Explain how mellowing can influence cheese composition and yield?
Consider for a moment a dry-salted cheese like Cheshire. It is possible to visualise a freshly produced block of cheese as comprising a multitude of small cheese islands or mini cheeses formed from the compression of individual curd particles. These curd particles have previously been salted. The dry salt placed on the cheese curd partially dissolves in the surface moisture giving a thin layer of supersaturated brine. This brine solution initially causes shrinkage of the outer layers of the curd particle and whey moves from the interior of the particle to the periphery. This whey dissolves the remaining salt crystals effectively reducing the overall salt concentration in the brine coating the curd particle. The s/m gradient between the brine and the moisture in the interior of the curd particle results in movements of salt and moisture in opposite directions in response to their respective concentration gradients. If the curd has been salted uniformly, salt equilibrium in an individual
