Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [169]
Depending on the type of animal (usually cow, sheep, or goat), what the animal recently ate, and where it lived, the composition of the curd will be different. And, depending on how long and under what conditions the curd is aged, the resulting cheese may be hard or soft, pungent or mild, creamy or crumbly, surface-ripened or veined with blue mold.
Following are the principal types of cheese. They are categorized by the method of production with examples of each type.
Fresh: Uncooked and either unripened or only slightly ripened curd. Fresh cheeses are soft and mild, and sometimes slightly tart. Examples: cream cheese, feta.
String: Fresh curd dipped in a bath of hot whey (about 140°F) to soften it, and then kneaded, stretched, and pulled into strands, which are pliable enough to be shaped. These cheeses have a mild flavor and chewy, elastic texture. They do not become fluid when melted. Examples: mozzarella, provolone.
Surface-ripened or bloomy rind: Molded, drained curd is exposed to molds or bacteria so that they ripen from the outside in. They have a thin rind with a downy surface and are soft below the rind. They may be mild and buttery or slightly pungent. Examples: Brie, Camembert.
Washed-rind: Surface-ripened cheese that is washed or rubbed with brine or other liquids to create changes in the surface mold and produce various flavors. Washed-rind cheeses are usually strongly aromatic and have a red or orange rind. Examples: Taleggio, Limburger.
Natural rind: The rinds of these cheeses are not exposed to mold, bacteria, or liquids. The rinds are kept clean, and the cheeses are well aged. Depending on whether the curd was cooked or not, and how long the cheese was aged (both of which affect its moisture content), these cheeses can be semisoft, semifirm, or hard. Examples: Gouda, emmentaler, cheddar, havarti, Parmesan.
Blue-veined: Inoculated with Penicillium bacteria and deeply pierced to provide air circulation, help the mold develop throughout the cheese, and discourage the growth of anaerobic bacteria, which could destroy it. Veined with blue-green mold, these cheeses vary widely in tartness, intensity, and creaminess. Examples: Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Stilton.
Grilling Cheese
All cheese changes when exposed to fire. Dairy fat begins to melt at about 90°F, which causes most cheese to soften slightly. A little hotter, at about 120°F, the protein tightens, squeezing water out of suspension, which causes small beads of water to form on the surface of the cheese. As the cheese gets hotter, the fat continues to liquefy, increasing the cheese’s fluidity. The protein continues to coagulate, causing the protein and water to separate from the fat. At a certain point, the protein can no longer hold onto the fat and water, and the cheese slumps. That’s the time to get the cheese off the fire. Any further heating will cause the fat and water to separate and turn the cheese grainy.
Cooking times vary according to the proportions of protein, fat, and water, the kind of milk a cheese was made from, and how long it was aged. Cheeses that are higher in fat and water and lower in protein melt more easily. Creamy, moist cheese, like Brie, will melt when barely warm, at about 130°F; firm cheeses like Cheddar or Swiss start to flow at about 150°F; and hard, dry grating cheese such as Parmesan won’t show any signs of softening until it’s over 180°F. High-protein, low-fat cheeses like mozzarella melt into gooey strings, rather