I like Kraft brand “Amooza” cheese twists but the package I currently have tastes kind of weird. It’s nowhere near the expiry date either. I read the ingredients and near the top of the list is “vinegar”. I’ve never seen vinegar in cheese before (and I read labels to make sure there’s no rennet) and it seems like an odd thing to put in a dairy product. I emailed Kraft and got their standard form email reply with no answer to my question about the vinegar.
Does anyone know why they would put vinegar in a cheese product?
Just so you know, while I’m not vegetarian myself, rennet can be labeled simply as “enzymes” according to FDA rules. Seeing a label of “enzymes” does not mean they have an animal source, but they can be animal, plant, microbial, or any combination. (ETA: Sorry, meant to source it. See d(1) here. You may already know this, but just in case you don’t, that’s something to be aware of.)
My assumption is the vinegar is to get to the target pH if some enzyme source is already listed on the label, especially if the cheese you’re asking about is mozzarella.
Depends on context, really. Many “fresh cheeses/farmer cheeses” like paneer, ricotta, or queso fresco are traditionally acid-set as part of the traditional recipe.
Maybe in the context of an “industrially-produces cheese food”, it’s just part of a production-line method (and therefore, yes, quick and cheap compared to traditional cheesemaking, like a production-line car is cheaper and more quickly-made than a hand-made exotic.
I make cheese occasionally at home. An acid of some sort, usually lemon juice but can also be vinegar, facilitates curdling. For example, my at-home process for mozzarella is:
[ol]
[li]Bring the milk to near-boiling.[/li][li]Add the lemon juice (about 2 tbsp. per gallon of milk).[/li][li]Continue to heat and stir the mix until the curds separate from the whey.[/li][li]Drain the curds through cheesecloth. (Aha–that’s** what that fabric is for!) You can save the whey for another purpose.[/li][li]Microwave and knead the hot curds like salt-water taffy. That’s where the strings come from.[/li][li]Plan to use it on a pizza but eat it plain before you get the chance. :rolleyes:[/ol][/li]
Hope this helps some.
Exactly; for what amount to cheese sticks meant to be sent in kid’s lunches, there’s not much to be gained from aging the cheese and letting the bacterial cultures generate that acid flavor. Better to just acidify the cheese and be done with it
An analogy might be force-carbonating Bud Light vs. bottle conditioning it. There’s nothing to be had by bottle conditioning it, so why NOT force carbonate?
