Hard and Soft Cheese

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 11 2004 Posts: 19241

Are Muenster and Mozarella cheese "hard" cheeses? Are those what people wait 6 hours for?

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 2:55 pm Post subject: Re: Hard and Soft Cheese

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 11 2004 Posts: 19241

oh.

I thought either it was or it wasn't not that it was debatable.

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 3:18 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

either the cheese has been aged a certain amount of time, like 6 months to be considered hard,

or if it has animal derived rennet, then it is 6 hour cheese. True rennet comes from the lining of an animal's stomach (kosher one that is) but does not pose a question of "basar b'chalav", the same way that milk also issues from within the animal, and is dairy. But the sharpness of the rennet causes the digestive period to be six hours, the same as with meat, from whence the rennet is taken.

If the enzymes, or rennet is of vegetable origin, then one doesn't have to wait 6 hours.

Rabbi Dworkin, one of the previous Rabonim in our community was strict about waiting for ANY hard cheese, so as not to differentiate, because out of ignorance some people would make mistakes

The cheese with the CH hechsher is ALWAYS made with rennet of vegetable origin, so for those within our community who always stick to this hechsher, there is no issue of differentiation, and our Rabbonim do permit to eat after one hour(the designated waiting period from dairy to meat) provided of course that it's not 6 hour cheese.
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Zogt Toras Emes, Toras Chaim, Horaah BaChaim: KER A VELT HEINT!

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 3:19 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

I think it depends how long the cheese has been aged for, 6 months I think, eg mature chedder, swiss cheese (emmental) and parmesan are definately hard since you can't eat those until they have been aged for a few months - I think at least 6. The difference between regualr chedder and mature is that mature has been left for longer.

Other hard cheeses I have heard that some people say you should wait 6 hours.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 11 2004 Posts: 19241

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 3:42 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

Yes, GR, Ahava only uses vegetable rennets and enzymes.

I still wait for 6 hours after "one hour" cheese personally, simply because it was something I had taken upon myself, and now might need hatoras nedorim to change. But my family doesn't wait.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 11 2004 Posts: 19241

Thank you, SaraYehudis!!! Very Happy

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224

I attended a shiur Tuesday night about that!

The rabbi said that perhaps cheese was produced differently in the Rov's days. These days, it's not nec. to wait the 6 hours.

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 3:55 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

You mean you wait 6 hours because of the animal rennet, not because it is hard to digest cheese? Shocked

I din't know that. I'm all confused.

Posted: Sun, Nov 19 2006, 4:04 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

it's basically the same thing. The reason we wait for 6 hours after meat is because that's how long it takes to digest it. meat being a heavier, stronger, food.

The rennet of animal origin has retained the sharp quality of the stomach lining, and therefore will cause the digestive time to be similar to that of meat. The same would apply to aged cheeses, which have a sharp, pungent quality, and take more time to digest, according to the halacha.

Executive Member Joined: Nov 05 2006 Posts: 419

I was told that these days we do not have to wait 6 hours are cheeses are made differently.
except for some cheeses produced in europe ie, bleu cheese etc.

Posted: Wed, Nov 22 2006, 4:13 am Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

I read/heard somewhere (maybe it was a Tenuva publication) that you should wait one hour for every month that the cheese has been matured.

Posted: Mon, Nov 27 2006, 6:45 pm Post subject: Re: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

Posted: Mon, Nov 27 2006, 6:54 pm Post subject: re: Hard and Soft Cheese

Did he say why? (and why anon?)

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224

Boy, am I glad that I asked someone in the Kashrus field.

Posted: Mon, Nov 27 2006, 9:49 pm Post subject:

Does anyone on this board eat blue cheese? I love it!

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224

LubCoralSpring, I only eat lowfat cheese.