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11/18/22: A list of rennet-free cheeses
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennet
Both Karaites and Rabbinical Jews agree chelev fats should not be consumed. Should it be consumed, the consumer risks "the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people". For most cheeses, animal rennet is used to coagulate the milk turning it eventually into cheese. Animal rennet is made from an animal's stomach which contains chelev fats. Yet, some kosher cheeses are made with animal rennet. So, how can cheese made with animal rennet be kosher?
From Reflecting on Judaism: Ultra-Orthodox
Seems like as good a theory as any... would be a difficult question to answer any way you look at it actually.
Another interesting note is that the rennet normally comes from newly-born calves since adult calves do not contain the enzyme chymosin which seems to be required for rennet. Well, so you have a calf's stomach soaking in mother's milk. Still quite unlikely the calf's stomach and milk are related, no boiling... Anyhow, there is still the issue of chelev fat to deal with.
Found here Cheese & Rennet:
Here is a reference to rennet and the fat in the fourth stomach...
From Say Cheese!:
Whether or not the rabbinical Jews have drawn a line for when forbidden foods become whatever (acceptable?) by claiming that chelev fat is destroyed in the creation of cheese, this problem with cheese is easily and painlessly solved today. Some cheeses are made without animal rennet and some of them even have the kosher symbol attached.
Cheeses made without animal rennet are plentiful (but not as common as cheeses made with animal rennet) and the taste is difficult to distinguish from those cheeses made with animal rennet.
Vegan cheeses can be found here. This site does not approve of the list; so please if using the list, just check on the cheese prior to making a purchase to make sure it is right.
List of Vegetarian cheeses
A list of rennet-free cheeses
There are also vegetarian cheese substitutes.
Parmesan Cheese substitute:
Kosher Blog: pareve Parmesan Cheese
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Real rennet is from an animal source, vegetarians and Hinduis will not eat the cheese either, Hinduis do not eat cattle and vegetarians will not eat meat. So, they look for a kosher alternative.
There are two sources for kosher rennet, one comes from a plant and one comes from a kelp from the sea. Both can easily make a good curd and a fine cheese. I have seen Swiss cheese kosher and even made by own cheddar with my sister years ago from lambs milk.
Yes, there is also a problem with eating milk with meat among the Jews, but Muslims will not eat the general rennet if it was made from pig products, which is found in the American Jello, majority of marshmallows are made with gelatin which contains pork products, so once a list is started you can go on for pages. To make it short, taking anything from an animal outside the body makes it meat, thus, they can't mix meat and dairy together. If I have a hen slaughtered and find an egg, it is considered meat because it was inside. However, nursing my son, my milk is considered paruve or neutral and not dairy until I put it in a bottle. I thought this was neat to know
Do note that may medical capsules that contain your meds are made from gelatin from animal sources, including pork. Vegetarians, Jews, Muslims and Hinduis and some Buddhists will not use them but transfer the drug into a capsule made from plant sources.
Good question.
Source(s):
The orthodox union is headquartered in New York and has a website that describes the various problems. See also Chabad.org on the mother's nursing issue and details of calf vs. cheese in more detail--they have a lot of articles. Hope this helps.
Kosher Chymosin Rennet
It’s been a while since my last posting in the realm of cheesemaking, and though I haven’t performed any further experiments yet (milk supply is cut off during winter), I’ve received some good news on kosher rennet.
Jonathan writes:
I’d like to say that I have been able to purchase OU-kosher Liquid GMO Chymosin (microbial rennet) produced by Chr. Hansen and distributed by the litre (about $45.00) by Kelley Supply, (800) 782-8573.
This microbial stuff is said to work better than the fungus-based rennet, as it’s genetically identical to the animal-based original.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennet
Rennet (pronounced /ˈrɛnɪt/) is a natural complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk, and is often used in the production of cheese. Rennet contains many enzymes, including a proteolytic enzyme (protease) that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into solids (curds) and liquid (whey). The active enzyme in rennet is called chymosin or rennin (EC 3.4.23.4) but there are also other important enzymes in it, e.g., pepsin or lipase. There are non-animal sources for rennet that are suitable for vegetarian consumption.
