286 Chapter 11
90%, for several weeks, during which time
small holes form. The cheese is then stored
at a lower temperature for further curing.Blue Cheese Group
The chemical composition of mold - ripened
cheeses is shown in Table 11.8.Blue Cheese
Blue cheese is characterized by veins of
bluish - green mold, Penicillium roqueforti ,
throughout the cheese. The minimum milk
fat content is 50% by weight of the solids and
the maximum moisture content is 46%. Blue
cheese is ripened for at least 60 days. It is
made from cow ’ s milk.
Among the other optional ingredients for
blue cheese is blue or green color in an
amount to neutralize the natural yellow color
of the curd. Benzoyl peroxide or a mixture of
benzoyl peroxide with potassium alum,
calcium sulfate, and magnesium carbonate
may be used to bleach the dairy ingredients.
The weight of the benzoyl peroxide is not
more than 0.002% of the weight of the milk
being bleached, and the weight of the potas-
sium alum, calcium sulfate, and magnesium
carbonate, singly or combined, is not more
than six times the weight of the benzoyl per-
oxide used. If milk is bleached in this manner,
vitamin A is added to the curd in such a
quantity to compensate for the vitamin A or
its precursors that are destroyed in the bleach-
ing process, and artifi cial coloring is not
used.formation. The cheese is now ready for retail
cutting and packaging. It has the characteris-
tic sweet nutty fl avor.
Gruyere Cheese
Gruyere cheese contains small eyes. It has a
mild fl avor due in part to the growth of
surface - curing agents. The minimum milk fat
content is 45% by weight of the solids and
the maximum moisture content is 39% by
weight. The dairy ingredients used may be
pasteurized. The cheese is ripened for at least
90 days.
Gruyere Cheese Process : Cheese milk is
warmed and subjected to the action of lactic -
acid - producing and propionic - acid - produc-
ing bacterial cultures. Rennet is added for
coagulating milk. The coagulum is cut into
particles similar in size to wheat kernels. For
about 30 minutes the particles are alternately
stirred and allowed to settle. The temperature
is raised to about 52.2 ° C (126 ° F) and stirring
continues until the curd becomes fi rm. The
curd is transferred to hoops or forms, and
pressed until the desired shape and fi rmness
are obtained. The cheese is surface - salted
while held at a temperature of 8.9 ° C to
12.2 ° C (48 ° F to 54 ° F) for a few days. It is
soaked for one day in a saturated salt solu-
tion. It is then held for three weeks in a
salting cellar and wiped every two days with
brine cloth to ensure growth of biological
curing agents on the rind. It is then removed
to a heating room and held at progressively
higher temperatures, fi nally reaching 18.3 ° C
(65 ° F) with a relative humidity of 85% to
Table 11.8. Approximate chemical composition of mold ripened (blue - veined) cheeses.
Cheese pH % Moisture % Fat % Fat in
dry matter% Protein % Salt % LactoseBlue/Bleu 6.5 42.4 28.7 49.9 21.4 4.5 2.3
Roquefort 6.4 39.9 30.9 50.5 21.5 3.5 2.0
Gorgonzola 6.3 36.0 32.0 50.0 26.0 4.0 2.2
Nuworld 6.3 43.0 28.8 50.5 21.3 3.9 2.2
Stilton 5.2 38.3 33.0 53.5 24.8 3.5 2.2Adapted from Fox et al. (2000a) , Nath (1993)