CHEM 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cheddar Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Oka Cheese

• School: McGill University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM 110
• Professor: Joe Schwarcz

Document Summary

Two constituents that are important in the making of cheese: curds and whey. First indication of the existence of cheese: ~5000bce, pot cheese o. People kept dairy products in iron pots, and since acidity can develop under this condition, the milk started coagulating and producing something like cheese. The oldest types of cheese, like provolone and italian cheese, are based on the idea of using the stomach of animal to coagulate milk and form cheese. We can make cheese from all sorts of milk (cow milk, goat milk, sheep milk, camel milk) 87% water, 5% lactose, 3. 5% fat, 3,5% protein and 1% minerals. The proteins in milk (casein proteins) are actually suspended in the milk and form what is called casein micelles. There are 3 types of casein proteins, alpha, beta and kappa. Culture (add enzymes or acids) (breaks down the kappa casein to release the micelles that are in suspension). At this point, coagulation takes place and precipitates form.