Cream cheese is made with milk along with acidulants or rennins. It has a shorter shelf life than other cheeses and should be kept cool until it is ready for consumption.
Mascarpone
This creamy fresh cheese has a fat content of 75 percent. Mascarpone is created when cream is skimmed off of milk and a culture is added. Tartaric acid is added after the culture and the mixture is heated and left to thicken. The cheese ripens fully after a few days.
Ricotta
Ricotta is made with fermented whey that is cooked. When the whey ferments the sugar in the whey becomes lactic acid, which lowers the pH and makes the proteins separate. When the whey is cooked the proteins form curds. The curds are strained out of the whey with cheesecloth. The ricotta can be served fresh or it can be stored frozen.
Curd Cheese
Curd cheese is a mild white cheese with a smooth consistency. Ten pounds of milk are needed to create one pound of curd cheese. Milk, starter culture and rennet are combined to form whey and curds. The whey and curds are then cut away from each other and cooked and stirred.The whey is poured out and the curd cheese is left behind.
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese is made with milk, rennet, salt and heavy cream. Milk is warmed to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and then the rennet is mixed in. The mixture is left to sit at room temperature for four hours and is cut into pieces. Salt is mixed in and the mixture is cooked and stirred until the whey and curds separate. They whey and curds are then strained, chilled and stirred. The curds are blended with the heavy cream.
American Cream Cheese
The American version of fresh cream cheese was created by William A. Lawrence in New York in 1872. It was originally made with cream and cow's milk but now comes in many different flavors that incorporate other ingredients like herbs and salmon.
Tags: made with, whey curds, cheese made, cheese made with, cooked stirred, curd cheese
