From the appearance to the flavor profile, enjoying cheese is a wonderful sensory experience. As such, manufacturers work hard to meet the flavor, texture and visual expectations of customers, but visual defects can detract from the premium image of cheese.
Cheesemakers need to understand fermentation and gas development to avoid defects in their cheese or when they want to create the right number and size of eyes in certain cheeses.
Eye development in cheese can be a sought-after attribute or an unfortunate defect, but in both cases, gas is the culprit. That’s why it is essential for cheesemakers to understand the basics of gas development and apply that knowledge, whether they are looking to make a tightly knit Cheddar or a Swiss with perfect eyes.
To gain a slice of the billion-dollar flavored-cheese market, add flavors or inclusions. But watch out for issues like contamination, allergens and undesirable flavor profiles due to aging.
Arla Foods Ingredients, Basking Ridge, N.J., has developed a range of next-generation “recombining” solutions that will enable dairy companies to produce high-quality specialty cheeses without fresh milk.
By harnessing the knowledge gained by measuring intact casein and bound calcium, a cheesemaker can better determine the texture and performance of the end product.