Early Stage of Cheese Making: A Two-Step Aging Process in Milk Gels

Explore the intricate process of cheese making in this 31-minute lecture from the Thematic Programme on "Non-equilibrium Processes in Physics and Biology" at the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematics and Physics. Delve into the scientific principles behind milk gelation and whey separation, crucial steps in cheese production. Discover how time-resolved mechanical spectroscopy, coupled with structural characterizations and dynamics studies, reveals a two-stage aging process in enzymatic milk gels. Learn about the initial formation of a particulate network and the subsequent solidification of the gel's microstructure. Understand the significance of identifying these aging regimes for optimizing industrial cheese production and gain new theoretical insights into the aging of colloidal gels composed of "soft" particles. This talk bridges the gap between food science and physics, offering a fascinating look at the complex processes underlying a common food product.