Cheddar cheese
Pleasantly flavorful, cheddar is a firm cheese with sharp bite and melt-in your mouth crumbly texture. This classic British cheese is one of very versatile cheeses; perfect for a platter as a snacking cheese or for use in cooking.
Cheddar preparation and its use was originated during medieval times, along the southern slopes of Mendip hills, in Somerset county, in South West England. Cow milk, raw or pasteurised, is employed to a larger extent in processing cheddar; however, a small quantities of it also produced by using goat and sheep milk.
Preparation of cheddar cheese:
Cheddar is prepared from cow's milk. Initial step is to curdling the milk, which is essentially complete within 24 h, followed by ripening of the curd to cheese.
To prepare milk curdling, add starter culture to pasteurized milk after heating to 88-90 F in a large container or vat. After about 60 minutes, add rennet or other equivalent curdling agent like vinegar or lemon juice to further set the curd. Allow 30 to 40 minutes to set the curd completely. Gently cut the curd lengthwise with horizontal, followed by vertical wire harps. Allow the curds to heal for 10-15 minutes after cutting. Drain the whey and then allow fusing together of curd into a solid mass.
In the second step, solid mass of curds are cut into squares (loaves) and are stacked to begin the cheddaring process. Curds are stacked to continue developing acidity, until they reach a pH of about 6.4. Again loaves are milled into half inches pieces.
Next, salt is added to the milled curd for flavor and to stop further acid development. In the final step, the salt cured curd is filled in cheese molds and pressed to form blocks of cheddar. Cheddar cheese blocks are then inserted in bags for vacuum packaging. Packaged cheese dispatched in storage for aging.
Final cheddar product should be fine and highly pleasing, be firm and appear solid, smooth, compact, free from undesirable flavors and odors. Cheese made from pasteurized milk takes twice as long as that made from raw milk to develop the same flavor intensity and ripens more slowly than raw milk cheese.
Nutrition facts and Health benefits of Cheddar cheese
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Cheddar cheese is one of the finest sources of almost all the nutrients including vitamin-B12. 100g cheddar has 403 calories and 33.31g of fat profiles.
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It is the finest source of dietary calcium and phosphorous in the American diet; and together with vitamin-D, cheese play an important role in the bone strengthening and growth, especially in the children.
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Cheddar provides high-quality protein that is rich in all essential amino acids needed to growth and development and help stay healthy. 100g cheddar contains 22.87g or about 41% of recommended daily intake of protein.
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Cheddar contains minimal amount of lactose (0.07 g/oz) making it one of the dietary source calcium for those with lactose intolerance. Almost all the naturally occurring lactose within cow milk is converted into more easily digestible lactic acid during cheese making.
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Cheddar, being a dairy product, is free of gluten. In gluten-sensitive (Celiac disease) persons, it is another important source of gluten free food items rich in protein, minerals and vitamins.
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During the ripening process, all the major milk constituents such as lactose, milk lipids and milk proteins, undergo biochemical changes into more easily digestible and health benefiting products.
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Also, certain volatile flavoring chemical compounds originate while aging as by-products like in cheddar like 2-Isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, 3-(Methylthio) propanal, p-Cresol, delta-Dodecalactone, Butanoic acid, Isovaleric acid.. etc, which give characteristic "earthy" flavor and sharp, pungent taste to it.
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Cheddar is a very good source of fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamin A. 100g of aged cheddar contains 1242 IU (41.5% of RDI) of this vitamin.
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Cheddar is a very concentrated source of minerals, especially calcium (71% of RDI), phosphorus (65% of RDI), zinc (33% of RDI) and magnesium.