Accelerated Ripening of Reduced-Fat Cheddar Cheese from Condensed Milk

Cheese has been an important food since ancient times and is one of the few dairy products that has an increasing consumption rate in the United States, where the average person consumed 11.2 kg (24. 7 lbs.) of cured cheese in 1990 (50). Cheddar-type cheese comprised 39.7% of the cheese produced in the United States in 1990 (60). Cheddar cheese originated in the village of Cheddar, England over a century ago and it was Joseph Harding who put the Cheddaring process into commercial practice in order to supress the growth of gas-forming spoilage organisms. Cheddaring allows the lactic acid-producing bacteria to lower the pH of the cheese to a point where the coliform-type bacteria die (34). Cheddar cheese is produced by a chymosin-induced coagulation of milk, aided by the lactic acid that starter bacteria produce. Excess moisture is expelled from the coagulated milk and curd mats are formed, which fuse together. These curd mats are then repeatedly turned and piled {the Cheddar process) and lactic acid continues to develop from bacterial metabolism. The mats are then milled ( cut into small pieces, approximately 5 cm x 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm), salted, and pressed together in forms (hoops). The pressed cheese is aged for 2 to 12 months at 4 to 8°C to develop a smooth texture, with the characteristic Cheddar flavor (34 ). Cheddar cheese is defined in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 19.500 §133.1\u2713) as cheese made by the cheddar process or by any other procedure which produces a finished cheese· having the same physical and chemical properties. The minimum milkfat content is 50% by weight of the solids and the maximum moisture content is 39% by weight, as determined by the methods described in §133.5. If the dairy ingredients are not pasteurized, the cheese is cured at a temperature of not less than 35° F ( 1.66° C) for at least 60 days (17)