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Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:57 am
by windwalkingwolf
Brebis wrote:
Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:12 am
Yeah, the rennet issue doesn’t help. The microbial (vegetarian) enzyme is made from a gmo mould
:eek:
I HAD to look that up. Why, oh why do I have to look things up? Jensen cheese was the first result on the page. At least they're very open about their use of gross things in their food. So the deal is, "vegetarian enzyme" , called Chy-Max or rennin, is a genetically engineered species of Aspergillus Niger, which is the infamous black mould. I'm sure it's perfectly safe, and apparently most of us have been eating it since 2008, but I find the knowledge very off-putting. I think I may have to switch to "black market" farmers' cheeses LOL

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:54 pm
by Ontario Chick
Darn you, I am not thanking you fro looking THAT up !
I also being a "looker upper" had to search for cheeses made with animal rennet, and even then I was assaulted by opinions of self righteous vegetarians i.e. "do the calves have to die" ??? :doh:
So Parmesan, glad to hear is still, and always made with animal rennet.

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:02 pm
by windwalkingwolf
Ontario Chick wrote:
Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:54 pm
Darn you, I am not thanking you fro looking THAT up !
I also being a "looker upper" had to search for cheeses made with animal rennet, and even then I was assaulted by opinions of self righteous vegetarians i.e.
So Parmesan, glad to hear is still, and always made with animal rennet.
I apologize. Um, "Knowledge is Power"? Though, it's pretty hard to feel empowered when you're nauseated :-?

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:04 pm
by Brebis
Sorry @windwalkingwolf, I didn’t mean to freak you out! There are several other brands that use a different organism (R. meihei) which are true vegetarian rennets as they don’t use calf DNA in the initial development of the organisms as the Chy-Max or the earlier versions that used e.coli did. We use one called Fromase that is non-gmo and uses R. meihei. Cry Max is the most popular as it’s the cheapest.

Next criticism of modern cheese-pasteurization. There are fewer and fewer cheeses that use raw or heat-treated milk. Until recently, a good portion of the cheddars were heat treated. Heat treated cheese is heated to 65C for 17sec vs. 72C for 17sec and is technically considered raw milk cheese and must conform to the 60 day rule. That means it can’t be sold before 60 days and must have controls in place to keep it from being shipped out or in contact with pasteurized cheese. So,, most places just decided it was more efficient to ditch the raw and heat treated versions altogether. Even heat treated cheese had enough natural bacteria in it to add to the flavour and texture of the final cheese. Most modern cheddar cultures are made up of only 2-3 basic bacterial cultures aimed for speed and consistency.

There are good reasons to pasteurize certain cheeses-milk quality and poor hygiene practices, but a carefully made raw milk cheese is incredibly safe. The amazing diversity of organisms that are in raw milk add so much to the complexity of cheese but are actually protective as well. Competition and the production of lactic acid to lower the pH by certain bacteria plus the addition of salt render most cheese inhospitable to pathogens especially cheeses like cheddar and other hard cheeses.

A good cheesemaker can make excellent cheese out of pasteurized milk with the knowledge of the various cultures now available to repopulate the milk almost to its raw state. This takes skill and a sense of adventure that most modern dairies don’t have.

So, best to search out small Artisan cheesemakers and those rare raw milk cheeses!

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:14 pm
by Killerbunny
Exciting news! My dealer is bringing me some "product" over the Quebec Border for tomorrow!!!!!!!

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:40 pm
by Killerbunny
Ok so for afters tonight we had delicious St. Agur, a wonderful creamy blue cheese brought in by Agropur. I am now very happy especially since wine was involved!
Tee Hee :drunk:

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:26 pm
by KimChick
Hey, thanks to everyone above, I don't have to look up anything at the moment! :stars:

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 8:52 am
by Killerbunny
Info for anyone who gets the Cabot Vermont stuff from US. I just brought some of my usual back and it is not at all the same. Flavourless plastic stuff. I hope it is just the one batch!

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:33 am
by Brebis
I wonder if like many wonderful cheese brands here it’s been bought by a bigger company for the name but productions was moved to somewhere else? Sad to hear as they made nice cheddars. They have quite a few really good cheese producers in Vermont so maybe you can find something else to replace it next time you venture south of the border.

Even now many people who live in the County still think Black River Cheese is made here...

Re: WTH!!!....this is NOT cheese

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:33 am
by Kbr42
Killerbunny wrote:
Sun Jan 27, 2019 8:52 am
Info for anyone who gets the Cabot Vermont stuff from US. I just brought some of my usual back and it is not at all the same. Flavourless plastic stuff. I hope it is just the one batch!
Yikes! That makes me unhappy...it's one of my favorites. However, Costco has been importing some excellent cheeses from England. Lovin them!