Acid-set cheese facts for kids
Acid-set cheese is a special kind of cheese. It's also called sour milk cheese. This cheese is made when milk changes from a liquid into a solid, a process called curdling or coagulating. This happens naturally when good bacteria create lactic acid, or when an acid like vinegar is added. Making this type of cheese is usually quite simple.
When soft acid-set cheese is made using bacteria, the bacteria produce lactic acid. This acid then makes the milk curdle and become solid.
Contents
What is Acid-Set Cheese?
Cheeses can be grouped in many ways. One way is by how they are made solid, or coagulated. Acid-setting is one way to do this. About 25% of all cheese made uses this method. These cheeses are often fresh and soft. Examples include cottage cheese, queso blanco, quark, and cream cheese. Most other cheeses, about 75%, are made using something called rennet. These are usually cheeses that are aged for a long time.
How is Ricotta Made?
Ricotta is a cheese that has a lot of moisture, like cottage cheese. But it's not a pressed cheese. Ricotta and many other whey cheeses are made by heating milk first. The milk is heated to about 90 to 92 degrees Celsius (194-198°F). Then, lactic or citric acid is added. This process helps the milk proteins and whey proteins come together.
How Acid-Set Cheese is Made
Traditional cottage cheese can be made without any special enzymes that help milk curdle. However, modern ways of making it often use these enzymes. This helps make more cheese and speeds up the process. These newer methods also create a cheese that tastes milder and sweeter. Sometimes, rennet is also used for other fresh, soft cheeses like fromage frais. But it's not always needed. These cheeses can still be made the old-fashioned way without rennet or other enzymes.
Making Ricotta in Detail
Ricotta can be made from whey, which is the liquid left over from making other cheeses. It can also be made from a mix of milk and whey. In the past, ricotta was often made from the whey left over from making mozzarella and provolone. But today, it's often made using whole milk, sometimes without any whey at all.
Mixing milk into the whey can make the cheese curds stick together better. It also helps balance the acid in the whey and makes more cheese. This mix of milk and whey is heated. Then, a food-grade acid is added to make the pH level just right. This acid could be lactic, citric, or acetic acid. Cheesemakers need to keep the pH level correct for the cheese to have a sweet flavor. Some large-scale cheese makers might even use caustic soda to balance the acid in the whey first. After that, they heat the mix and add the acid to make it curdle.
Cheeses from Different Regions
In Germany, the word Sauermilchkäse usually means ripened acid-set cheeses. It does not refer to fresh cheeses. Some types of ripened sour milk cheese include:
- Handkäse
- Harzer
- Nieheimer
- Olomoucké syrečky (also known as Olmützer Quargel)
- Tyrolean grey cheese
See also
In Spanish: Queso de leche agria para niños
