Layer cheese
Layered cheese is a cream cheese made from cow's milk . It is very similar to quark in terms of production, composition and taste . The main difference is that the curdled milk is not centrifuged or squeezed and passed or stirred until smooth, but rather scooped in layers in molds and the whey drained off. As a result, the consistency is not pasty like quark, but gelatinous.
Layer cheese traditionally consists of three layers: two outer, lighter layers with a lower fat content and an inner, yellowish layer with a higher fat content. However, it is not required that the layers have to differ in fat content and color, so that modern layer cheese often consists of layers with a uniform fat content and the same color; this simplifies production, since only one vat milk needs to be used.
description
Layer cheese is produced in different fat content levels. It is typically sold in slightly conical plastic containers with a square base of 250 g and 500 g. The taste is purely lactic acid, the consistency should be gelatinous, supple and dimensionally stable, the cut surface should be matt-glossy. The dough should only contain a few broken holes and no holes caused by gas formation. The color is milky white to creamy yellow.
According to the German cheese ordinance ( § 7 in conjunction with Annex 1), layered cheese is a standard variety from the fresh cheese group. As a result, it must be made at a quarter fat level or higher. Layer cheese with at least 40% fat i. Tr. may be called "cream cheese"; yellowish layers must be richer in fat than light ones.
Manufacturing
Cow's milk is used for layered cheese, the fat content of which is adjusted according to the intended fat content of the cheese:
- to approx. 0.5% fat for the quarter fat setting
- to approx. 0.9% fat for the semi-fat level
- to 2.4-2.5% fat for fat level
This refers to the lower fat layers; to produce the higher-fat layer, correspondingly higher-fat vat milk is used. To achieve a yellowish hue, coloring can be added to the milk for the fatter layers ( carotene ; previously also annatto ).
First you add the starter , with a relatively high addition of 2-4%, and allow a so-called pre-acidification to take place for a certain time, similar to what is done with quark. Only then is the rennet added in an amount of 1 ml rennet per 100 kg of vat milk. As a result of this procedure, the acid coagulation outweighs the rennet coagulation. The coagulation time is approx. 3-4 hours, the subsequent thickening time (until the thickness has the desired strength) is very long at 16-18 hours. When the acidity is between 22 and 24 ° SH , the curd is scooped out with trowels and filled into molds. It can be cut beforehand, but does not have to be. If it does not happen, a certain breaking up of the thickening takes place only by scooping it up; one cannot really speak of a curd preparation .
The shapes are roughly the size of the later packaging. The filling of the thick layer is done in such a way that you first fill in the first lower-fat layer, then wait approx. ½ – 1 hour, then fill in the higher-fat layer, wait again, and finally fill in the second lower-fat layer. The layered cheese stays in the mold for approx. 22 hours without being turned, then it is immediately packaged. For rationalization can also slightly different, modern methods are used in which the curdling on special tables in large containers takes place, are at the bottom of the molds. The curd is then cut to the size of the molds and sinks into the molds as the whey runs off. Alternatively, larger molds can be used, from which the cheese is cut before packaging.