Cheese is a delicious and unique product. Attractive are its nutritional value, benefits, diverse and rich taste, exclusivity, the possibility of long-term storage and a relatively small cost.
But to enjoy a really high-quality, useful and not very expensive cheese, it needs to be able to choose correctly. Today, the cheese market is full of obvious fakes or inexpensive second-rate products, which contain a large number of preservatives, vegetable fats, dyes and other unuseful food additives. And how from this large assortment to choose tasty and high-quality cheese?
There are some recommendations, following which, you can choose a quality and delicious product. Thanks to these recommendations, from the offered variety of cheeses of different manufacturers and cost it is possible to make the most successful choice.
About the shelf life of the
cheese This is not an easy thing, because each kind of cheese has its own shelf life. Pickle cheeses( for example, suluguni or brynza), even under the most optimal conditions, can be stored for a short time( unless, of course, they are not stuffed with preservatives), while the cheese of hard varieties has long shelf life, eventually becoming only more delicious.
It is a common misconception that cheese molds have a sufficiently long shelf life, this is not the case. In most cases, they have a very short shelf life. Soft varieties begin to deteriorate after two months. A good tip is the shelf life indicated on the package, and the smaller it is, the less cheese is saturated with various preservatives.
Choose cheese in the store
To choose the best and quality cheese, pay special attention to the following:
1. Appearance
Immediately delete all products that you do not like.
In this case, remember that the cheeses differ from each other, and the same camembert will look like a cheese, the term of which has long since expired. But the main criteria remain unchanged, these are:
- The location and size of the eyes for hard cheese. If you see cheese with small eyes, when it should be much more - this indicates a violation of manufacturing technology. If the large eyes are located in the center, and the smaller ones are closer to the edge, this indicates that this cheese was used with not very high-quality milk, and it is not worth stopping the choice on such a product.
- Overall product integrity. Cheese cake should be free of punctures, cracks and other visible damage. In such defects, bacteria and molds can easily settle, which do not resemble mold in such sorts of cheese.
- The color of the product should be uniform. Exception will be cheese with mold, in which it is allowed to distinguish streaks or spots in the middle of a piece and on its surface. Not a good sign is the presence of white plaque on the head of cheese, this indicates an increased activity of microorganisms. The overcracked crust speaks of improper storage conditions or of the very venerable age of the product.
- Elasticity of the head. Choose a quality cheese head is easy, just press it lightly with your finger. If the cheese is sold and not returned to its original position, it should not be chosen.
- Dry crust on the cutting site. It should be present, if it does not exist and droplets form on the surface, this indicates the presence of additives and vegetable fats.
2. Smell
Try to catch a smell similar to ammonia evaporation. Its presence indicates the processes of decay inside the cheese head.
How to choose cheese with mold, based on smell? Blue cheeses must smell of penicillin, and very little - sour cottage cheese. If there are metallic notes in the bouquet of the fragrance, this indicates that unwanted microorganisms were introduced into the cheese.
3. Taste of
The opportunity to taste cheese is available in most stores. After trying a small piece, you can make a general picture of the taste, the presence of extraneous shades and finally choose the right kind of cheese.
4. Avoid too cheap products
Still, the cost of some products reflects the corresponding quality. After all, it's impossible to make a high-quality product without violating the original technology at a low cost.
5. Do not take into account cheese products and "light" cheeses
These products are not cheeses per se. The "light" cheese contains a large amount of vegetable fats, and the cheese product is made from palm oil. But how not to fall into the trap of falsifiers and buy quality cheese? Often manufacturers shorten the name, for example, "cheese. Prod. ".The combination does not attract attention and the prefix can be overlooked. By purchasing such a product, instead of quality milk cheese, the buyer chews palm oil. Be sure to read the contents on the package before purchasing.
A brief summary of
Thanks to the above recommendations, you can independently choose a good and quality cheese. It should be a uniform shade, with the corresponding variety of eyes, pieces of it should not crumble and emit droplets. Such a product can be given even to a small child and used to prepare a variety of dishes - it will not lose its qualities that gourmets have appreciated throughout history.