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It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

thephcheese.com

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Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#181

Post by foxyv »

tshaddox wrote: post #141
foxyv wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped buying pre-shredded cheese a decade ago. Block cheese is cheaper, lasts longer, and cooks better. Pre-shredded is just worse in every way aside from convenience. Using a cheap rotary grater like they have in restaurants makes this almost a non-issue.

Isn't the convenient version of something always worse in every way aside from convenience than the less convenient version of the same thing?

Restaurants are usually better than home cooking. However, I have rarely found the more convenient option to be cheaper and it is usually worse. It's a bit of an iron triangle. Cheap, convenient, good.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#182

Post by twojacobtwo »

lynx97 wrote: post #163
twojacobtwo wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not "always" and "in every way". Random example. I buy a meal made by a professional chef and have it delivered. It's more convenient and it's a much better meal than I could make. It's more expensive, sure, but that's not 'in every way'

That example actually underlines parents point. Because, yes, delivered food is convenient. However, at least in my experience, delivered food from a professional chef is always inferior to what I'd get if I actually visited the same restaurant. Yes, packaging has improved and fried stuff isn't as gross at it used to be, but it is still not the same level of quality compared to actually going there.

Yeah, if you break it down further into the set of all possible options, but it depends what my criteria/realistic choices are. If I'm not going to or can't leave my house, then the more convenient option is still the better one.

My exception was to the terms "always" and "in every way".

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#183

Post by Agingcoder »

ahartmetz wrote: post #58
kjkjadksj wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve eaten brie weeks after sell by date. It just turns into a firmer cheese by then no striking difference in taste really.

Yeah, not much seems to happen to Brie - it stays fairly mild. Unlike Camembert, which gets significantly stronger and runnier over time.

It depends on the Brie - pasteurized or not, from Meaux/Melun/etc. I find Unpasteurized Brie de Melun to be very strong.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#185

Post by twojacobtwo »

djtango wrote: post #157
twojacobtwo wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not "always" and "in every way". Random example. I buy a meal made by a professional chef and have it delivered. It's more convenient and it's a much better meal than I could make. It's more expensive, sure, but that's not 'in every way'

But within the same example its not as good as if you ate the exact same meal freshly served - things won't be as hot and certain textures will be lost in delivery (eg crispy things going soggy) You mentioned a chef which is less specific but I generally consider restaurant food less healthy than what I'd cook for myself due to differing incentives which is another dimension for convenience

Indeed, but that's a different choice than the original. If leaving my house isn't an option for me, the subsequent options entailed are then off the table, so to speak. The OP said "always" and "in every way", and I was pointing out that there are many exceptions, depending on many factors.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#187

Post by zidad »

facile3232 wrote: post #160
_qg83 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also fake ways of accelerating aging to create this effect, like the Old Amsterdam cheeses you’ll find in the Netherlands. That particular brand has a lot of fake qualities to it that creates these effects.

Is "fake" really the right word here if people get the flavor, nutrition, and texture they want? I don't really give a damn if they figured out a way to bypass aging to achieve this.

Fake as in, they're not allowed to call it "old cheese" because it's a protected term for cheese of a minimum age. But it might even be preferred by some because the texture is still a bit softer. I like it, but as with a good single malt, I wouldn't pay the same price if it's artificially aged.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#188

Post by hollerith »

josephg wrote: post #173
hollerith wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Food is eaten in our stomachs by bacteria. If the bacteria in our stomachs can’t (or won’t) eat something, that means it’s not digestible. Both of these are false. Bacteria are not needed for the proper function of the human stomach (or the small intestine). The human body produces digestive enzymes, HCl and bile (and maybe bicarbonate) which combined will digest most foods without any help from bacteria. Bacteria a…

There’s more and more content these days talking about “the new science of gut bacteria” and talking about how important it is to our health and wellbeing. Do you think all that is bunk / pseudoscience?

Gut bacteria in the large intestine are generally considered (including by me) important for human health although again you would not starve to death or die of malnutrition if they all went away because the vast majority of the calories a person in the developed world gets are from foods that bacteria is not needed at all to digest and make use of those calories. Our ancestors 1000s of years ago however probably went through lean periods in which most of their nutrition came from very fibrous plant material with very little starches and free sugars in them, and in that situation, the calories from the SCFAs produced by gut bacteria might have often made the difference between survival and starving to death.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#189

Post by SyzygyRhythm »

facile3232 wrote: post #160
_qg83 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also fake ways of accelerating aging to create this effect, like the Old Amsterdam cheeses you’ll find in the Netherlands. That particular brand has a lot of fake qualities to it that creates these effects.

Is "fake" really the right word here if people get the flavor, nutrition, and texture they want? I don't really give a damn if they figured out a way to bypass aging to achieve this.

The article says that the crystals don't affect the taste or scent. The crystals are a signal that you have a good cheese, but not the cause of a good cheese. Adding them to a bad cheese won't make it a good cheese, so in that sense I'd call it a fake.

There is some gray area in that they affect the texture, which is a part of the whole experience. But that's again mostly signaling--we like the crunch because we associate it with good cheeses, not because there's anything inherently better about it.

There are some interesting philosophical questions here. If you put a fake label on some wine, and people perceive it as higher quality than it is, is it really fake? On one hand, obviously yes. And yet there was a real effect on the perceived quality.

Re: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

#190

Post by facile3232 »

SyzygyRhythm wrote: post #189
facile3232 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is "fake" really the right word here if people get the flavor, nutrition, and texture they want? I don't really give a damn if they figured out a way to bypass aging to achieve this.

The article says that the crystals don't affect the taste or scent. The crystals are a signal that you have a good cheese, but not the cause of a good cheese. Adding them to a bad cheese won't make it a good cheese, so in that sense I'd call it a fake. There is some gray area in that they affect the texture, which is a part of the whole experience. But that's again mostly signaling--we like the crunch because we asso…

> The article says that the crystals don't affect the taste or scent.

That seems hard to believe, frankly.

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