Acid-set or sour milk cheese is

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

that has been

curd Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as l ...

led (coagulated) by natural souring, often from

lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped ( bacilli) or spherical ( cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bact ...

, or by the addition of

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a se ...

. This type of cheese is technologically simple to produce. When making soft acid-set cheese using bacteria, the coagulum results from production of lactic acid by the starter microorganisms. Cheeses can be classified according to a variety of features including ripening characteristics, special processing techniques (such as

cheddaring The manufacture of Cheddar cheese includes the process of ''cheddaring'', which makes this cheese unique. Cheddar cheese is named for the village of Cheddar in Somerset in South West England where it was originally manufactured. The manufactu ...

) or method of coagulation. Acid-setting is a method of coagulation that accounts for around 25% of cheese production. These are generally fresh cheeses like, queso blanco,

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly ...

and

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

. The other 75%, which includes almost all ripened cheeses, are

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin an ...

cheeses.

Ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain afte ...

and most other

whey cheese Whey cheese is a dairy product made of whey, the by-product of cheesemaking. After the production of most cheeses, about 50% of milk solids remain in the whey, including most of the lactose and lactalbumin. The production of whey cheese allows ch ...

s are made by first heating the milk to between 90 and 92 degrees Celsius to create coprecipitation of

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins ( αS1, aS2, β, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of the proteins in hum ...

and

whey protein Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production. The proteins consist of α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, serum albumin and immunoglobulins. Glycomacropeptide also ma ...

before addition of lactic or

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in ...

Production

Rennet is also sometimes used in the processing of other fresh, soft cheeses like

fromage frais ''Fromage blanc'' (; ; also known as ''maquée'') is a fresh cheese originating from the north of France and southern Belgium. The name means "white cheese" in French. ''Fromage frais'' ("fresh cheese") differs from ''fromage blanc'' in that, acc ...

, but it is not an essential ingredient and these cheeses can be produced by traditional methods without rennet or other enzymes. Ricotta is a high-moisture cheese, like cottage cheese, but it is not a pressed curd cheese. It can be made from

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of har ...

or a blend of milk and whey. Traditionally, ricotta was produced from the whey byproduct of

mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...

and

provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian cheese. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in Campania near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in othe ...

production, but modern techniques usually use whole milk (sometimes without any whey). Milk can be blended into the whey to improve curd cohesiveness, neutralize the acid in whey and increase yield. This mixture of milk and whey is heated before enough food grade acid is added to drop the pH to the needed level (this could be some type of lactic, citric or

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main componen ...

). Whichever type of acid is used by the cheesemaker it is important to maintain correct PH levels for the sweetness of the cheese's flavor. Some methods of mass-produced cheeses will use food grade

caustic soda Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali ...

to neutralize the acid of the whey, before heating the blend and adding the coagulating acid.

Regional varieties

In Germany the term ''Sauermilchkäse'' is usually applied to ripened acid-set cheeses only, but not to fresh cheeses. The various types of ripened sour milk cheese include: *

Handkäse ''Handkäse'' (; literally: "hand cheese") is a German regional sour milk cheese (similar to Harzer) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main, Darmstadt, Langen, and other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name ...

Harzer Harzer cheese is a German sour milk cheese made from low fat curd cheese, which originates in the Harz mountain region south of Braunschweig. Harzer is often small and round, in which case it is called ''Handkäse'' or '' Taler'', or cylindrica ...

Nieheimer Nieheimer is a sour milk cheese made using cow's milk and named after Nieheim, a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is prepared from curds that are first formed into a cake form and aged for around five to eight days. ...

* Olomoucké syrečky (Olmützer Quargel) * Tyrolean grey cheese

References

{{Authority control *

Production

Regional varieties

See also

References