Science & Making
Quality, Defects and Equipment
Good cheese begins with decisions, and this hub follows the questions behind those decisions: what makers look for, how they assess a result, and which tools and treatments they use. Read from the broad view of quality towards particular defects, or go straight to the equipment and ingredient questions that interest you.
Start here
Cheese Defects: Bitterness, Cracks, Gas and Off Flavours
Tiny pinholes appear as a cheese is pressed.
Late Blowing in Cheese: Clostridial Spores and Silage Management
A cheese swells.
How Cheese Is Graded and Judged: Make and Post Make
Out comes a plug of Cheddar, drawn from the cheese with a trier.
Cheesemaking Equipment Explained
A wire harp slips through set milk.
Lysozyme, Natamycin and Annatto: Additives and Rind Treatments
Cut into a cheese and a yellow or orange paste greets you.