"Udder-ly Milk"

So on my journey to cheesy knowledge it became apparent that I didn't know anything about milk. Somewhat problematic if you want to make good cheese don't you think? The well known saying
"You Got Milk?" popped into my head and I was forced to admit to myself I know nadda about milk hence "I don't get milk"....yet.

After my first Mozzarella experiment I knew right away I was missing a vital ingredient namely milk. What, what did I say? Yes, I said I need milk to make cheese; but what exactly do I mean? Although Milk is a necessary component for cheese making the reality is most milk sold in supermarkets today is not adequate for cheese making.

To make good cheese I had to understand the quintessential element in cheese making....namely MILK.

After my second attempt at Mozzarella I knew I was on to something. After some research and emails I found the perfect milk for cheese. I know I am getting ahead of myself but I am so happy I found the perfect milk for cheese called Jersey Milk. I also found a local Dairy farm Twinbrook Creamery that produces this perfect milk for cheese. 
Twinbrook Creamery raises purebred registered Jersey Cows. What does this mean to the cheese maker? Well for one thing your cheese will cost more but you will have amazing cheese provided your techniques and skills are adequate. The cost is of no consequence if you love the art of cheesemaking. Making your own high quality cheese should be a hobby and not a way to save money because that's not going to happen. Jersey cows supply a higher protein and butterfat content that will immeasurably enhance anything you make with it namely cheese. Sorry for the digress......The Twinbrook dairy farm is amazing and somewhat unique. They use no synthetic hormones that artifcially enhance milk production. This farm does not use commercial fertilizer or pesticides so these cows feed naturally in an almost perfect environment.

Deciding to write on this subject had me contemplating a starting point. Where do I start? I mean everybody knows what milk is.......don't they? Heck, after I did some preliminary reading on the subject I soon realized that it would be presumptuous of me not to start at the beginning because I obviously know nothing. If the reader of this blog is anything like me they probably know very little about milk. A more likely scenario is the reader thinks they know Milk but in fact they don't.

Ok lets start.... milk comes from animals. I am glad that's over now we can move on. I wasn't breast fed. Just making sure you're paying attention. 

For the cheese maker Milk is an essential component of cheese making...Duh it's the star of the show. Most of us don't understand how important milk is in cheese making until of course we try making homemade cheese. When I was a kid the shelf life of milk was about 3 days and it came with all this fat on top (non-homogenized). I never knew why until recently. Generally speaking the average container of milk at the store will not serve as a good canvas for a cheese artist.  

These are some things to ponder before making cheese. 

Should we use Homogenized milk for cheese? What is Homogenized Milk? For a detail info on Homogenized Milk click the link. That cream on top of the bottle indicates that the milk is non-homogenized. Homogenized milk is an emulsion of soughts where the fat in milk are forced through narrow openings at very high pressure reducing the size of fat globules into tiny tiny particles. These tiny particles can no longer clump back together hence the milk becomes Emulsified or the techno term Homogenized. Oh yea before I forget Homogenized milk has a longer shelf life. 
Cheese made with Non-Homogenized milk produces better taste and texture than cheese made with homogenized milk. At least that is what I have read. I have no personal experience with this of course. I am still an extreme newbie and will remain this way for a very long long time. It takes years to become a good cheese maker and I have only just begun to understand cheese making.

How about pasteurization? Yes, this too has an effect on cheese. I won't go into all the specifics but will cover just a bit. For a detailed explanation click the link. Simply put, pasteurization is a process in which milk is heated to a specific high temperature (kills unwanted microbes and some good ones too), cooled quickly than bottled. This enables milk to remain fresher for a longer period time and this slows down microbial growth that causes spoilage. The higher the temp the worse it is for cheese makers. This is why I buy my milk for cheese-making from Twin Brooks Creamery. They Pasteurize their milk on the lower spectrum 145 f for 30 minutes and of course their milk is non-homogenized. 

All the milk at your local grocery shelf is pasteurized (unless it's raw which is unlikely). What you don't know are the specifics of how they pasteurize their milk.

Based on my preliminary research there are several ways to Pasteurize milk. 

Pic "A" Curds from low Temp Pasteurization of 145F 

The best one for cheese making is the Low Temperature option. Milk is heated to 145 F then held at this temperature for 30 minutes. The High temp option is 162 F which is held at that temperature for 15 seconds. 

Pic "B" High Temp Pasteurization

There are dairies that have upped it a bit to 172 F to increase shelf life. Don't bother looking at the Milk label because it won't tell you which option they're using. You might be able to put the puzzle together by looking at the expiration date and knowing when the milk was delivered. Lets not forget about Ultra-Pasteurization (UP) which is just horrible for cheese making. They heat (cooking if you ask me) the milk at 191-212 F and the times that the milk is held at these temperature are a mystery. Good luck reading the labels too. UP should be on the box but from my reading the label is actually smaller than the standard one. Buyer beware. Lets talk about the milk that is only good enough to wet your lips and pour over your fruit loops. It's known as Ultra High Temperature Sterilization (UHT). UHT milk is heated to an ungodly temp of 280 F for 2 seconds. This milk can last 60 days!!! and can be hauled on a ship for a Gilligan Island fateful trip. Again maybe good for cereal and most likely your coffee but that's all. Picture "A" is my Jersey Milk Mozzarella and Picture "B" is my first Mozzarella. Do you notice the difference in the curds? The Jersey milk Mozzarella came out great compared to the other milk. The other milk was labeled Pasteurized but there was no telling what temp they pasteurized the milk at. Don't even bother asking me about Lactose free milk for cheesemaking..........Not going there. 

You like yellow cheese? When I was a kid I thought all cheese was yellow. Only inferior cheeses lacked that beautiful hue of yellow. Do you know the mystery of yellow cheese? It's actually no mystery at all but has to do with a vitamin you probably take as a supplement. It's all about Beta carotene and grass. Grass contains the antioxidant Beta Carotene which is responsible for the yellow pigment in cheese. They started dying cheese in the 16th century to achieve more consistent results. Here is the skinny.....Spring and summer yellow cheese and fall and winter white cheese. How do we solve this problem? Cheese-makers used a vegetable dye called annatto which is still used to this day. 

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