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If you keep your cheese warm enough (not refrigerated for 4 to 6 hours) you can even see the mites run in your plate at times :) They're not actually microscopi

by wazoox 6y ago

If you keep your cheese warm enough (not refrigerated for 4 to 6 hours) you can even see the mites run in your plate at times :) They're not actually microscopic, though they're really, really small. There are cheeses that gets their name (and taste) from the mites : "la tomme céronnée" is so called because it's covered with "cirons" (mites) that gives it its typical nutty taste (you're of course supposed to eat the rind, eventually after brushing off some of the dust). Another interesting thing to now is that raw milk cheeses have an intense life of their own, but they're less susceptible to host bad bugs : the existing fauna and flora keeps the nasty ones out. OTOH, a pasteurized cheese must be either almost sterile, or may rapidly host all sorts of bad microbes.

omginternets 6y ago
>eventually Fellow compatriot spotted ;) Just FYI, “eventually” != “éventuellement”. Also, do you want to tell them about Corsican cheese, or should I?
- tasogare 6y ago
  Isn’t that cheese forbidden? It’s more a meat product than diary at this point.
  - freeqaz 6y ago
    I couldn't find this when I searched the web for it. Are you meaning Casu marzu? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu
    - gbear605 6y ago
      I’m not OP, but yeah. Also warning on that link it’s pretty gross.
    - Leynos 6y ago
      The Wikipedia article gives a suggestion for how to kill the maggots (and force them to vacate the cheese) if one is squeamish. The article actually makes it sound rather delicious (if hard to obtain).
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
amluto 6y ago
I think you may be confusing pasteurized milk cheese with pasteurized cheese. Many cheeses are made with pasteurized milk and cultures added after pasteurization. These cheeses are most definitely not sterile. I’m not sure that genuine pasteurized cheeses exist in the US, at least not ones that are sold as cheese. There is “cheese product” that is a whole different beast. (Even home made yogurt is frequently pasteurized at home. IMO the tastiest yogurt is made by first holding the milk at 180F or so for half an hour, at which point it’s pasteurized. Then the milk is cooled and a starter is added. The result is not sterile and has a respectable shelf life.)
- grawprog 6y ago
  I'm not sure, there's a huge difference in the cheese sold next to the milk and eggs and stuff and the cheese sold in the deli section. The Kraft/cracker barrel style Cheddar and stuff doesn't even come close to resembling even mild Cheddar in that section and has a consistency closer to rubber than cheese, even the apparently old and extra old cheddar of the Kraft/cracker barrel kind. I find it hard to accept that it's even really cheese and i've never really gotten to experience really nice cheese like some of the other commenters here have mentioned. The Kraft/cracker barrel cheeses go mouldy in a completely different way the other cheeses do. The mould itself even looks different. I'm not sure exactly what pasteurization/sterilization methods are used on those cheeses vs the others, but there's a noticable difference not only in taste and texture, but during the actual moulding process which would be directly affected by any kind of pasteurization or sterilization.
  - amluto 6y ago
    I would not personally consider Kraft products to be cheese. The US has a complex definition, for example: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=133.169 https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR... If you look in the cheese section of a decent store, you’ll find many real cheese with ingredients like “pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes, cultures”. These contain living cultures but not raw milk, and many of them have long shelf lives. My point is that, while you’re unlikely to find raw milk in a sterile so-called cheese product, actual cheese is not sterile despite often containing pasteurized milk. And that pasteurizing the milk isn’t necessarily done for food safety reasons — some cheese recipes call for raw milk and some call for cooking the milk.
dghughes 6y ago
>or may rapidly host all sorts of bad microbes. I watched a history video about England and it seems many children died from tuberculosis infected milk. According to the show, "Boracic acid was believed to 'purify' milk, removing the sour taste and smell from milk that had gone off". https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25259505 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25259505

by wazoox 6y ago

omginternets 6y ago

>eventually Fellow compatriot spotted ;) Just FYI, “eventually” != “éventuellement”. Also, do you want to tell them about Corsican cheese, or should I?

tasogare 6y ago
Isn’t that cheese forbidden? It’s more a meat product than diary at this point.
- freeqaz 6y ago
  I couldn't find this when I searched the web for it. Are you meaning Casu marzu? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu
  - gbear605 6y ago
    I’m not OP, but yeah. Also warning on that link it’s pretty gross.
  - Leynos 6y ago
    The Wikipedia article gives a suggestion for how to kill the maggots (and force them to vacate the cheese) if one is squeamish. The article actually makes it sound rather delicious (if hard to obtain).
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

amluto 6y ago

I think you may be confusing pasteurized milk cheese with pasteurized cheese. Many cheeses are made with pasteurized milk and cultures added after pasteurization. These cheeses are most definitely not sterile. I’m not sure that genuine pasteurized cheeses exist in the US, at least not ones that are sold as cheese. There is “cheese product” that is a whole different beast. (Even home made yogurt is frequently pasteurized at home. IMO the tastiest yogurt is made by first holding the milk at 180F or so for half an hour, at which point it’s pasteurized. Then the milk is cooled and a starter is added. The result is not sterile and has a respectable shelf life.)

grawprog 6y ago
I'm not sure, there's a huge difference in the cheese sold next to the milk and eggs and stuff and the cheese sold in the deli section. The Kraft/cracker barrel style Cheddar and stuff doesn't even come close to resembling even mild Cheddar in that section and has a consistency closer to rubber than cheese, even the apparently old and extra old cheddar of the Kraft/cracker barrel kind. I find it hard to accept that it's even really cheese and i've never really gotten to experience really nice cheese like some of the other commenters here have mentioned. The Kraft/cracker barrel cheeses go mouldy in a completely different way the other cheeses do. The mould itself even looks different. I'm not sure exactly what pasteurization/sterilization methods are used on those cheeses vs the others, but there's a noticable difference not only in taste and texture, but during the actual moulding process which would be directly affected by any kind of pasteurization or sterilization.
- amluto 6y ago
  I would not personally consider Kraft products to be cheese. The US has a complex definition, for example: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=133.169 https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR... If you look in the cheese section of a decent store, you’ll find many real cheese with ingredients like “pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes, cultures”. These contain living cultures but not raw milk, and many of them have long shelf lives. My point is that, while you’re unlikely to find raw milk in a sterile so-called cheese product, actual cheese is not sterile despite often containing pasteurized milk. And that pasteurizing the milk isn’t necessarily done for food safety reasons — some cheese recipes call for raw milk and some call for cooking the milk.

dghughes 6y ago

>or may rapidly host all sorts of bad microbes. I watched a history video about England and it seems many children died from tuberculosis infected milk. According to the show, "Boracic acid was believed to 'purify' milk, removing the sour taste and smell from milk that had gone off". https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25259505 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25259505