Cheese

All cheese is made from milk, but different manufacturing and aging processes are used to produce the array of cheeses available today. Cheese is made by coagulating or curdling milk, stirring and heating the curd, draining off the whey (the watery part of milk), collecting and pressing the curd, and in some cases, ripening.

Cheese can be made from whole, 2% lowfat,1% lowfat or fat-free milk, or combinations of these milks. About one-third of all milk produced each year in the U.S. is used to make cheese. In1998, 9.7 billion pounds of natural and processed cheeses were produced.

More than 400 different varieties of cheese are available. Cheeses are categorized in several ways: natural versus process cheeses, unripened versus ripened and soft versus hard. Many cheeses are named for their place of origin, such as Cheddar cheese, which originated in Cheddar, England.

Cheese Recipes:

Sources: National Dairy Council and Webstop
Visit each recipe to find out if it has additional sources.