Many Spanish sheeps’ milk cheeses use thistle and cardoon rennets. In India, where the cow is revered for religious reasons, fruit trees were used. In some cultures, vegetable and plant rennet has been used to coagulate milk. It is also a natural and non-GMO option that exemplifies our efforts to be sustainable by utilizing all parts of the animal. (Chymosin causes coagulation, pepsin has impacts on the aging process.) This traditional rennet has more reliable results in yield, as well as flavor profile, leading to less defective cheese. Calf rennet contains two enzymes, chymosin and pepsin, in a natural ratio that is suitable for our style of cheese. At Shelburne Farms, we utilize traditional calf rennet. Rennet serves the same purpose in cheesemaking: it triggers coagulation.Īfter the coagulant is cut, the solid curds are raked to each side of the vat to be cut into slabs for cheddaring. It’s purpose in a ruminant’s stomach is to curdle milk for easier digestion, the same way it curdled our shepherd’s drink. Phew! Now that some of the chemistry is out of the way, what exactly is rennet? And where did it come from? Rennet is the general name for enzymes that act on proteins in milk. For more on other methods of coagulation, check out this great article on Cheese Science Toolkit For cheddar, a hard aged cheese, we use enzymatic coagulation-by adding rennet. Coagulation occurs when proteins clump together, trapping fat and other solids like a sponge. Cheesemakers use one of a few different methods to trigger a chemical reaction that causes coagulation, transforming liquid milk into a solid coagulum, or curd. Milk is an emulsion of fat, protein, sugar and minerals suspended in water.
Rennet is the magic!īut first, a little science primer. While this is probably just a fable, it still speaks to a huge discovery in the science of cheesemaking! Something magical happens to milk in the stomachs of young ruminants that helps cheesemakers achieve our primary objective: to extend milk’s “shelf life”. Upon arriving at his destination, the shepherd went to take a swig of milk only to find that it had curdled into a delicious solid. Rennet is the most fascinating of these ingredients, yet it is a mystery to many.Īlthough the origins of cheesemaking are murky and still much debated, one of my favorite “origin tales” is that of the nomadic shepherd who was traveling with milk in a sack made from the stomach of a young animal. We all know the main ingredient in cheese is milk (and we spend a lot of our time talking about it), but what else is in cheese? Most cheeses are comprised of milk, salt, cultures and rennet. Originally posted Apbefore COVID-19 and social distancing.
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