Cream cheese is a sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese, defined by the US Department of Agriculture as containing at least 33% milkfat (as marketed) with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9.^[1] Chester is a common name for geographical places in New York State. ... Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ... Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. ... Dew on a spider web Moldy bread Moisture generally refers to the presence of water, often in trace amounts. ... For other uses, see PH (disambiguation). ...

Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, and so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Europe's Brie and Neufchâtel. More comparable in taste, texture, and production methods are Boursin and Mascarpone. For other uses of Cream, see Cream (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Country of origin France Region, town Seine-et-Marne Source of milk Cows Pasteurised By law in the US and Australia, not in most of Europe Texture Soft-ripened Aging time at least 4 weeks Certification AOC, 1980, for both Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun Brie is a... (no photo as yet) Country of origin France Region, town Haute-Normandie, Neufchâtel-en-Bray Source of milk Cows Pasteurized No Texture Soft Aging time 8-10 weeks Certification AOC, 1969 Neufchâtel is a semi-soft French cheese from the Normandy region of France. ... Country of origin France Region, town Normandy Source of milk Cows Pasteurised Yes Texture Soft Aging time Certification French AOC 1963 Boursin Cheese is a soft creamy cheese available in a variety of flavors. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Origin

According to the US food processing company Kraft Foods: Kraft Foods Inc. ...

Cream cheese originated in the United States in 1872 when a dairyman in Chester, New York, developed a 'richer cheese than ever before,' made from cream as well as whole milk. Then in 1880, a New York cheese distributor, A. L. Reynolds, first began distributing cream cheese wrapped in tin-foil wrappers, calling it Philadelphia Brand....The name "Philadelphia Brand cream cheese" was adopted by Reynolds for the product because at that time, top-quality food products often originated in or were associated with the city, and were often referred to as being "Philadelphia quality."^[2] Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... There is another Town of Chester in Warren County, New York. ... This article is about the state. ... Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of raw milk before homogenization. ... A glass of cows milk. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ...

However, the technique is known to have been in use in Normandy since the 1850s, producing cheeses with higher fat content than the US model,^[3][4] and Philadelphia cream cheese has been suggested as a substitute when petit suisse is not available.^[5]. For other uses, see Normandy (disambiguation). ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Country of origin France Region, town Normandy , Auvilliers Source of milk Cows Pasteurised Yes Texture smooth, creamy Aging time  ? Certification N/A For the region of Luxembourg called Petit Suisse, see Little Switzerland (Luxembourg). ...

Philadelphia is used by some as a generic term for cream cheese, and in Spanish it is translated as Queso Filadelfia.^[6]

Usage

Cream cheese is typically used in savoury snacks of various types (for example spread on bread, bagels, crackers, etc.) and can be used in cheesecakes and in salads. For Cheesecake in the sense of female glamour photograph, see Pin-up girl. ... This article deals with food. ...

Manufacture

Cream cheese is difficult to manufacture^{[citation needed]}. Normally, protein molecules in milk have a negative surface charge, which keeps milk in a liquid state; the molecules act as surfactants, forming micelles around the particles of fat and keeping it in emulsion. Lactic acid bacteria are added to pasteurized and homogenized milk. During the fermentation at around 23 °C, the pH level of the milk decreases. Amino acids at the surface of the proteins begin losing charge and become neutral, turning the fat micelles from hydrophilic to hydrophobic state and causing the liquid to coagulate. If the bacteria are left in the milk too long, the pH lowers further, the micelles attain a positive charge and the mixture returns to liquid form. The key then is to kill the bacteria by heating the mixture to 52-63 °C at the moment the cheese is in an isoelectric point, meaning the state at which half the ionizable surface amino acids of the proteins are positively charged and half are negative. Inaccurate timing of heating leads to an inferior or unusable product.^{[citation needed]} A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin showing coloured alpha helices. ... 3D (left and center) and 2D (right) representations of the terpenoid molecule atisane. ... Surface charge is the electric charge present on an interface, for instance on the surface of a semiconductor material. ... Surfactants, also known as tensides, are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids. ... Schematic of a micelle. ... A. Two immiscible liquids, not emulsified; B. An emulsion of Phase II dispersed in Phase I; C. The unstable emulsion progressively separates; D. The surfactant (purple outline) positions itself on the interfaces between Phase A and Phase B, stabilizing the emulsion An emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible (unblendable... Species L. acidophilus L. bulgaricus L. plantarum L.reuteri etc. ... Pasteurization is the process of heating food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts. ... For other uses, see Fermentation. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The adjective hydrophilic describes something that likes water (from Greek hydros = water; philos = friend). ... In chemistry, hydrophobic or lipophilic species, or hydrophobes, tend to be electrically neutral and nonpolar, and thus prefer other neutral and nonpolar solvents or molecular environments. ... Curd is a dairy product obtained by curdling (coagulating) milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar and then draining off the liquid portion (called whey). ... The isoelectric point (pI) is the pH at which a molecule or surface carries no net electrical charge. ...

However, subtle changes in the timing of the process can result in variations in flavor and texture. Furthermore, because cream cheese has a higher fat content than other cheeses^{[citation needed]} and fat repels water, which tends to separate from the cheese, stabilizers such as guar and carob gums must be added^{[citation needed]} to prolong its shelf life. For other uses, see FAT. Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. ... Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or improve its taste and appearance. ... Guar gum, also called guaran, is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans. ... Locust bean gum (European Union additive number E410) is a galactomannan vegetable gum extracted from the seeds of the Carob tree. ... Shelf-life is the length of time that corresponds to a tolerable loss in quality of a processed food. ...

Improper heat treatment of milk may lead to formation of hard particles of amorphous compacted protein, causing unpleasant grittiness.

See also

• Dairy product
• Petit suisse (cheese)
• Neufchâtel (cheese)
• Quark (cheese)

Dairy products are generally defined as foodstuffs produced from milk. ... Country of origin France Region, town Normandy , Auvilliers Source of milk Cows Pasteurised Yes Texture smooth, creamy Aging time  ? Certification N/A For the region of Luxembourg called Petit Suisse, see Little Switzerland (Luxembourg). ... (no photo as yet) Country of origin France Region, town Haute-Normandie, Neufchâtel-en-Bray Source of milk Cows Pasteurized No Texture Soft Aging time 8-10 weeks Certification AOC, 1969 Neufchâtel is a semi-soft French cheese from the Normandy region of France. ... Polish twaróg Quark is a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. ...

References

Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical published in San Francisco, California since March 1993. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Related Books

• UK, Philadelphia (June 2008). The Philadelphia Cookbook. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091922825. 

2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... Random House is a publishing division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann based in New York City. ...

External links

• Making Cream Cheese At Home
• Cream cheese Recipes
• Cream Cheese Cakes