The general basics of cheesemaking go like this:
1. Have milk. Warm milk.
2. Add cultures and acid or rennet to milk – start curd coagulation.
3. Start curd separation from whey by cutting or scooping.
4. Cook and drain curds.
5. Do something with the curds! Strain, mold, press, age, ….
There are as many different ways to do the aforementioned as there are sensible black pumps in a government office. Different cheeses get different cultures for different flavors. Some curds get briefly warmed, some get their sugars caramelized, some get nearly all of the whey pressed out of them by being squished in a machine.
Rennet also comes in many forms. Natural, traditional animal- from the stomach lining of a cow. Microbial. Thistle. Some rennet is made in a lab. In whatever form it comes, rennet is what coagulates the curd into a sort of thick custard before it’s separated from the whey. After the curds are cut, they are cooked, the whey is expelled, and what remains is the protein, fat, and deliciousness than will later become cheese.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: It's Not You, It's Brie
