Feta cheese dates back to the eighth century B.C. when cheese made with sheep's milk was stored in brine. The cheese itself may have come about thanks to an accidental discovery that milk curdled when it was transported inside animals' stomachs. Feta is made using curdled milk.
Cow’s milk can be turned into a lovely feta; you just need a little something called lipase powder to pull it off. Goat’s milk contains this enzyme naturally, giving goat cheese that lovely piquant pucker. The average composition of feta cheese must be 52.9 percent moisture, 26.2 percent fat, 16.7 percent proteins, 2.9 percent salt and 4.4 percent pH.
Similar feta cheeses are also made with cow's milk; however, cow's milk cheeses or combinations using cow's milk as an ingredient are not the same. The taste is very different.
The tight restrictions and requirements placed on its production make feta a semi-hard cheese; it crumbles well, it’s white in color and tends to be a bit salty. Feta is tangy, but the degree of tang can vary depending on the exact diet of the animal producing the milk. What she eats can effectively season her milk.
We only use fresh milk from cows that have not been treated with antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products. The cows’ diet must be made up with Non-GMO grains such as corn and barley and forages such as alfalfa, corn or barley silage, legumes or grass.
The use of pasteurized milk necessitates the use of lactic acid starter cultures and calcium chloride to help achieve the right taste profile.
These are added after pasteurization as the milk is being held at 34-36 C. These are the only additives allowed in feta production. After the milk has been refrigerated for 20 minutes enough rennet is added to coagulate the milk.
After coagulation the curds are cut in small cubes and left for 10 minutes.
Following this they are transported into moulds, which favour draining and shaping of small cuts. The filled moulds are stored at 16-18 C for 18 up to 24 hours and turned periodically to ensure even drainage occurs and that all the curds are subject to equal amounts of pressure.
After drainage the cheese is taken from the moulds and placed temporarily either in wooden barrels or metal containers, where it is salted in layers, so that final concentration of salt in the mass of cheese is roughly 3%.
Once the cheese has been salted it is matured for 14 - 20 days in brine. This part of the process takes place in rooms at 16-18 C, with high relative humidity. At this point the cheese will have humidity less than 56% and pH 4.4 - 4.6. After this the second maturation takes place. For two months the feta is kept refrigerated in its brine at 1-4 C.
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Our Blue Label Clothbound Cheddar Cheese is aged inside an access-controlled cheese cave for 60, 90 and 180 days.
Feta cheese dates back to the eighth century B.C. when cheese made with sheep's milk was stored in brine.
Squeaker curds are mild in taste, with natural sea salt and a springing texture that make a squeaking noises when eating them.
We love everything about making cheese