Acidification. Development of acid (and corresponding drop in pH) in milk or cheese as lactic bacteria convert lactose to lactic acid.
Acidity. In cheese making, the concentration of all acid components in milk, curds, cheese, or whey; usually measured on the pH scale.
Affinage. The process of caring for, aging, and developing a cheese to its highest potential; from the French affiner (refine, polish, mature).
Aged. Refers to cheese that has been held under cellar conditions to achieve a desirable balance of texture, flavor, and aroma.
Aging. Holding of a cheese, usually in cavelike conditions, for best development; see also affinage.
Ambient temperature. The warmth (or coolness) all around; the temperature of aging in a cellar or other enclosed place.
Annatto. An extract of achiote fruit and seeds; a naturally derived orange or yellow dye often used in liquid form in the production of cheddar or similar cheeses.
Aroma mesophilic culture. A lactic bacteria culture growing at moderate (mesophilic) temperatures; particularly valued for contributions to cheese aromas through production of diacetyl and other aromatic compounds.
Artisan. Made by hand in small batches, as contrasted with large-scale industrial manufacturing.
Bacteria. Autonomous microscopic organisms that can produce positive or negative effects. In cheese making the most important positive group is lactic bacteria, which convert lactose into lactic acid.
Bandaging. Wrapping of cheese with cloth to protect the surface and promote ripening.
Bloomy-rind. Descriptive of cheeses that develop a white, downy rind through growth of mold species such as Penicillium candidum or Geotrichum candidum.
Blue-veined. Characteristic of pierced-cake cheeses in which blue mold (Penicillium roqueforti) is encouraged to grow.
Brevibacterium linens. The bacteria characteristic of cheeses known as “stinkers,” such as Limburger and Muenster cheeses; a red “smear” bacterium.
Brine. In cheese making, a salt solution used for soaking cheese, sometimes incorporating whey or calcium chloride.
Brining. The soaking of a cheese in a salty solution to flavor the cheese and develop desirable surface characteristics, as contrasted with dry salting.
bST. Bovine somatotropin, a naturally occurring growth-promoting hormone in cattle. Controversy surrounds the genetically engineered version, rbST or recombinant bovine somatotropin. In natural or synthetic form, it supports milk production in the dairy cow.
Butterfat (aka milk fat). The combination of fatty acids and triglycerides that constitutes the fatty portion of milk.
Buttermilk. The milk left after butter is churned. Naturally or by culturing, it undergoes a lactic fermentation, producing sour flavors and coagulating proteins, which thickens its texture.
Butter muslin. A fine, woven cotton cloth used in draining whey from some cheeses.
Calcium. An alkaline earth chemical element; important in cheese making as the calcium ion, Ca++, which is critical for curd formation.
Calcium chloride. A common salt consisting of one calcium ion and two chloride ions, CaCl2; in solution form, a convenient way to add calcium to milk for cheese production.
Casein. A major protein in milk. When acted upon by acid or rennet, it precipitates from milk to form the primary structure of curds.
Cave. Any cool, moist chamber for the aging of cheese.
Cheddaring. Cutting of curds into strips and draining them while stacked into slabs, prior to pressing the cheese; a distinguishing process in the production of cheddar cheeses.
Cheesecloth. A cotton cloth used for draining whey from curds; usually loosely woven, unless specified otherwise.
Cheese mat. A mat made of any open-weave impervious material, such as nylon mesh or bamboo sushi mats; used to support drying or aging cheese.
Citric acid. A naturally occurring carboxylic acid, C6H8O7, characteristic of citrus fruits; used to directly acidify milk in some applications, such as quick mozzarella.
Clabber. Verb: to coagulate or curdle. Noun: a somewhat thick soured milk, originally from naturally occurring lactic bacteria, but now cultured due to pasteurization of most milk. German quark and French crème fraîche are similar.
Clean break. The point in the solidification of curds that a finger, thermometer, knife, or spoon can be used to lift some curd and it falls away sharply, looking like a miniature cliff face.
Coagulation. Solidification of proteins forming curd.
Curd knife. A long, thin-bladed knife used for cutting curds; generally rounded at the end to avoid scratching the pot.
Curds. The solid part of cheese as it’s being made, as compared with the liquid whey. Curd structure is formed from protein and it contains fat, moisture, salts, and other milk components.
Cutting. Passing a knife or other narrow blade through a curd mass to divide it into smaller chunks; encourages the release of whey.
Dairy thermometer. A glass or stainless steel instrument for measuring the temperature of milk, curds, or whey.
Denaturing. Degradation and cross-linking of protein strands, caused by the addition of acid, heat, enzymes, or solvent. In the kitchen, the process yields nonsoluble solid materials such as cheese curd or cooked egg white.
Diacetyl. A fermentation compound which contributes a desirable buttery aroma to a cheese; gas production: refers to cultures that produce CO2.
Direct-set culture. Bacteria or mold organisms prepared in a form for direct addition to milk for production of cheese; usually sold as a freeze-dried granular powder kept cold for storage.
Double boiler. An arrangement of a large outer pot containing water and a smaller inner pot containing the material to be cooked, as milk for cheese, allowing for gentler and more gradual heating than direct heat might; see also water bath.
Double-cream. High-fat cheeses (60 percent butterfat by dry weight).
Drying. In cheese making, reducing the moistness of cheese by placing it in a drier atmosphere.
Dry salting. Sprinkling or coating directly with salt, as contrasted with brining.
Enzymes. Biologically active proteins that break or form chemical bonds in specific environments; for example, the action of the enzymes in rennet on the milk protein casein.
Eyes. Openings or bubbles in a finished cheese created by bacterial production of carbon dioxide during aging; characteristic of Swiss and similar cheeses.
Farmstead cheese. Cheese produced at the same location as the milk from which it’s made.
Fat content. Percent by weight of butterfat (milk fat) in milk or cheese.
Fermentation. Conversion by microorganisms of a specific substance into a desired product; for example, production of alcohol from fruit sugar or lactic acid from lactose.
Finishing. The name for a process in commercial cheese production: the stirring of curds and their removal from the tank; similar stirring is used in some home cheese recipes.
Follower. A snug-fitting plug or cap inserted into a cheese press or mold on top of the curds, to which pressure or weight is applied. This insert “follows” the curds down into the mold as they are being pressed.
Food grade. A level of quality recognized in food service as being food safe.
Fresh cheeses. Cheeses not subjected to aging or affinage; usually ready to eat immediately or within days of production.
Geotrichum candidum. One of the white mold species important to bloomy-rind cheeses as Valençay, Camembert, and Brie.
Grana style. Hard cheese with a granular structure that is broken apart with a blunt knife rather than sliced; for example, Grana Padano.
Heat-treated milk. Milk that has been pasteurized or sterilized by exposure to high temperatures.
Herd share. An agreement in which a consumer pays a farmer for a share of a dairy herd (or individual animal) in exchange for a share of the milk.
Homogenization. The mechanical reduction of the size of fat particles in milk to form a stable emulsion.
Hygrometer. An instrument for measuring relative humidity in the air.
Inoculating. Introducing living organisms onto or into a growth medium; for example, the addition of bacterial or mold cultures to milk.
Lactic. A reference to the fermentation of lactose (milk sugar) into lactic acid.
Lactic acid. A carboxylic acid of formula C3H6O3; the natural acid produced in the fermentation processes involved in cheese making.
Lactic bacteria. Microorganisms capable of converting lactose into lactic acid.
Lactose. Milk sugar; a disaccharide (twelve-carbon sugar) consisting of the two monosaccharides glucose and galactose.
Lipase. An enzyme from the gut of a juvenile milk-producing mammal that breaks down fat into aromatic short-chain fatty acids.
Mat. See cheese mat.
Matting. The knitting together of warm curds; the result of letting curds settle untouched in whey or the binding together in the curd draining process.
Mesophilic bacteria. Microorganisms that thrive on “middle” temperatures from about 70°F to 90°F.
Microflora. A term for the collective microorganisms, usually bacteria and molds, native to a substance (such as milk) or place (either geographical, as a region, or biological, as the gut).
Milk fat. See butterfat.
Milling. Cutting or breaking finished curds prior to forming them into cheese.
Mold. (1) A form of perforated plastic or stainless steel used for draining and shaping a cheese; (2) fungal microorganisms that grow in multicellular filaments.
Molding. Forming or shaping a cheese in a mold.
Mold-ripened. Cheese in which fungal growth has been encouraged through inoculation and/or through the conditions of aging.
Natural rind. A relatively solid surface of a cheese, formed by the cheese itself during aging.
Nonreactive. Refers to cookware used for ripening milk that does not react to the acid being added to the milk. Examples: stainless steel, ceramic-coated cast iron, glass, enamel-coated canning pots, clay.
Overripe. The condition of cheese aged past its prime; often accompanied by unpleasant ammonia odors and equally unpleasant taste.
Paste. The interior portion of a cheese.
