As you know, cheese is a healthy product and familiar to mankind for more than one millennium. It is prepared from ruminant milk: mainly cow, goat, sheep, and mare. But not everyone knows that in cheese making, special starter cultures for cheeses are also used, which, incidentally, can also be of different origin. It is clear that a product prepared at home will be both tastier and healthier than a store. Especially in the light of recent inspections, which showed that the production of many cheeses does not comply with the established technology and mixes additives that are completely superfluous and spoil the natural taste. This is done, as a rule, in order to save on production costs, and in order to increase the shelf life of the dairy product. So, a starter for cheese at home will obviously come in handy if you have come close to the question of how to make it yourself. So at least you will certainly know what it consists of.
Types of Homemade Cheeses
What can be produced in your kitchen using starter for cheese is divided into three types.
- Hard cheeses. They are made on the basis of sourdough for cheese and cottage cheese. They are kept under a special press (you can do it yourself or buy in a store, but it will cost a pretty penny). Excerpt occurs within a month at least. The longer the exposure, the better the taste. The density of the structure of the product’s body itself largely depends on the time and weight of the press load. Another caveat: the production of hard cheese is possible only from whole milk.
- Soft cheeses. Fermentation for cheeses and cottage cheese are also used here. The difference with solid options is mainly in exposure time. Soft cheeses are also made from skim milk, and the product can be consumed after a week (while soft types are not covered with paraffin for long-term storage).
- Home-made cheeses (like Adyghe, Suluguni or Brynza). They are also produced from cottage cheese, which has a fairly high liquid content. The shelf life of such cheeses is small. And they are made mainly from skim milk (but it is also possible from whole milk). Such products are quite simple to manufacture; they do not need to withstand presses.
What you need to make
- It is advisable to take whole milk (mainly cow in modern conditions). The main thing is to choose high-quality. Clarify that antibiotics are not used when feeding the animal (at least for a week, as they slow down the oxidation processes). Best of all, if you have a private household and your own horned ones or you have the opportunity to constantly buy raw materials from acquaintances who are subsistent. It should be remembered that from 10 liters of milk you can get only one kilogram of hard cheese, or 1.5 kg of soft cheese, or 2 kg of feta cheese and suluguni.
- From equipment - it can be built cheaply and personally, so as not to buy expensive import options - you will need: cheese molds (can be made from ordinary tin cans), a press with a piston (made at home from boards and clamps), a thermometer for liquids, a knife , colander, gauze, paraffin (if we prepare hard cheese).
Sourdough for cheese at home
And, of course, sourdough is essential for cheese. It must be used so that it stimulates the formation of the amount of acid that is sufficient for the correct process as quickly and as best as possible. In home-made cheese making, buttermilk, and yoghurts, and powder starter cultures, and natural dairy, obtained in a natural way, and yeast are used. Keep in mind that the nature of the starter culture for making cheese (more precisely, its origin) directly affects its taste and aroma. So you have to choose options, correlating your own tastes and passions with classical technologies.
Cheese. Leaven. The simplest recipe
We leave half a liter of fresh natural whole milk at room temperature (or slightly higher). Usually a day is enough at an optimum temperature of 30 degrees. We use such leaven, adding to the main raw materials, in the production of home-made cheeses that do not require the use of a press.
Another option
Sourdough for homemade cheese can also be prepared with yeast. Add 1/8 stick of yeast to warm milk. We leave this mixture to wander for a day in a warm place. Then pour half the milk and add fresh. We do this for a week. During this time, the leaven will ripen and be ready for use. Add it to the main raw materials.
Abomasum
This product has long been known in cheese making as a starter for homemade cheese. And in the cheese industry it is used very actively for the production of most cheeses. What is this substance? Even the ancient Greeks, according to scientific data, using the stomachs of ungulates as containers for liquids, most likely accidentally discovered the phenomenon of its effect on dairy products. Or maybe this technology was known before? In ruminants, this is the 4th section of the multi-chamber stomach (glandular stomach). In calves (or lambs), for example, who feed on mother’s milk, a special rennet, which is involved in digestion, rennin, is actively developed there. It breaks down peptides. This rennet is the first chemically isolated laboratory pathway. By the way, Dane Christian Hansen, who discovered it by salt extraction in 1874, subsequently founded the company, which is still the largest producer of the enzyme. The main source is the stomachs of dairy calves (age - not more than 10 days), dried and grated in a special way. Abomasum is the main substance that is used in cheese making.
Process essence
With the introduction of rennet in milk under certain temperature conditions, the process of rapid coagulation of milk begins - curdling. At home, using the abomasum is quite easy, so there is no need to be afraid of this. Just take a tablet or extract (in the form of which it is usually sold) and dissolve in milk at room temperature (or a little higher). The effect is visible after an hour. By the way, in the production of soft home-made cheeses, the use of rennet is not necessary at all. It is enough to use the fermentation of naturally sour milk. The only inconvenience is that the curling process will take much longer. Usually a little more than a day. During this time, a clot - cottage cheese - and serum manages to separate. But still, some prefer to use abomasum at home to improve the taste and accelerate the ripening of cheese.
For vegetarians
The use of an animal enzyme in the production of cheese raises many questions among vegetarians. Therefore, in recent times (for example, in Europe), abomasum substitutes are used for cheese making. Back in the 60s of the last century, the corresponding strains of fungi that were involved in the synthesis of the enzyme were isolated. And since the beginning of the 90s, genetic biotechnology and rennin produced by bacteria have been used. According to unverified data, more than half of cheese products are now produced with such substitutes in Europe. But some firms still adhere to more traditional cooking techniques and use animal rennet.
At the pharmacy
By the way, for home cooking a delicious fermented milk product, such a starter culture for cheese is also suitable. The pharmacy sells pepsin. The only drawback is the high cost of the pharmacy enzyme and its deficiency. But if you have the opportunity to get this medicine, feel free to use it for the production of homemade cheeses.