What Are The Hard, Crunchy, Crystallized Things In And On Hard Cheeses?

If you are someone who enjoys cheese there’s a good chance you’ve tasted quite a few different types. You’re likely to have enjoyed aged Gouda, Sharp Cheddar and even fresh cheese curds. During all these different taste tests you’ve probably ran across crystal crunchies on some of your cheese. These treats may have left you wondering if your cheese was fresh and just where the crystals come from. To better understand you’ll need to get a look at how cheese is made.

How Do You Make An Aged Cheddar?

When making Cheddar, as well as many other cheeses, they start with high quality milk. They ripen the milk with one of the many different ripening agents available. During this process lactose, the sugar found in milk gets consumed by bacteria to form lactic acid. After it has been ripened to the cheese maker’s satisfaction rennet is added to get curds to start forming. Once you have the curds you are well on your way to making your cheddar. These curds will be pressed and the whey (liquid) will be separated. Once all the whey has been drained off you will press the cheese and form it. If you’re making Cheddar it’s usually formed into a brick.

Aging The Cheddar

Cheese can’t just be aged in just any old place. The right area, with the correct humidity, temperature and mold spores have to be available. Specialty cheese cellars or caves are generally used. Here they will be checked on regularly to make sure the rind and moisture develop accordingly. Different countries have different rules for their aging areas. The French only get to age one type of cheese per room and the rooms aren't sterile. In the US sterile conditions are required and different cheeses are permitted in one room. Some of these cheeses can be aged for six years or more, creating a complex, sharp flavor!

What Does All This Have To Do With The Crystals?

Many people tend to think these bits are actually salt. This is not the case, unless you are talking about cheeses with washed-rinds. In these varieties you may have a salt residue from the brine.  With hard cheese, they are tyrosine which is from clusters of amino acid. They are generally found on cheeses that have aged longest, such as aged Cheddar, Swiss or Gouda as well as Parmigiano Reggiano among others. The protein casein, which is dominant in milk, actually makes Tyrosine. It is formed during the process of making cheese by trapping proteins and fats during acidification. It is perfectly edible and generally adds a lovely texture and compliments pairings with beverages such as wine and rich stouts.