Rennet for Cheese Making

Rennet for Cheese Making

What is rennet?

Traditional animal rennet is an enzyme derived from the stomachs of calves, lambs or goats before they consume anything but milk. (Ours is all from calves.) It is about 90% pure chymosin. Vegetable rennet is obtained from a type of mold (Mucur Miehei). However, even though it is derived from mold, there is no mold contained in the final product. It is an equivalent chymosin product which works equally well but is not animal derived. We have recently added organic vegetable rennet to our catalog. Rennet thrives at temperatures in the 85-105F range, but it won't be deactivated completely until it reaches the 140F's. Rennet continues working to set the milk as long as it has the right conditions. So, when a recipe calls for cutting the curds after a certain time period, it is important to follow the directions. Otherwise, your curds may be too firm for the cheese you are trying to make.

How do I choose which rennet to use?

Rennet is standardized, so all the different kinds of rennet (liquid, tablet or powder) work the same to set milk. Liquid is the easiest to work with because you can measure it very precisely. However, the powders and tablets will keep better under more adverse conditions. Calf rennet is considered to be the best choice for longer aged cheeses because some of its residual components help to complete the breakdown of proteins. Some of the more complex proteins in the vegetable rennet can have a slightly bitter taste after 6 months of aging. The liquid vegetable rennet is Kosher, but it has been re-packaged without Kosher supervision.

How much salt is in rennet?

The amount of salt in rennet is miniscule. It is there as a preservative. Considering that you add 1/4 teaspoon of rennet to a gallon of milk and that much of the rennet runs off with the whey during draining, the amount of salt left in the cheese is virtually impossible to measure. If you are interested in making cheese with no salt, the fresh cheeses, Mozzarella and Ricotta are best suited for this. The aged cheeses require a slight amount of salt to sow bacterial activity.

Rennet Coagulation

Rennet Coagulation :

Cheese Rennet
* This extract contains a number of enzymes which are designed to help these animals digest their mother's milk, and when added to milk, rennet will cause the milk to coagulate, forming the curds and whey which are so essential in the cheesemaking process.
* Junket is a dessert which is made with sweetened, flavored milk, mixed with rennet to coagulate it. The coagulation causes the junket to set into a soft pudding, which is typically served chilled, often topped with fruit or spices.
Cheese Rennet

Rennet Enzymes

Rennet Enzymes :

Cheese Rennet
* Some cheesemakers continue to make and use rennet in this way; the vast majority use commercially processed rennet, which is made by creating a slurry and then subjecting it to a compound which will cause the enzymes to precipitate out. The main enzyme in rennet is rennin, although there are a few other enzymes as well, and the precise content depends on the animal the rennet comes from; sheep rennet, for example, is different from cow rennet.
* Before the rennet can be added to a recipe, it must be dissolved in cool water; dissolution is critical for the rennet to work. One important thing to know when working with rennet tablets is that high heat will deactivate the enzymes, which is why cool water is required for dissolution, and why temperature control of the milk used for cheese, junket, and other foods which call for rennet is very important.
Cheese Rennet

Why Rennet

Why Rennet :
Cheese Rennet
* Once curds have formed, cheese makers can cut the curds, drain them, and pack them into molds to make cheese. Several plants produce natural rennet compounds, as do some microbes, and these non-animal sources of rennet can be found for sale in stores which cater to vegetarians, and in shops which produce kosher dairy products.
* Cheese is used in a dazzling array of culinary applications, with various types of cheeses being called for depending upon the desired effect. To make cheese, rennet, an enzyme complex produced in the stomach of all mammals, is introduced to milk.
Cheese Rennet

Liquid Rennet

Liquid Rennet
Cheese Rennet
* Modern rennet is created through an extraction process which yields neat, dry tablets or a liquid which is very easy to work with. Traditional rennet was made by washing the stomach of a young ruminant after it has been slaughtered, and then salting it.
* Over time, butchers started offering rennet as a useful byproduct of their business, and eventually companies seized upon the idea of making rennet in tablet and liquid form for convenience. A typical rennet tablet is white, and around the size of a thumbnail.
Cheese Rennet

RENNET

RENNET

Cheese Rennet is a preparation of the lining membrane of the true stomach of the calf, or a goat or sheep &c. which yields an enzyme capable of causing the coagulation of casein, and is used in the manufacture of some cheese.

Traditional rennet was made by washing the stomach of a young ruminant after it has been slaughtered, and then salting it. The salted stomach is kept in dried form, with cooks snipping off small pieces and soaking them in water when they have a need for rennet. Some cheesemakers continue to make and use rennet in this way; the vast majority use commercially processed rennet, which is made by creating a slurry and then subjecting it to a compound which will cause the enzymes to precipitate out.

The main enzyme in rennet is rennin, although there are a few other enzymes as well, and the precise content depends on the animal the rennet comes from; sheep rennet, for example, is different from cow rennet. When added to milk, the enzyme causes the milk to coagulate, essentially starting the digestion process. Once curds have formed, cheesemakers can cut the curds, drain them, and pack them into molds to make cheese.
Cheese Rennet...
cheese-rennet-herb.