Before curds are fried, they are soft and springy bits of cheese with an ardent following there and in Quebec-two areas of North America known for dairy farming.Ĭheese curds are fresh and young, giving them their defining bouncy texture. From there, the cheese travels to the cheese plant and the magic begins.If you’ve ever attended a Midwestern state fair, you’ve likely seen cheese curds. The fair version was probably an ooey-gooey, golden-brown deep-fried delight. Want to see it in action? We sent a team to Fiscalini Farms in Modesto, California, to learn more about how they make their award-winning cheeses.Īccording to dairy farmer Brian Fiscalini, world-class cheese comes from stellar milk. Once the cheese is shaped, it may be aged for a while before its ready to eat. While the cheese is pressed, more whey comes out, so it eventually becomes the shape and consistency of cheeses we know. This occurs with mozzarella and Swiss cheeses.
Once it starts to gel, the cheesemakers cut it, which allows the whey to come out. The amount of rennet and time needed for it to separate into curds can vary from cheese to cheese. Rennet causes the milk to gel similar to yogurt, before the curds (the solids) separate from the whey (the liquid). After the starter culture, a few other ingredients are added including rennet and, depending on the type of cheese, color - which is why Cheddar is orange. For example, Swiss cheese uses one type of culture, while Brie and Blue use others. Different types of cultures are used to create different types of cheese.
This process helps determine the cheese’s flavor and texture. The starter cultures ferment the lactose, milk’s natural sugar, into lactic acid. Pasteurization is necessary because raw milk can harbor dangerous bacteria, and pasteurization kills those bacteria.Īt this point, good bacteria or “starter cultures” are added to the milk. After the milk is standardized, it’s pasteurized. This is important because cheesemakers need to start with the same base milk in order to make a consistent cheese. Once it passes, the milk goes through a filter and is then standardized – that is, they may add in more fat, cream or protein. Once it’s brought to the cheese plant, the cheesemakers check the milk and take samples to make sure it passes quality and purity tests. What is cheese made of? It all starts with collecting milk from dairy farms. From cow to curd, there are many steps along the way to make the cheeses we all know and love.