Chet Hayes wrote:

"Bob (this one)" wrote in message ...

Chet Hayes wrote:


Steve Knight wrote in message
m...


On 2 Sep 2004 06:14:00 -0700, (Chet Hayes)
wrote:


Cheese is made by fermenting milk. The bacteria eat the sugar
in the milk. The harder the cheese, the more complete the
process.

yogurt is fermented cheese is curdled. the way is separated from
the cheese and that is where the lactose is. yogurt is made from
cultures that eat the bacteria. if it is left to ferment longer
then it has less lactose.

Oh, really?

Yes. Really.


And how exactly does the curdling occur? By magic, or is it the
starter culture (bacteria) that is introduced into the pasteurized
milk?

Save the sneer for when you have a prayer of being right.

Curdling is done either by adding acid (vinegar, etc.) or enzymes
(rennet, etc.) to milk or cream. It separates into curds (solid) and
whey (liquid). Then it's processed - drained, cooked, pressed, salted,
inoculated (like adding Penicillium roquefortei or others to the curd
to make blue cheeses) - or whatever to become the sort of cheese being
made.

There are "cheeses" made by draining cultured milks, but that name is
a convenience because, technically, they aren't cheeses at all. Yogurt
"cheese" being the most obvious example.

Starter cultures are added to begin *very few* cheeses. Most are
purely mechanical curdling operations with no bacteria involved. In
fact, many are cooked to kill bacteria and to alter the protein structure.

Pastorio


Sorry if facts offend you. Here's a link to the Wisconsin milk
marketing board with a nice educational video, that we can all learn
from.

Right. Here's the link:
http://www.wisdairy.com/cheeseinfo/virtual_tours.asp

I would think the Wisconsin milk board should know how cheese
is made. In step four, they talk about the starter culture being
routinely added as a basic and essential step in the making of cheese
and that it assists in the curdling process.

How about if we go back to your ****head question above:
And how exactly does the curdling occur? By magic, or is it the
starter culture (bacteria) that is introduced into the pasteurized
milk?

Notice how you imply that it's *only* the culture that curdles milk by
your question. As though you think it's made like yogurt. Bacterial
cultures are added for flavor and texture of the cheese, not as the
major curdling agent, as is explained in the video. That bacteria feed
on lactose and convert it to lactic acid does *contribute* to
curdling. But if it were enough, they wouldn't add the coagulants that
are necessary to make milk into cheese.

I wrote clumsily above when I said that:
Starter cultures are added to begin *very few* cheeses. Most are
purely mechanical curdling operations with no bacteria involved.
It was an overstatement and my reference was intended to be merely
about curdling, but it still ended up inaccurate. Wrote hastily.

And it's not always pasteurized milk. Raw milk cheeses are available
as well.

Here. Make your own in a 1/2 hour.
http://www.cheesemaking.com/product_info-cPath-22-products_id-34.php

Pastorio