this is far from the most humane reason for killing calves.
So what is it and why is it possible to get a natural enzyme only in this way? The rennet secret is inherent only in young cattle, which is secreted in the stomach of babies so that they can better digest the milk coming from their mother. This explains why the liquid so easily separates into two main fractions in a matter of minutes.
Initially, the recipe for gourmet cheeses of this type provided for the use of exclusively an enzyme of natural origin. But with the development of the food industry, people have been able to find more human approaches to getting soft delicacies. Most often, for identical purposes, pepsin is chosen, which is responsible for the coagulation of milk.
Sometimes the technology involves the addition of microbial aspartyl proteinases and chymosin, which are released through the passage of the fermentation phase. All this is readily used by many European factories, which support the idea of abandoning the old method, which is far from the concept of humane.
In very rare cases, some manufacturers resort to vegetable substitutes, which are:
- fig juice;
- starter grass.
These techniques are supported by the vegetarian movements. At the same time, aces warn that if a consumer wants to purchase a ready-made product, then the label “Organic composition” or “Natural components” will not save him from eating particles of rennet. In fact, it is also a natural component, so marketers do not seem to deceive a potential client.
To recognize the catch, you need to carefully read the full composition. Since today the range of these fermented milk products is quite wide, it will turn out to find a suitable option quite simply. To help with this, chemists have compiled a kind of summary with clues that deciphers the obscure ingredients listed on the label:
- Renin and animal chymosin testify to that classic enzyme.
- Another natural filler.
- Stabo-1290. Element of animal origin.
- Abomin. The same enzyme that is easy to find at the pharmacy. It is actively used by people who know how to make cheese at home with a minimum of tools.
Also, experts advise to carefully read the label, where there is a mention like “Sweet milk cheese”. This indicates that the product includes veal secret.
Separately, there is a classification for coagulators identical in properties that are of non-animal origin. The most common substitute is pure chymosin, which is labeled “100% chymosin”. This indicates that under laboratory conditions it was extracted during the fermentation of special moldy fungi. Most often it is:
- Mukor Miehei;
- Rhizomucor small;
- A little mucus.
If the instruction provides for the mention of proteinase, then Cryphonectria parasitica has been here. Its particles are suitable for a narrow range of cheese masses that have received an increased temperature for the second heating. A striking example of this are the Swiss varieties.
A rich choice
Before you look for how to cook the cheese you like during the initial tasting, you need to decide which category it belongs to. This will allow you to understand how they differ and which option to give preference to, based on your skills.
Most often, factory cooking provides for solid varieties. It is quite problematic to create them manually at home, at least later, because the shutter speed stretches for about half a year, or even more. Not all amateurs are able to provide goodies with conditions suitable for aging. Separately, you will need to make sure that the pressure load on the head is really large. The result is the following delicacies known to all gourmets:
- Parmesan;
- edam;
- cheddar.
It is a little easier with semi-solid solutions, because it takes only a couple of months for their final maturation. Their distinctive feature is the presence of eyes – branded holes in a dense mass. Depending on the specific type, the format and size of the eyes will vary significantly. The most famous representatives of the camp are Emmental and Maasdam.
For home cooking, mild variations are usually preferred, the original recipe of which is quite easy to repeat. Moreover, each hostess independently decides what flavor to give her masterpiece. Also, the chef will be able to decide: whether the resulting dish should be immediately, or postponed for the sake of aging for a couple of days. The most common representatives of the group are Adyghe cheese and Roquefort.
Another popular solution for copying is pickled offerings, which include:
- suluguni;
- brynza;
- feta;
- boil.
They are distinguished by the addition of a new item to the technology, which provides for the need to undergo salting for several days. This guarantees an appropriate aftertaste as well as a brittle and layered structure. Such goat cheese can often be found among the stocks of enterprising rural residents of most of the countries formerly part of the Soviet Union.
But processed delicacies are already more difficult to repeat without the appropriate equipment. Here you have to juggle not only cheese combinations, but also dosages:
- milk;
- oil;
- buttermilk.
It is difficult without a certain experience to do everything by eye, which will please the family with a pleasant consistency of the resulting product.
It is even more difficult to repeat originals with mold. In some cases, amateur experiments can even be dangerous. To create them, only a special food mold is involved, which in minimal quantities has a positive effect on the digestive processes. Only now, pregnant women and mothers during lactation should avoid such delicacies.
Cypriot recipe
Each nationality has its own signature cheese recipe, be it classic Russian or spicy Italian. Among the inhabitants of Cyprus, it passes under the name halloumi and provides for belonging just to rennet solutions.
For its preparation, you will need to strictly follow the established proportions:
- 5 L milk;
- 1 g of calcium chloride;
- 0,5 g rennet;
- a teaspoon of salt;
- a tablespoon of dried mint
First, the milk is heated to a temperature of 32 degrees. If the milk turned out to be pasteurized, then calcium chloride is first poured into it, and then the enzyme. After that, the workpiece is left for 45 minutes to form a clot.
For control, a clean fracture test is performed. If the desired consistency is not reached, the lump is left for another 15 minutes, after which the mixture is cut into equal cubes of 1,5 cm and left for 10 minutes.
The clot is again sent to the fire, where in slow mode it heats up in 15 minutes to 38 degrees. Mix very gently at first, and then more intensively. As soon as the desired temperature is reached, it will take another 20 minutes to stir the semi-finished product. Then the mass is left for another 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
At the stage of removing the whey, it is not necessary to pour it into the sink, as it will still come in handy. The masses are laid out in a mold with holes and crushed by hand to start the self-pressing process.
After 15 minutes, the cheese is turned over, leaving it in this position for another 15 minutes. While this is happening, you should have time to heat the serum to 95 degrees and put the workpiece in the hot liquid so that it does not touch the day.
Now you have to wait until the clot pops up. Usually 40 minutes is enough. After that, the cheese is dipped in cold water for a couple of seconds, and then immediately put on a board and flattened.
It remains only to grate with salt and sprinkle with mint from the inside. The Cypriots fold the cheese into a crescent shape at this stage, but this is not strictly necessary. You can simply roll it up with a bar, after which you can hold the treat in the refrigerator for three days for better impregnation. Halloumi should be eaten after roasting on a grill or a dry frying pan.