π§βπ³ Cheesemaker
Makes and ages cheese.
A cheesemaker is a craftsperson who makes cheese and brings it to maturity. The work starts with milk and ends with a wheel of cheese that may ripen for weeks, months or even years.
Cheese is made in several steps. First, a starter culture is added to warm milk β bacteria that turn milk sugar into lactic acid. Then rennet (chymosin) is added, and the milk sets into a firm curd. The curd is cut, and a liquid comes out of it: whey. The cheese curds are stirred, sometimes warmed, put into moulds and pressed. Then the cheese is salted, with dry salt or in brine.
The last and longest stage is ripening. The cheese is kept in a room at the right temperature and humidity. Mould-ripened cheeses ripen for a few weeks, hard cheeses for months and years. The cheesemaker watches every step: the taste, texture and smell of the cheese depend on it. Cheesemaking is a very old craft. Bronze Age cheese moulds and strainers have been found all over Europe. Cheese is shown in Egyptian tombs and mentioned by the ancient Greeks. Today there are more than a thousand kinds of cheese in the world.
How it connects to milk
π§βπ³ Cheesemaker β works with β π§ Cheese β made from β π₯ Milk
Links
- Where they work
- π Cheese dairy
- Works with
- π§ Cheese
- Who this is
- π§ Human
- Part of
- π Dairy plant jobs
- Wine and milk
- π· Cellar master
Frequently asked questions
What does a cheesemaker do?
Makes cheese: sours and sets the milk, cuts the curd, moulds and salts the cheese and ages it until it is ripe.
How long does cheese take to ripen?
Mould-ripened cheeses take a few weeks, hard cheeses months and even years.
Why is rennet used in cheesemaking?
Its enzyme, chymosin, makes the milk protein casein set into a firm curd, which is then made into cheese.
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