Real cheese can only be called such a product, which is made from milk, bacterial sourdough and natural enzymes. It is quite nutritious, has rich taste. In order for cheese to be healthy, it must certainly be natural and of high quality. Today we will tell you about how to choose the right cheese, which will be the most useful, tasty and natural.
About cheeses
Currently, a huge number of different types of cheese have been created. All of them are usually divided into families. According to the production method, they can be rennet - milk curdling in this case occurs under the influence of rennet; fermented milk - milk fermentation is used for their production; fused. Before we talk about how to choose a good cheese, we note that most often this product is made from sheep’s, cow’s and goat’s milk, or a mixture thereof. In some countries, it is made from buffalo, mare or camel milk.
Cheese ripening
When choosing a product, it is important to know that hard cheeses ripen from two months to several years, soft ones - no more than 2-6 weeks. It is believed that the older the cheese, the more smelly and expensive it is. Therefore, if you prefer to eat cheeses that do not have a specific smell, you should choose young cheeses or brine varieties.
How to choose cheese: icons
All over the world, the quality of cheeses is customarily protected by the control of the authenticity of origin. In France, this is marked AOC, in English-speaking countries - PGI, PDO, in Spain and Italy - DOP, DOC. This icon guarantees that the product was manufactured in this territory and all certain rules were strictly observed. In our country, the quality of cheese is guaranteed by the following inscription: “It complies with the technical regulations for milk and dairy products. No. 88- ”.
Cheese composition
Before you start buying cheese, you should pay attention to the label and read what is included in this product. The set of components contained in an ideal cheese is as follows: milk, rennet (other milk-clotting preparations can be used, but exclusively of animal origin) and fermentation of lactic acid microorganisms. Salt and calcium chloride are allowed in the cheese.
The choice
How to choose cheese in the store? When choosing cheese, be sure to pay attention to its full name and what is included in the product. Try to avoid the following additives: arboxymethyl cellulose - E-466, dye "sunny sunset" - E-110, carrageenan - E-407, carotenes - E-160 a, b.
In the event that the composition includes milk powder, preservatives, stabilizers, individual dairy components, dyes and other food additives, this is poor quality cheese. Very often microbial agents are used instead of animal enzymes, most often they are transgenic. Such cheeses do not require ripening.
Marking
Speaking about how to choose a quality cheese, don't forget about the labeling, it is an important element that should be considered when buying. Very often on the label you can find the following name: "cheese product" and other consonant names for the word cheese. We must say right away that this kind of purchase should be discarded because such cheese is not natural. Most likely, it contains vegetable fats and other substitutes. Preference should be given to a product manufactured not according to TU, but according to GOST.
Price
One of the main criteria when choosing cheese is its price. Take mozzarella as an example. On average, one liter of milk costs about 25 rubles. (or slightly lower) for large wholesale buyers. For 12-13 kg of mozzarella, you need to spend 100 liters of milk. The cost of it will be about 200-225 rubles. To this figure we add the additional costs associated with the purchase of rennet (and other starter cultures) for the production, packaging, delivery, profit of the enterprise and the percentage of the store. An adequate price for 1 kg of such a product should be equal to 500 rubles. Therefore, a natural product a priori cannot be cheap.
How to choose natural cheese
Most often, this product is associated with hard cheese, which is really the most popular type. But there are also other varieties: fermented, soft, pickled and processed. We will tell you how to choose this product in order.
Hard cheese
In order not to make a mistake in choosing hard cheese, it is recommended that you carefully consider it, smell it and be sure to feel it. External signs that may indicate a defective product:
- the presence of bumps, cracks, wrinkles and other defects;
- loose, crumbly consistency;
- torn edges;
- dryness, moldiness and rancidity (a sign of spoilage);
- grease (indicates the presence of palm oil);
- mold (permissible only for special varieties);
- thick subcortical layer;
- white plaque;
- swelling of the crust (the presence of bacteria);
- uneven coloring;
- uneven distribution of ocelli (large in one place, small in another);
- the presence of drops on the surface or moisture (the presence of vegetable fats in the product).
Many modern stores have the opportunity to taste the cheese before making a purchase. When trying this type of cheese, you should not feel any gritting on your teeth. With these properties of the product, this is a sign that it contains intact milk proteins. It should not have too sweet or salty taste, this criterion depends on the particular variety. You can check the naturalness of the product as follows: cut off a flat piece of cheese and then bend it in half - it should not break. A quality cheese should have good ductility, but it should not be "rubber".
Soft cheeses
When buying soft cheeses, you should adhere to approximately the same scheme as when choosing hard cheeses. They differ only in texture, soft cheeses are much wetter. The amount of moisture in them depends on the variety. Please note: in spite of its softness, cheese must necessarily retain springiness and elasticity.
We want to give some recommendations on how to choose blue cheese. Such a product should be a little loose and soft. It has a specific aroma (the smell of penicillin), and the ammonia odor not characteristic of this type of cheese is a sign that the product is spoiled. In most cases, cheeses are imported, so special attention should be paid to shelf life. Cheese with mold is not recommended to be bought immediately in large quantities due to the fact that it quickly deteriorates.