Traditional method
Dried and cleaned stomachs of young calves are sliced into small pieces and then put into saltwater or whey, together with some vinegar or wine to lower the pH of the solution. After some time (overnight or several days), the solution is filtered. The crude rennet that remains in the filtered solution can then be used to coagulate milk. About 1 gram of this solution can normally coagulate 2 to 4 litres of milk.
| The fat referred to in Lev 3 & 7 is Chelev - the choicest fats used in making offerings to YHWH. These fats are not to be eaten, the fat of the innards and the fat of the tail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelev Digestive system fats 16 And the priest shall make them smoke upon the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savour; all the fat is YHWH's. 17 It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood. Leviticus Chapter 7 22 And YHWH spoke unto Moses, saying: 23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. 24 And the fat of that which dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be used for any other service; but ye shall in no wise eat of it. 25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men present an offering made by fire unto YHWH, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. | ||
Both Karaites and Rabbinical Jews agree chelev fats should not be consumed. Should it be consumed, the consumer risks "the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people". For most cheeses, animal rennet is used to coagulate the milk turning it eventually into cheese. Animal rennet is made from an animal's stomach which contains chelev fats. Yet, some kosher cheeses are made with animal rennet. So, how can cheese made with animal rennet be kosher?
From Reflecting on Judaism: Ultra-Orthodox
Cheese
Many years ago, when I was young, Dayan Abramsky, Ab Bet Din, accepted that ordinary English Cheeses were acceptable. I believe I know his reasoning. If you refer back to the days before artificial rennet, rennet for Kosher Cheese was derived from a kosher animal and mixed with milk to produce hard cheese. But we must not deliberately mix meat and milk. The explanation is that, since rennet has changed its character it was no longer considered meat. Therefore, it could be used in cheese making. If such rennet was not considered meat, then all rennet was deemed not to be meat and, therefore, Cheddar cheese for example, was considered acceptable. How much more acceptable then is cheese made with vegetable rennet. I understand that some people may wish to use only kosher cheese, but to describe vegetarian cheese as unacceptable is ultra.
Seems like as good a theory as any... would be a difficult question to answer any way you look at it actually.
| Although not the subject of the post, rabbinical jews believe they are prohibited from mixing meat and cheese based on verses dealing with boiling a kid in its' mother's milk. Karaites, on the other hand, attribute this command to a religious practice performed in the past which became specifically prohibited. A reasonable explanation to the rabbinical understanding does not seem to exist. 18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until the morning. 19 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. Exodus Chapter 34 25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. 26 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.' Deuteronomy Chapter 14 21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. | ||
Another interesting note is that the rennet normally comes from newly-born calves since adult calves do not contain the enzyme chymosin which seems to be required for rennet. Well, so you have a calf's stomach soaking in mother's milk. Still quite unlikely the calf's stomach and milk are related, no boiling... Anyhow, there is still the issue of chelev fat to deal with.
Found here Cheese & Rennet:
The next stage is the addition of rennet, containing the enzyme chymosin. Rennet is usually sourced from the abomasum (fourth stomach) of newly-born calves. Here, chymosin aids the digestion and absorption of milk. Adult cows do not have this enzyme. Chymosin is extracted by washing and drying the stomach lining, which is then cut into small pieces and macerated in a solution of boric acid or brine at 30°C for 4-5 days. Pepsin may sometimes be used instead of chymosin. This is usually derived from the abomasum of grown calves or heifers, or less commonly pigs. Pepsin may be mixed with calf rennin. Rennet coagulates the milk, separating it into curds and whey. This is called curdling.
Here is a reference to rennet and the fat in the fourth stomach...
From Say Cheese!:
A quick lesson in the art of cheese-making explains that after the calves are killed, the fourth stomach is removed and cut into strips; the stomach lining is then scraped to remove surface fat, stretched onto racks where moisture is removed, ground and then finally mixed with a salt solution until the rennet is extracted.
