Cheese Making - the modern way

Modern Cheese Making

It is generally assumed that the modern cheese making could have evolved from mainly two stages, the first being production of fermented or sour milk product for e.g. Leben, Aryan, Yoghurt etc. The second stage involves removal or separation of whey from milk coupled with addition of salt. E.g. concentrated yoghurt, yoghurt cheese, or soft cheese.

It can be said that the characteristic climatic factors of the Middle East (subtropics) played a major role in the development of cheese. The existence of high ambient temperature coupled with presence of millions of microorganisms in milk led to the souring or fermentation of the milk. The source of bacteria found in milk may be from the animal, the hands and body surface of the milkman, the surface of the utensils used for milking or the environment especially when it is dusty and dirty.

The bacteria or simply the microorganisms present in milk can bring about two types of fermentation viz. lactic and non-lactic fermentation.

First let us see what is lactic fermentation?

The fermentation produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or lactic starter cultures or simply starters, which metabolizes the lactose (milk sugar) present in milk in to lactic acid along with some pleasant flavours due to the production of diacetyl, acetoin and 2,3 butylene glycol. The end product is more desirable and pleasant to eat.

What is a non-lactic fermentation?

The non-lactic fermentation is brought about by the microorganisms other than that of LAB i.e. lactic acid bacteria. For e.g. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Microbacterium etc. The end product obtained is usually stale and insipid or of bad taste when consumed.