Pickled Cheeses
When creating such products, special brines are used. Cheeses have no crust and are quite brittle. The most famous of all is feta cheese. Suluguni cheese is no less popular . Their assortment is also represented by other varieties: these are Adyghe, Yerevan, Ossetian, Georgian, Chechil, Tushino, Liman, Lori, and Chanakh. Unlike hard cheeses, bacteria develop in brine very quickly, and in order to extend shelf life, they are sometimes overdone. When buying such a product, it is better to taste it.
Sour-milk cheeses
These products are obtained by fermenting milk with lactic acid. Cheese is not at all like its semi-solid or hard counterparts. It is unusually soft, delicate and in consistency most of all resembles cottage cheese. In order to understand what they offer you on store shelves under the guise of such cheese, you need to read the name on the package. In the event that the word cheese is indicated there, this is a natural product. But if you read “cheese product”, “curd cheese product” or “cream cheese”, the conclusion is obvious: this is a plant-based product.
The selection of cottage cheese is very high. What cottage cheese to choose? For sauces and sandwiches, a large assortment of flavored varieties of this product are presented: with herbs, with the taste of mushrooms, fish, etc. When choosing them, you should pay attention to the fact that they contain not only flavoring additives that mimic the real ones, but also pieces natural products.
What cheese to choose for cream? Of course, curd cheese with a creamy taste that does not contain extraneous additives. It should be white in color, have a delicate texture and a slightly salty taste. Regardless of the choice of one or another cottage cheese, when buying, pay attention to the integrity of the packaging, the date of manufacture and the expiration date. The consistency of such cheese should be uniform, and it should be soft, without mold and liquid.
Cream cheese
A soft creamy product having a creamy taste is called cream cheese. All of them, regardless of the recipe, are considered dairy products with a soft consistency. In their production, there is no ripening stage; excluded are the processes of additional processing, for example, melting or smoking.
Consider which cream cheese to choose. In order to acquire a high-quality product, you must learn to choose the right one. Some rules must be observed:
- Buy products only in stores that have a good reputation.
- The container must be clean, intact, have a label.
- It is necessary to observe the temperature regime during storage +2 .... + 6 ° C.
- All information on the label should be set out in Russian and contain all data on the composition, value, production date, shelf life of the product and its manufacturer.
In natural cream cheese should not be vegetable fats, gelatin, starch, flavorings, dyes. Its shelf life cannot exceed 3 weeks, if a longer shelf life is indicated, this means the presence of preservatives in it.
Cream cheese
The most difficult choice for a consumer is a good quality product when buying processed cheese. An ideal product should include the following components: hard rennet cheese, cream, milk, cl. butter. Often manufacturers for the preparation of processed cheeses use second-class raw materials, defective, spoiled cheese, milk powder, vegetable oils. Make sure that at least there are no preservatives in it.
One of the varieties of processed is smoked cheese. The very first thing you need to pay attention to is that it should not be dry and crumbly. Its shell should be shiny and free from mechanical defects. During cutting, it should not stick to the knife. The mass should be homogeneous and free from voids.
Storage rules
When buying a product, in addition to the question of how to choose a good cheese, another often arises: how to store it correctly. Consider what requirements for storage conditions must be observed.
Hard cheeses are stored in refrigerators with a temperature of -4 .... + 8 ° C, with a humidity of 85-90%. Humidity must be observed, otherwise the cheese may dry out or mold. The permissible shelf life is up to 4 months, it depends on many factors: preservatives, crust thickness, moisture content, salt, packaging, the presence of microorganisms that cause spoilage.
Brine cheeses should be stored in brine at a temperature close to +5 ° C, the duration of storage directly depends on how salted the solution. Average indicators: for Suluguni - one month, for Brynza - about two. Brine cheese without brine can be stored for no more than a week.
The permissible storage temperature of soft cheeses is 0 ... + 8 ° C, their shelf life is much shorter than that of hard cheeses. At home, they can be stored for only a few days. Sometimes manufacturers can make this period longer by adding preservatives or under-ripening cheese.
Processed cheese ( including smoked ), unlike others, has longer shelf life due to the fact that it is subjected to heat treatment (melting). It can be stored at temperatures from -4 to +4 ° C, for a period of up to two months.
The storage conditions of sour-milk cheeses must be approached with special care, it is necessary to maintain a stable and proper temperature regime. When storing cheese in a refrigerator, the temperature should be kept between 0 .... + 6 ° C, the storage period is a maximum of 2 weeks. It can be stored in the freezer at temperatures up to minus 18 ° C, but not more than 45 days.
Packaging
How to choose the most suitable packaging for cheese? Very often, on the shelves of the store, pieces of cheese are wrapped with foil, but this is not the best way of storage, rather economical. With such packaging, the product can be stored for no more than 10 days. The most effective method is in foil, such a packaging material perfectly protects the product from environmental influences. The most important thing is to close the slice in the cheese well.
Some manufacturers cover their product with a paraffin shell, which, of course, is an advantage, since it allows to make the shelf life longer. Experienced cheese makers recommend several interesting ways of storing cheese in everyday life: place the product with a couple of sugar cubes in a closed container or wrap it in a salty napkin. It must be remembered that cheese should not be stored next to products such as lard, meat, fish. His best neighbors are other dairy products.