------------------+--------+--------+-------------+-------------- | PER | PER | | VARITY OF | CENT | CENT | PERIOD | RIPENING | WATER | FAT | REQUIRED | AGENT ------------------+--------+--------+-------------+-------------- Cheese: Soft, | | | | Cottage | 70 | trace | a few days | Bacteria Skim Neufchâtel | 70 | trace | a few days | Bacteria Neufchâtel | 50-60 | 12-28 | a few days | Bacteria Camembert | 50 | 22-30 | 3-5 weeks | Molds Cream cheese | 40-50 | 35-45 | a few days | Primarily | | | | bacteria | | | | Semi-hard: | | | | Limburger | 40-45 | 24-30 | 3-6 months | Bacteria Roquefort | 38-40 | 31-34 | 3-6 months | Mold Brick | 37-42 | 31-35 | 3-6 months | Bacteria | | | | Hard: | | | | Cheddar | 30-39 | 32-36 | 6-12 months | Bacteria Swiss | 31-34 | 28-31 | 9-18 months | Bacteria | | | | and yeasts Parmesan | 30-33 | | 2-3 years | Bacteria ------------------+--------+--------+-------------+-------------- The soft cheeses are quickly perishable products. Bacteria and molds find favorable conditions for growth in products with 45 to 75 per cent of water. If such growth is permitted, enzymic activities follow quickly with resultant changes in appearance, texture, odor and taste. Refrigeration is necessary to transport such cheeses to the consumer, if properly ripened. Trade in these forms may continue throughout the year in cool climates and in places where adequate refrigeration is available. Practically, however, outside the large cities this trade in America is at present limited to the cold months; inside the large cities much reduced quantities of these cheeses continue to be handled through the year. In the stricter sense, the soft group of cheeses falls naturally into two series: (1) the varieties eaten fresh; and (2) the ripened soft cheeses. Those eaten fresh have a making process which commonly involves the development of a lactic acid flavor by souring, but no ripening is contemplated after the product leaves the maker's hands. In the ripened series, after the making process is completed, the essential flavors and textures are developed by the activity of micro-organisms during ripening periods varying in length but fairly well-defined for each variety.