Pasteurization. Heat treatment of milk to reduce the population of viable microorganisms; intended to eliminate pathogens, or disease-causing organisms.
Pasteurized milk. Milk that has been heat-treated to destroy pathogens.
Penicillium candidum. A white mold common in the production of Camembert and Brie.
Penicillium roqueforti. A blue and/or green mold present in the production of blue cheese.
pH. A measure of acid content in a substance, measured on a scale of 0 (completely acidic) to 14 (completely alkaline/basic, or nonacidic), with 7 being the neutral midpoint.
pH meter. An electronic instrument for the measurement of pH.
Piercing. Puncturing a cheese to create air channels, encouraging growth of aerobic molds such as Penicillium roqueforti.
Pressing. Applying weight or pressure to a cheese to help expel whey and achieve a desired texture.
Protein. A long-chain molecule made up of peptides, which in turn are made up of amino acids. Proteins are the structural building blocks of cheese curds.
Proteolytic. Protein-degrading enzymes that contribute to the development of desirable flavor and texture in virtually all aged cheeses.
Raw milk. Milk that has not been pasteurized and thus retains its full complement of microflora.
rbST. See bST.
Redressing. Removing a cheese from the press, unwrapping it from its cheesecloth, flipping it, and rewrapping it in the same cloth before pressing again.
Rennet. An enzyme extract from the gut of an infant ruminant animal or from specific plants or fungi and used as a coagulant. Its most active cheese-curdling component is the enzyme rennin, or chymosin. Defined as animal, vegetable, or microbial rennet.
Ricotta basket. A plastic or wicker basket for draining ricotta curds.
Rind. The surface layer of a cheese.
Ripe. Mature and ready to eat; the end point of cheese affinage.
Ripening. (1) Allowing the enzymatic, chemical, and moisture changes to bring cheese to a desired endpoint; (2) manipulating temperature and bacterial growth to prepare the milk for coagulation.
Ripening bacteria. Microorganisms that are active during various phases of affinage.
Room temperature. As defined in this book, refers to an ambient temperature of 68°F to 72°F.
Salting. Adding (usually) sodium chloride to a cheese; see also brining and dry salting.
Secondary culture. A bacteria, mold, or yeast used alone or in combination with other secondary cultures that make their contributions in the ripening phase of the cheese’s development.
Semisoft. Cheeses that are resilient or rubbery but not soft enough to spread.
Setting. Allowing curds to stand undisturbed during coagulation and finishing.
Sharp. Pungent; in cheese making, usually denotes an elevated acid level in a finished cheese.
Skimmed milk. Milk from which the fat has been removed.
Skimmer. A handled, perforated tool used to remove foam or residue from the top of a liquid; useful in cheese making for slicing curds and transferring curds to a mold or strainer for draining.
Smear bacteria. Bacteria applied to the surface of a smeared-rind cheese to encourage desirable bacteria development.
Squeakers. Curds that give a characteristic squeaky feel when bitten.
Starter culture. A preparation of living organisms suitable for inoculating milk to develop cheese.
Sterilize. To destroy all living microorganisms, usually with high heat.
Surface-ripened. Cheese that has matured through development of aerobic microbes growing on the surface or rind, gradually spreading their influence into the paste.
Terroir. A French term denoting the total influence of climate, sunlight, soil, and moisture on a finished agricultural product such as cheese or wine.
Thermophilic bacteria. Microorganisms that thrive at warmer temperatures, usually 104°F to 122°F.
Tomme press. A small- to medium-size press suitable for making tomme (French Alpine) and similar pressed cheeses.
Triple-cream. A very high-fat cheese (75 percent butterfat by dry weight).
Ultra-pasteurized. Milk and cream treated at very high temperature to produce a long shelf life; generally not suitable for cheese making due to protein damage during the process.
Vegetable ash. The black dusting powder made from activated charcoal (often referred to as ash); used to coat the exterior surface of certain cheeses such as Valençay or to dust layers of pressed curds to define milk batches in cheeses such as Morbier.
Washed curds. Curds that have been rinsed after being cut and prior to final cheese formation. The process generally reduces the lactose level in the finished cheese.
Washed-rind. Descriptive of a cheese whose rind has been rubbed with a liquid (such as brine or spirits) as part of its aging.
Water bath. A pot or tank containing hot water in which a smaller production pot or tank is fitted, allowing for gentle indirect heating of milk for cheese production.
Waxed. Coated with paraffin or similar sealing material.
Whey. The watery lactose-carrying solution that is drained from curds during cheese production; the part of milk that does not become cheese.