More (slightly embarassing) newbie questions! This weekend I’ll be attempting to make crottin, which will be the first cheese I make requiring me to cut the curds (I just started a few weeks ago and have only made a few batches of chevre and cream cheese). The book I have discusses curd cutting techniques using vertical cuts only. I have read on a few blogs and websites different techniques for getting horizontal or angled cuts. So I’m wondering, for this cheese, should I try to also cut the curd on an angle (to create cubes)? Is this required depending on the kind of cheese you’re making or is it the cheese maker’s preference? What differences do the different cuts make? What sort of techniques do you all use/prefer? I have a shiney new curd knife and I’m ready to go!

Thanks for your help in advance!

Anne Marie

Cutting the curds in smaller pieces will release the whey quicker. I think it more of a preference since the general form Ive seen is cubed, so unless they say specifically why they do it at an angle I would go with what you prefer or just experiment to see what happens.

Anne Marie,

The reason that angles are mentioned is that if one uses a standard knife it’s impossible to get a horizontal cut.  The best one can do is to cut at an angle.  Several people have either made or bought curd “knives” that are a rectangular frame fitted with either very fine wire, or in my case fishing lne, at the desired intervals for the size cut needed.  This is lowered into the curd mass after the vertical cuts are made and rotated in order to make all the horizontal cuts simultaneously.  Neil is right, its not the shape of the curd that matters, but its size.

Great info, thank you both.