Curd (cheese)
In the cheese dairy , curd (or cheese curd ) refers to the material that is made from the milk (called jelly or curd ) that has been thickened by adding rennet or lactic acid , after it has been broken up to separate the whey . There are different methods for this, depending on the type of cheese : First, the jelly is cut up so that the whey can drain off, only roughly for soft cheese (more whey remains in the curd) and the finer the cheese is to be, the more firm it is. For hard cheese , the jelly is repeatedly cut up to the size of a cherry pit with a cheese harp . In addition, the longer the curd is stirred, the longer the curd shrinks. As soon as the broken grains have settled on the bottom of the tub, they grow back together and can be divided again, which results in a crumbly dough.
Cheddaring or Chestern designates a form of fracture treatment, with a silky-smooth consistency of the cheese is obtained. The curd is cut into large blocks, which are then placed on top of one another and layered so that the lower piece is pressed and continues to give off whey.
The nature of the curd can also be changed by heating (burning) the curd-whey mixture. Raising the temperature causes the broken grain to shrink significantly and become more compact. This results in a firmer cheese that can be stored longer. The burning temperature for cheese is between 41 ° C and 49 ° C or more for Emmentaler . For the production of scalded cheese such as mozzarella or provolone , the curd cake is cut into small pieces and scalded with hot water so that an elastic mass is created, which is then pressed, kneaded and drawn into strands. Such kneaded cheeses are also called Filata cheese.
The released whey is skimmed off, depending on the type of cheese, drained by hanging the curd in a permeable cheesecloth or by layering the curd in baskets or perforated forms made of wood or stainless steel or pressed out of the curd under pressure.
