What are those hard white crystals in matured cheese?
Have you seen those small white crunchy specks on and in hard cheeses such as Cheddar and Parmesan? They are called calcium lactate crystals. They are part of the cheese and they are harmless.
They are usually pin head size and some cheeses have a few and some cheeses have lots.
These crystals are often sought out by connoisseurs of these cheeses as being indicative of a mature cheese with a strong flavour, but they are also misunderstood by others as being foreign matter or extraneous to the cheese. Calcium lactate is formed as the lactose in serum (residual moisture in the cheese) is turned into lactic acid as the cheese ages, the casein bound calcium is released into the serum and this combines with the lactic acid to form crystals over several months. There are several factors that may cause these crystals, the main ones are too much acid and too much moisture in the cheese. Other factors include slow cooling and high maturation temperatures.
The big question: If you purposely could make a cheese with Calcium Lactate Crystals would you?
Recent Posts
Syneresis
This term refers to the process of curd particle contraction and the expulsion of whey (moisture) from the curd. Syneresis…
Degree of whey drainage
Just prior to hooping curds, the curds are in the ‘curds and whey’. There are two distinct situations in the…
How to wax your cheese
Waxing cheese is one of several ways to preserve your cheese while it matures. Other prominent ways of preserving and…
