How to Properly Trim the Mold off of Cheese

Cheese is a very delicious and nutritious dairy food used in a number of ways to create sumptuous meals. This dairy by-product is made from fermenting milk and the beauty of it is that milk from any animal can be used to produce cheese. This of course results in a wide variety of cheese flavors. Flavor is further enhanced by the production process aside from the natural source. Certain flavor enhancers are added in the processing to produce different types of cheeses.

The production process can be summed up into three distinct stages, the curdling, the curd processing and the ripening stages. The curdling is the very initial stage where the milk is encouraged to ferment by the addition of rennin or other such fermentation enhancers. Once the curds are formed and the whey (liquid) has separated, then the processing begins depending on the expected cheese type. These are stretching, cheddaring or washing.

Ripening takes from a few days to years and is the final stage in cheese making. The time taken to ripen cheese enhances its flavor and texture. During this stage there are some bacteria and molds that are added to produce certain types of cheeses such as the Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, Stilton, Limburger and Gorgonzola. These are allowed to grow into the cheese and they result in that distinctive flavor and texture characteristic of these cheeses.

As is to be expected of all dairy foods, cheese is very perishable and should be stored in the right conditions. If this is not done, then food poisoning could result from the growth of harmful bacteria such as salmonella, brucella and listeria not to mention E. coli. This is what happens when mold grows on a piece of cheese, disease is looming.