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Skim Milk: The dairy industry in the U.S. was alarmed over the threat that the "filled" and "imitation" milks posed to the fluid, fresh milk market. These new products made significant inroads in the milk market in 1967 and in some states, such as Arizona, took over as much as 5% of the fluid milk sales. Filled milk was made from skim milk or skim milk solids reconstituted with vegetable fat rather than milk fat. The imitation milks on the U.S. market had sodium caseinate as a base, together with vegetable fat and a particular flavoring agent. The ingredient costs permitted these products to be retailed at eight to ten cents per gallon cheaper than fresh milk.
All cheese starts as milk, but the milk may be sweet whole milk, a combination of sweet and sour milk, or a mixture of whole and skim milk. The first step in making cheese is to separate the whey (the liquid portion of the milk) from the curd (the solid particles). When milk is slightly sour, this may be done by placing the milk over very low heat for several hours. In modern manufacture, a culture of lactic acid-producing bacteria is added to sweet milk to cause the separation, and sometimes a combination of heat plus the culture and an extract of rennet may be used.
Cottage, the simplest kind of fresh cheese, is made by heating slightly sour or skim milk until the curd separates, then cutting and draining it. The curd is then usually blended with fresh cream and seasoned. Commercial cottage cheese is made from
reconstituted dried skim milk or nonfat dry milk solids, with lactic acid added to hasten the separation. Cottage cheese may also be known as pot cheese, Dutch cheese, or schmierkase.
Coeur a la Creme is a delicate fresh French cheese made from naturally soured whole milk and cream and then pressed into heart-shaped baskets. |
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