Enzymatic Gelation of Milk, Curd Draining and Cheese Yields

This chapter presents the mechanism of enzymatically induced coagulation of milk, including the aggregation of casein micelles (CMs) and the evolution of the CM network during its aging according to the physico-chemical conditions of the milk, the draining of the curd after gel cutting, and the effect of cutting time and cutting intensity on the cheese characteristics. A thorough understanding of these phenomena is useful in advising on optimal cheese-making practices in order to control both cheese quality and yield. Temperature affects the kinetics of gelation and microsyneresis but is likely to have a limited effect on the ultimate gel structure (i.e. the number of bonds between colloids and their spatial distribution) since the gel rheological properties are somewhat thermo-reversible. Producing high-quality cheeses in a cost-effective manner requires great control of all steps in the cheese-making process.