In the technological process for the production of various sour-milk products and certain types of cheese, liquid rennet is used to ferment milk . It is made by processing a certain section of the stomach of newborn calves and lambs. Due to the fact that the gastric system of young animals is not yet sufficiently developed, the abomasum (this is the name of the part of the digestive system necessary for processing), plays the role of an irreplaceable yeast.
How does the thickening process occur?
Milk is made up of casein and albumin proteins. The first group is about 80% of the total mass and is presented as multimolecular compounds. Such components are in the form of protein beads and are called "micelles." They may include different types of casein.
When milk coagulates under the influence of certain enzymes, micellar changes occur, resulting in the formation of pairs of k-casein and macropeptide. In this case, k-casein remains in the micelles, and the macropeptides are converted into a liquid fraction (serum). During coagulation, the molecular compounds of k-casein stick together, forming a milk clot.
Types of coagulants used in the production of dairy products
Traditional technologies for the production of dairy products determine the use of coagulants - enzymes involved in the process of converting milk into a clot, which can subsequently be easily separated from whey. The consistency, shelf life, aging time and taste characteristics of the finished product depend on the correct choice of the coagulant and its dosage. Typically, milk enzymes are used:
- Powdered, pasty or liquid rennet calf enzyme. It has important technological value and allows you to get high-quality finished products. Compared with the abomasum of adult cows, it has much better properties: the leaven prepared from it has optimal coagulability. This enzyme is widely used in the preparation of hard and semi-soft cheeses.
- An enzyme derived from the stomachs of adult cows, pigs, and other animals called pepsin. However, beef pepsin is considered less sensitive to changes in acidity and more stable during cooking. It is him, in combination with chymosin (liquid rennet of newborn cattle), that it is recommended to use in the technology of manufacturing various types of brine cheeses.
- The genetic studies carried out at one time made it possible to obtain recombinant chymosin, identical in all characteristics to natural calf chymosin. It has proved itself to be excellent, and today it is widely used in the manufacture of any kind of cheese.
- To obtain the milk clot necessary for the further production of dairy products, some types of yeast, fungi and mold are often used in the technological process. This raw material is called microbial rennin or microbial pepsin. The most widely used are enzymes derived from the fungus Rhizomucor meihei.
Home-made cottage cheese and cheese
In home cheese production, Ceska Lase Kalase liquid rennet is often used as the main coagulant. This product consists of a finely coagulated natural enzyme. It is used to make any kind of homemade cheese and cottage cheese from natural milk.
Rennet function
As a result of exposure to a coagulant of this type, coagulation of milk protein occurs. The homogeneous milk mass is divided into two fractions: acquires the consistency of a gel and serum. It is the conversion of milk into a clot that is the main task of a natural enzyme.
Getting cottage cheese
Organic compounds, consisting of pepsin and chymosin, allow the production of milk coagulation in a short period of time. Already after the first phase of coagulation, many milk clots are obtained, when crushed, they get cottage cheese.
Cheese production
Making cheese is a rather lengthy and more complicated process. Casein breaks down under the action of powdered or liquid rennet Ceska Lase, and in the process of cheese ripening the product acquires a specific cheese flavor.
After separation of the clots resulting from coagulation from liquid serum, they are placed in special forms and pressed. The resulting semi-finished product is sent to a special brine and kept in it for 10 days. Only after this, the young cheese is sent for ripening.
Effective brands of natural coagulants
However, very often, along with the popular coagulant, cheese makers use other brands of natural liquid rennet enzymes. Clerici, Meito, Normal, Extra - these are the main, widely used in home and industrial cheese making, natural enzymes. They may vary slightly in activity of IMCU (International Milk Coagulation Units) with various qualitative and physical characteristics of the feedstock.
Alternatives to Using Liquid Rennet
The methods for producing calf liquid rennet, directly related to the destruction of newborn animals, are not only completely inhumane, but also not economical. Despite the high cost of a natural coagulant, killing a young calf does not allow raising an animal and excludes profit from the sale of its meat.
In addition, many consumers who know what rennet is and how they get it, refuse to consume products that have been prepared using such raw materials. Therefore, the question of replacing the use of calf coagulant has been standing for a long time.
Today, thanks to microbiological research, there are some options for replacing the use of calf rennet. The developments of foreign and Russian scientists are widely used in technological processes for the production of cheese and various sour-milk products.
In our country, as well as throughout the world, microbial enzymes have gained the greatest popularity. Sourdough, the production of which is based on the use of certain types of mushrooms and lactic acid bacteria, is often considered a more effective way to produce high-quality cheeses of various types.
The leading brands used almost everywhere in Europe and in Russia are considered to be developments related to the vital activity of strains of milk mushrooms Rhizomucor meihei and yeast Kluyveromyces lactis.
Herbal preparations
In addition to enzymatic preparations of animal and microbial origin, extracts of certain plants can be used as coagulants. Coagulation of milk with the help of fig tree juice (Ficus carica), often used in the regions of its growth, has long been known throughout the world. Another example of plant enzymes used in the dairy industry is the aqueous extract of cardona flowers, which is widely used in the production of Portuguese cheese Sena da Estrela.
Why calf enzyme is still popular
Despite the low cost of plant materials, these technologies have not yet been widely used. This is due to the fact that plant coagulants do not provide the opportunity to obtain the optimal yield of finished products. It cannot be said that microbial enzymes always give the expected result. That is why natural rennet coagulants, thanks to the possibility of obtaining high-quality products with stable indicators, have not yet lost their popularity.