Cheese Making and Characterization

Abstract

We will practice manufacturing cheese using benchtop equipment with rennin and testing the quality parameters of cheese. Keywords Cheese • Rennin • Net weight amount • pH • Water activity Objectives Practice benchtop cheese manufacturing process, and measure quality of made cheese including net weight amount, pH, and water activity. Introduction The process of modern cheese making is a refinement of the techniques discovered thousands of years ago. Traditionally, fermentation of lactose (milk sugar) causes the milk to curdle due to a pH decrease, separating whey and curds. Another way of making cheese is by the addition of purified enzymes, such as rennin, a type of protease that cleaves the casein into small fragments that settle out as curds. Rennin works best at body temperature (37 °C). If the milk is too cold, the reaction is very slow, and if the milk is too hot, the heat will denature the rennin, rendering it inactive. There are many rennin cheeses, including Asiago, most brie, most cheddar, and Roquefort. Cheese making is dependent on a variety of factors, including the fat content of milk, pH of the solution, use of enzymes, curing time, and different treatments to influence taste, texture, and aroma.