Wisconsin is well known across the United States as being “America’s Dairyland,” and that is for good reason. Along with being a large producer of block cheese and barrels of cheese, the state also boasts a unique snack. This is the cheese curd. Unfortunately, across the country there are many people that do not get the experience of eating a fresh, squeaky curd. Dr. Rani Govindasamy-Lucey looks to change that with her research. Currently within the UW-Madison Center for Dairy Research Dr. Govindasamy-Lucey is looking to “extend the squeak” to allow others to experience the treat in its freshest state, as well as help boost the economic profit for Wisconsin producers.
“Typically, the squeakiness is lost within 4 to 5 days after it is made due to the breakdown of proteins, which means we can only have fresh cheese curds within the state,” explains Dr. Govindasamy-Lucey. “Cheese curds sold in other places are often several weeks old and lack the ‘squeakiness’ and fresh taste that people in Wisconsin know.”
The Research
One of initial problems that her team was faced with was that there is no method to measure the “squeak.” This sparked the idea to bring in the audiology department for help. They combined resources and were able to create a method to measure the “squeakiness” of a cheese curd. They did this by using very sensitive microphones and listening to each chew. It was found that the fresh curds had a distinctly different sound then the older ones. With the first hurdle out of the way it was time to extend the “squeak.”
“When you make cheese, it is baked at a very high temperature,” explained Dr. Govindasamy-Lucey. “We then thought that baking the cheese at an even higher temperature would kill the enzymes inside.”
The team’s thoughts on the baking of the cheese became a reality. When the cheese is baked at extremely high temperatures, the enzyme that causes proteolysis is killed. Dr. Govindasamy-Lucey explained that proteolysis is the breakdown of the protein, which causes the cheese to lose the “squeak.”
Although the research was conducted with cheese curds, these findings can help the cheese industry as a whole. Finding the way to extend the shelf-life of cheese can have a great impact on Wisconsin dairy products. It may also have a positive impact on the state economy in the future.