What is a Cheese made of?
What is a Cheese made of?
Milk protein clotted by an enzyme, drained of whey and salted — four ingredients and a lot of time.
Nearly all cheese is now made with chymosin produced by genetically modified microbes rather than from calf stomachs, which makes most supermarket cheese vegetarian even though the same enzyme is involved. Whether it counts as such varies by country and by labelling scheme, and traditional protected cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano still require animal rennet by their own rules. The distinction between cheeses is mostly a matter of how much water is left in the curd and what is allowed to grow in it afterwards: the same milk becomes mozzarella in an hour or Parmesan in two years.
Component by component
| Part | Material | Why that material |
|---|---|---|
| milk | cow, sheep, goat or buffalo milk, raw or pasteurised | The fat and protein ratio of the milk sets the character before anything is added; sheep milk has nearly twice the solids of cow milk. |
| starter culture | lactic acid bacteria — Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus | They convert lactose to lactic acid, which drops the pH, helps the curd knit and preserves the cheese against spoilage organisms. |
| coagulant | chymosin, now mostly fermentation-produced rather than extracted from calf stomach | Chymosin cuts one specific bond on kappa-casein, which strips the micelles of their protection and lets them clump into a curd. |
| salt | sodium chloride, rubbed on or in brine | Salt draws out more whey, slows the culture at the right moment, and controls which moulds and bacteria can grow on the rind. |
| processed cheese extras | emulsifying salts — sodium citrate, sodium phosphates | They stop the fat and protein separating when melted, which is why a processed slice melts smoothly and cheddar splits into oil. |
Other food and drink objects
- Marshmallow Sugar syrup whipped full of air and held there by gelatin, which comes from animal collagen.
- Chewing gum A base of synthetic rubber, wax and resin that you never swallow, carrying sweetener and flavour that you do.
- Chocolate Ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, plus a trace of lecithin — the fat does the rest.
- Gelatin Collagen from animal skin and bone, broken down with acid or alkali and dried. There is no plant version.
- Bread Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor.
- Potato chips (crisps) Thin potato slices fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with a maltodextrin-carried flavour powder, packed in nitrogen.
- Tofu Soy milk curdled with a mineral salt and pressed — cheese-making, with soybeans instead of milk.
Common questions
- What is a Cheese made of?
- Milk protein clotted by an enzyme, drained of whey and salted — four ingredients and a lot of time.
- What is the milk of a Cheese made of?
- Cow, sheep, goat or buffalo milk, raw or pasteurised. The fat and protein ratio of the milk sets the character before anything is added; sheep milk has nearly twice the solids of cow milk.
- What is the starter culture of a Cheese made of?
- Lactic acid bacteria — Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus. They convert lactose to lactic acid, which drops the pH, helps the curd knit and preserves the cheese against spoilage organisms.
Related pages
- Marshmallow Sugar syrup whipped full of air and held there by gelatin, which comes from animal collagen.
- Chewing gum A base of synthetic rubber, wax and resin that you never swallow, carrying sweetener and flavour that you do.
- Chocolate Ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, plus a trace of lecithin — the fat does the rest.
- Gelatin Collagen from animal skin and bone, broken down with acid or alkali and dried. There is no plant version.
- Bread Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor.
- Potato chips (crisps) Thin potato slices fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with a maltodextrin-carried flavour powder, packed in nitrogen.
- Tofu Soy milk curdled with a mineral salt and pressed — cheese-making, with soybeans instead of milk.
- Pencil Stationery and paper
- Tennis ball Sport and games
- Banknote Around the house
- Golf ball Sport and games
- Paper Stationery and paper
- Glass Building materials
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place