Editing Cheesemaking (section)

===Culturing===
Cheese is made by bringing milk (possibly [[Pasteurization|pasteurised]]) in the cheese vat to a temperature required to promote the growth of the bacteria that feed on lactose and thus [[Fermentation (food)|ferment]] the lactose into lactic acid. These bacteria in the milk may be wild, as is the case with unpasteurised milk, added from a [[Microbiological culture|culture]], frozen or [[Freeze drying|freeze dried]] concentrate of [[starter (fermentation)|starter]] bacteria. Bacteria which produce only lactic acid during fermentation are [[homofermentative]]; those that also produce lactic acid and other compounds such as [[carbon dioxide]], [[Ethanol|alcohol]], [[aldehydes]] and [[ketones]] are [[heterofermentative]]. Fermentation using homofermentative bacteria is important in the production of cheeses such as Cheddar, where a clean, [[acid]] flavour is required. For cheeses such as [[Emmental cheese|Emmental]] the use of heterofermentative bacteria is necessary to produce the compounds that give characteristic fruity flavours and, importantly, the gas that results in the formation of bubbles in the cheese ('eye holes').

Starter cultures are chosen to give a cheese its specific characteristics. In the case of [[Mold (fungus)|mould]]-ripened cheese such as [[Stilton (cheese)|Stilton]], [[Roquefort]] or [[Camembert (cheese)|Camembert]], mould [[spore]]s (fungal spores) may be added to the milk in the cheese vat or can be added later to the cheese curd.