Lotusflower 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2009 Whats the difference between using curdling agent {lemon juice} and Vegetarian Rennet to make home made cheese? Using Milk. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sonic Yogi 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2009 Whats the difference between using curdling agent {lemon juice} and Vegetarian Rennet to make home made cheese? Using Milk. Rennet is a culture that converts curds into cheese. Lemon juice is just a curdling agent that does not culture the curd into cheeses. Microbial rennet is used more often in industrial cheese making in North America today because it is less expensive than animal rennet, whereas cheese from Europe is more likely to be made from animal rennet due to tradition. So, most commercial cheeses you buy in the store that are made in the USA are not made with animal rennet. It is most often made with microbial rennet. It is much cheaper for cheese makers to make microbial rennet than to use the more expensive animal rennet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotusflower 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2009 Thx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sonic Yogi 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2009 Thx NP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bija 0 Report post Posted January 26, 2009 It is most often made with microbial rennet. by sonic what is the labelling of this rennet on the packets (in the U.S.)? is it considered vegetarian by devotees? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sonic Yogi 0 Report post Posted January 27, 2009 what is the labelling of this rennet on the packets (in the U.S.)? is it considered vegetarian by devotees? Most devotees don't consider it vegetarian, but then again most devotees aren't aware that most cheese in the USA is cultured with microbial rennet as opposed to animal rennet. the best bet is to try and check with the different brands of cheese to see if they use microbial or animal rennet. Generally, the bigger the cheese company the more likely they are to use microbial rennet as it is much cheaper for such mass production purposes. Smaller specialty cheese makers in the USA are about the only ones that might possibly use animal rennet these days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites