1. Standardize Milk Milk is often standardized before cheese MAKING to optimize the protein to fat ratio to make a good quality cheese with a high yield 2. Pasteurize/Heat Treat Milk Depending on the desired cheese, the milk may be pasteurized or mildly heat-treated to reduce the number of spoilage organisms and improve the environment for the starter cultures to grow. Some varieties of milk are made from raw milk so they are not pasteurized or heat-treated. Raw milk cheeses MUST be aged for at least 60 days to reduce the possibility of exposure to disease causing microorganisms (pathogens) that may be present in the milk. 3. Cool Milk Milk is cooled after pasteurization or heat treatment to 90°F (32°C) to bring it to the temperature needed for the starter bacteria to grow. If raw milk is USED the milk must be heated to 90°F (32°C). 4. Inoculate with Starter & Non-Starter Bacteria and Ripen The starter cultures and any non-starter adjunct bacteria are added to the milk and held at 90°F (32°C) for 30 minutes to ripen. The ripening step ALLOWS the bacteria to grow and begin fermentation, which lowers the pH and develops the flavor of the cheese. 5. Add Rennet and Form Curd The rennet is the enzyme that acts on the milk proteins to form the curd. After the rennet is added, the curd is not disturbed for approximately 30 minutes so a firm coagulum forms. 6. Cut Curd and Heat The curd is allowed to ferment until it reaches pH 6.4. The curd is then cut with cheese knives into SMALL pieces and heated to 100°F (38°C). The heating step helps to separate the whey from the curd. 7. Drain whey The whey is drained from the vat and the curd forms a mat. 8. Texture curd The curd mats are cut into sections and piled on top of each other and flipped periodically. This step is called cheddaring. Cheddaring helps to expel more whey, allows the fermentation to continue until a pH of 5.1 to 5.5 is reached, and allows the mats to "knit" together and form a tighter matted structure. The curd mats are then milled (cut) into smaller pieces. 9. Dry Salt or Brine For cheddar cheese, the smaller, milled curd pieces are put back in the vat and salted by sprinkling dry salt on the curd and mixing in the salt. In some cheese varieties, such as mozzarella, the curd is formed into loaves and then the loaves are placed in a brine (salt water solution). 10. Form Cheese into Blocks The salted curd pieces are placed in cheese hoops and pressed into blocks to form the cheese. 11. Store and Age The cheese is stored in coolers until the desired age is reached. Depending on the variety, cheese can be aged from several months to several years. 12. Package Cheese may be cut and packaged into blocks or it may be waxed.Explanation: