How do they mature cheese?
It depends on the type of cheese you’re making and the desired effects in consistancy. Many cheeses do involve some form of bacteria as someone mentioned, but that is not the rule of thumb. Aside from the production process, many cheeses are washed or rubbed with brines, wines, beers, marc and such to help develop a rind and/or attain a certain influence in flavor and aroma. Usually in the younger months the cheeses are washed several times a day, then down to several times a week, then several times a month. During this maturation period they are also turned. In addition to these factors, humidity and temperature are of import. A high humidity is a key factor for most producers, and variance in temperature is also going to affect the final consistancy in developing a firm pate. For instance, a local farmstead Gouda here in Georgia is typically aged at about 60 degrees by it’s producers. I did a 2 year study taking this Gouda from 3 months of age (having been aged at 60 degrees for tho
I am a former chef and while all aright, the second lady is more correct, it can be wet aged in a humid area or even inunderground caves, swiss is warm aged to allow the gases in the cheese form the holes, and good parmesan can be as young as 1 -2 years old, when I was working we got some 10 yr old and I had a sample in an Italian fine food store of a 20 yr old one, they had to keep it in a humidity free room sealed off from the rest of the store, it was quite pungent but almost heavenly in taste, like expensive balsamic vinegar, you use it very spraringly, not something you just spoon on to your spaghetti, and the last category is dry aging, some Middle Eastern and Balkan cheeses are allow to hang in the air for days, weeks months, until very ripe and the moisture has been dry from them, I had an aged and immature Yaks cheese in Singapore and it was like swiss and mozzerella mixed together.
