Cheese and Cheese Making

Steve Parker
Hobby Cheese Maker
 What is Cheese?
• Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavours, textures and forms by coagulation of
the milk protein.

• The only ingredients in artisan cheese (except those with added flavourings such as spices or
alcohol) are milk, salt, rennet and a starter culture. The milk can come from cows, goats, ewes,
buffalos (and even camels).
• The majority of British artisan cheeses are made from cow’s milk, but ewe and goat cheeses have
become much more popular over the last few decades.
• High quality cheese can only be made using the best milk available, which is why many artisan
producers use their own herds or buy from local farmers – it takes roughly ten kilograms of milk to
produce just one kilogram of cheese, so it’s important to ensure it is rich, full-flavoured and creamy.
• Cheese can be made from raw milk of any kind. (Too hot and the milk will not make normal cheese)
• Dairy cattle provide the milk for many common types of cheese. The milk of sheep, goats, reindeer,
llamas, yaks, buffaloes, and even horses is also used.
 Where is Cheese Made?
• No one knows for sure when the first cheese was created, or who worked
out how to make it. However, we do know that it’s one of the world’s oldest
manmade foods; the ancient Romans wrote about exotic foreign cheeses
being exported all over the empire and cheesemaking equipment has been
dated as far back as 5,500 BC in Poland.
• Several European countries produce large quantities of cheese. Germany,
France, Italy, and the Netherlands are big exporters of cheese.
• Other important cheese producers include Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New
Zealand, Russia, and Egypt. Smaller amounts of cheese are made in
factories and on farms around the globe.
• Today the United States produces more cheese than any other country.
 How is Cheese Made?
• Splitting milk into curds & whey
• Using a starter culture (warming the milk)
• Adding rennet
• Extracting the Whey and Draining the curd
• Salting and Forming/Pressing
• Ageing and Aftercare
What Makes Cheeses Different?
First Step
• Warm the milk to required Temperature and add the culture
Step 2
• Add the Rennet, set and Cut the Curd
Step 3
• Extracting the Whey (and Cheddaring)
Step 4
• Forming and Shaping
Step 5
• Maturation and Aftercare
Specific Cheeses
• Brie/Camembert Type
Specific Cheeses
• Red Windsor
Specific Cheeses
• Morbier
Specific Cheeses
• Blue Veined
Specific Cheeses
Haloumi
Miscellaneous Cheeses
Miscellaneous Cheeses
Any Questions?