The Book of Cheese

by Charles Thom; W. W. Fisk

CHAPTER VIII

SOFT CHEESES RIPENED BY MOLD

The ripened soft cheeses include a series of groups of varieties which, in addition to initial souring, have been subjected to special ripening processes, and which in the ripened condition are soft in texture and mostly have high flavors. The varieties in each group have in common some essential principles of manufacture together with a ripening process dominated by a characteristic group of organisms. In certain groups, the ripening is dominated by a yellowish or orange viscid surface slime containing Oidium lactis and bacteria; in another series, the characteristic organism is a mold of the genus Penicillium (P. Camemberti). Referring to the analysis of groups (page 83), the ripened soft cheeses are found to fall into three well-marked groups, one of which may perhaps be subdivided as indicated. The series curdled by souring alone begins with approximately cottage cheese curd and develops high flavors by ripening, as in "hand" cheese. Ripened Neufchâtel curdled by souring and rennet together finds its basis in Neufchâtel curd also but modifies the final product until the familiar flavor and texture of the unripened form are no longer recognizable. Among the forms curdled by rennet alone the Camembert series contains one form, Coulommiers, which is occasionally used unripe, but represents in general a mold-ripened group of highly flavored forms. The series of soft rennet cheeses ripened by bacteria may be broadly designated the Limburger group.

139. Hand cheese and its allies.—Among skim cheeses, there is a series of forms largely German in origin in which curd not far removed from cottage cheese is the basis of the product. Harz cheese is one of the best-known of these forms as studied by Eckles and Rahn.[42] One of these forms, hand cheese,[43] is manufactured on a commercial basis in farm dairies among families of German descent principally in Pennsylvania, and on a factory basis in a few places in New York, northern Illinois and Wisconsin. On the small scale, curd is made by natural souring or by use of starter, heated to expel water, cooled and molded by hand into cakes two to three inches in diameter and one-half to three-quarters inch in thickness. The freshly formed cakes are placed upon a shelf to dry. There they are turned daily until fairly firm, then packed in rolls into wooden boxes and ripened in a cool damp room. In this ripening there is a prompt development of a heavy viscous slime, which consists of Oidium and bacteria. Other molds forming loose cottony mycelium are brushed off if they appear. The proper consistency of this slimy covering depends on a close adjustment of water-content in the cheese with temperature and relative humidity in the ripening room. If conditions are too dry, the cheeses harden quickly or if less dry they are attacked by green or blue-green molds. If too wet, the slimy covering becomes too soft and watery, or secondarily covered with loose shimmering masses of mold (Mucor sp.). Ripening should proceed slowly and occupy a period of six to eight weeks.

140. Pennsylvania pot cheese.—A form of "pot" cheese is made in certain counties of Pennsylvania, principally for local use. Production of this cheese on a factory basis is now being attempted. The steps in manufacture are about as follows:[44] (1) The home-made type of cottage cheese curd is prepared, put into a crock or pot and covered carefully; (2) kept in a warm place (in kitchen usually); (3) stirred from time to time, until it has ripened to a semi-liquid condition. This occurs very rapidly under the attack of Oidium lactis accompanied by bacteria. Within a period of three to seven days, according to the temperature and to the water-content of the mass, the granules of curd become covered with a wrinkled gelatinous almost viscid mass of mold mycelium beneath which is a layer of semi-liquid curd with a strong characteristic odor and taste. This ripened or semi-liquid part reaches about half the total mass in four or five days at favorable temperatures. (4) The vessel is then placed in a larger vessel of water and heated over the fire with constant stirring until the whole mass is melted and smooth. (5) Butter or cream, and salt or other flavor is finally added, stirred in and the liquid cheese poured into molds or jelly glasses to cool. If properly made and cooked, the resultant cheese has a soft buttery consistency with an agreeable flavor, which frequently resembles that of Camembert cheese.

141. Appetitost (Appetite cheese).—A Danish buttermilk cheese is made under this name. Sour buttermilk is heated, by some to boiling temperature but others (Monrad[45]) prefer 120° F., stirred thoroughly and allowed to settle. The whey is removed as far as possible. The semi-liquid mass is covered and set in a warm place. Fermentation becomes active. This tends to make the curd more viscous or sticky. It is then kneaded and allowed to ferment again. This process is repeated until the mass is yellowish and soft but tough or viscous. When thoroughly fermented, the mass is again heated to 120° F., and 6 per cent salt is added together with spice; both are worked in and the cheese is formed into fancy shapes for sale.

142. Ripened Neufchâtel, French process.—Neufchâtel as a ripened cheese is made rather widely in France but it is produced on an especially large scale in Seine-Inferieure.[46] Some factories use whole milk, or milk with added cream, others skimmed-milk.[47] The whole-milk brands of Neufchâtel are those which have the widest reputation. For making this cheese, the working room is held as closely as possible at 15-16° C. (58-60° F.). The milk is strained into earthen vessels holding twenty liters. Rennet is added to the freshly drawn milk at about 30° C. (86° F.) in amount sufficient to produce coagulation in about twenty-four hours. Draining racks of various forms are covered with cloth. The vessels of curd are dumped upon the racks. The whey separates slowly and drains off through the cloth. About twelve hours are allowed for this process. The corners of the cloth are then brought together and folded in or tied and the mass pressed to complete the drainage. The finished curd is worked or kneaded to produce a smooth and uniform texture. This process of curd-making is essentially the same as the American factory process of making Neufchâtel. The ripening process has been entirely dropped in America. The curd is finally molded in metal forms 5 cm. (2 inches) in diameter and about 6.7 cm. (about 3 inches) high, open at both ends. These molds are filled, the freshly formed cheeses are pressed out with a plunger or piston and their surfaces smoothed with a wooden knife.

After molding is completed, the cheeses are salted by sprinkling the entire surface with fine dry salt as the cheese is held in the hand. In this way each cheese receives and absorbs 3 to 4 per cent salt. After salting, the cheeses are arranged upon boards and allowed to drain twenty-four hours. They are then removed to the first or drying room. The frames of the drying room (secherie) are covered with straw and the cheeses are placed carefully upon the straw to avoid contact with each other. They are turned each day to present a fresh surface to the straw during a period of two to three weeks in the drying room (secherie). Mold begins to show as white cottony mycelium after five to six days, and slowly turns to "blue" (bluish green). When the cheeses are well covered with this moldy rind, they are removed to the ripening cellar. In the ripening cellar also the cheeses stand upon straw. They are turned over every three or four days at first, then allowed to stand for a longer period.

When ripe, a Neufchâtel cheese so made weighs about 125 grams. One liter of milk makes 225 grams of such cheese. The ripening of Neufchâtel has never been fully studied, but a series of these cheeses were obtained by one of the authors; cultures were made and examined.[48] The salt-content in the first place was found to be so high that Oidium lactis was eliminated as an active factor in the ripening. The mold proved to be on some cheeses Penicillium Camemberti, the typical mold of Camembert as it is made in Normandy, on others P. Camemberti var. Rogeri, the pure white form as used under the patents of M. Georges Roger in the region of Seine-et-Marne to the eastward of Paris and called by him and by Mazé P. candidum. The physical condition of the ripened curd and the flavors encountered were those associated with these two species by many hundreds of experiments during the Camembert investigation in Connecticut.[49] These facts justify the conclusion that ripened Neufchâtel is first soured by lactic organisms, then so salted as to eliminate or reduce to a minimum the characteristic activities of Oidium lactis, while the proteolytic action and the physical changes are closely similar to those of Camembert which is ripened primarily by the same molds.