Cheese group
In Germany, cheese groups are cheeses with a similar composition. The cheese ordinance refers to the water content in the fat-free cheese mass. This is in contrast to the fat content in the dry matter .
A distinction is made between the following groups:
- Hard cheese : 56% water content or less. The dry matter content is at least 60%. Examples are mountain cheese , Parmesan , Emmentaler , Pecorino , Manchego
- Sliced cheese (also hard sliced cheese ): more than 54% to 63%. The dry matter content is at least 49%. Examples are Edamer , Gouda , Tilsiter
- Semi-hard cheese more than 61% to 69%, water content 61% to 69%. The dry matter content is at least 44%. Examples are young cheese, butter cheese
- Sour milk cheese : more than 60% to 73%. A minimum dry matter content is not prescribed. Examples are Harz cheese , Mainz cheese , cooked cheese , hand cheese
- Soft cheese : more than 67%. The dry matter content is at least 35%. Examples are Brie , Romadur , Munster cheese , Feta , Camembert
- Cream cheese : more than 73%. The dry matter content is at least 18%. Examples are / -topfen cottage cheese , cottage cheese , ricotta
Excluded from this system are whey cheese , whey protein cheese, cheese made from or in a liquid such as brine , whey or cooking oil , and pasta filata cheese .
The water content of the cheese by the removal of whey from the obtained by curdling milk curds set. In hard, sliced and soft cheese curd which is a cheese harp on curds chopped. The curd is then burned, i. H. Depending on the type of cheese, heated to up to 55 ° C. The smaller the broken grains and the more intensely the curd is burned, the more whey is secreted from the curd and the higher the dry matter. If hard or semi- hard cheese is to be obtained, the cheese loaf formed from the treated curd is then pressed. This will separate more whey, making the cheese harder. A subsequent salt bath can remove even more water from the cheese. In the case of cream cheese, on the other hand, the whey is not separated out by a cheese harp, but by a cheese cloth or filter belts.
See also
- Cheese type - Swiss cheese classification
Individual evidence
- ↑ §6 of the German cheese ordinance
- ^ Gerhard Waltmann, Annerose Sieck: Lexikon vom Käse , p. 17. Komet, Cologne 2005, ISBN 978-3-89836-733-2
- ^ Hans-Dieter Belitz, Werner Grosch, Peter Schieberle: Textbook of Food Chemistry (6th edition), Springer (2007), ISBN 978-3-540-73201-3