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Blue Jacket Dairy
Ohio's leading producer of fresh artisan cheese
How is cheese made?
Basic cheese making steps include
- Starter cultures are added to milk to start the acidification process
- An enzyme called rennet is then added to the milk. Rennet begins the process of separating the solids (curd) from the liquids (whey) that make up milk.
- Next, curd-cutting knives called harps are used to cut the curd to help further the expulsion of whey..
- Next, the liquid whey is drained off.
- Depending of the desired outcome, the curds are handled in a number of ways.
- The cheese is ready for market or it is aged for a minimum of 60 days.
How many kinds of cheese are there?
Thousands, but generally speaking they can be divided into eight categories.
- Fresh (moist and mild non-aged cheeses including ricotta, quark, chevre, creme cSheese, cottage cheese)
- Semi-soft (ex. Colby)
- Soft-ripened (thin white velvety crust, examples, Brie and Camembert)
- Surface-ripened (rubbed with brine, wine, beer, etc)
- Semi-hard (examples include Cheddar and Gouda)
- Hard (example, Parmesan)
- Blue (marbled, example, Gorgonzola)
- Washed rind (example, Munster)