Whether or not the rabbinical Jews have drawn a line for when forbidden foods become whatever (acceptable?) by claiming that chelev fat is destroyed in the creation of cheese, this problem with cheese is easily and painlessly solved today. Some cheeses are made without animal rennet and some of them even have the kosher symbol attached.
Cheeses made without animal rennet are plentiful (but not as common as cheeses made with animal rennet) and the taste is difficult to distinguish from those cheeses made with animal rennet.
Vegan cheeses can be found here. This site does not approve of the list; so please if using the list, just check on the cheese prior to making a purchase to make sure it is right.
List of Vegetarian cheeses
A list of rennet-free cheeses
There are also vegetarian cheese substitutes.
Parmesan Cheese substitute:
Kosher Blog: pareve Parmesan Cheese
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Real rennet is from an animal source, vegetarians and Hinduis will not eat the cheese either, Hinduis do not eat cattle and vegetarians will not eat meat. So, they look for a kosher alternative.
There are two sources for kosher rennet, one comes from a plant and one comes from a kelp from the sea. Both can easily make a good curd and a fine cheese. I have seen Swiss cheese kosher and even made by own cheddar with my sister years ago from lambs milk.
Yes, there is also a problem with eating milk with meat among the Jews, but Muslims will not eat the general rennet if it was made from pig products, which is found in the American Jello, majority of marshmallows are made with gelatin which contains pork products, so once a list is started you can go on for pages. To make it short, taking anything from an animal outside the body makes it meat, thus, they can't mix meat and dairy together. If I have a hen slaughtered and find an egg, it is considered meat because it was inside. However, nursing my son, my milk is considered paruve or neutral and not dairy until I put it in a bottle. I thought this was neat to know
Do note that may medical capsules that contain your meds are made from gelatin from animal sources, including pork. Vegetarians, Jews, Muslims and Hinduis and some Buddhists will not use them but transfer the drug into a capsule made from plant sources.
Good question.
Source(s):
The orthodox union is headquartered in New York and has a website that describes the various problems. See also Chabad.org on the mother's nursing issue and details of calf vs. cheese in more detail--they have a lot of articles. Hope this helps.
Kosher Chymosin Rennet
It’s been a while since my last posting in the realm of cheesemaking, and though I haven’t performed any further experiments yet (milk supply is cut off during winter), I’ve received some good news on kosher rennet.
Jonathan writes:
I’d like to say that I have been able to purchase OU-kosher Liquid GMO Chymosin (microbial rennet) produced by Chr. Hansen and distributed by the litre (about $45.00) by Kelley Supply, (800) 782-8573.
This microbial stuff is said to work better than the fungus-based rennet, as it’s genetically identical to the animal-based original.
| The use of chelev for sweet savour unto YHWH. 13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the lobe above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and make them smoke upon the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp; it is a sin-offering. ... 21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. 22 Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration; 23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before YHWH. 24 And thou shalt put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave-offering before YHWH. 25 And thou shalt take them from their hands, and make them smoke on the altar upon the burnt-offering, for a sweet savour before YHWH; it is an offering made by fire unto YHWH. Leviticus Chapter 3 3 And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offerings an offering made by fire unto YHWH: the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe above the liver, which he shall take away hard by the kidneys. 5 And Aaron's sons shall make it smoke on the altar upon the burnt-offering, which is upon the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto YHWH. ... 8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall dash the blood thereof against the altar round about. 9 And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offerings an offering made by fire unto YHWH: the fat thereof, the fat tail entire, which he shall take away hard by the rump-bone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 10 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the lobe above the liver, which he shall take away by the kidneys. 11 And the priest shall make it smoke upon the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire unto YHWH. Leviticus Chapter 7 1 And this is the law of the guilt-offering: it is most holy. 2 In the place where they kill the burnt-offering shall they kill the guilt-offering: and the blood thereof shall be dashed against the altar round about. 3 And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof: the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, 4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe above the liver, which he shall take away by the kidneys. 5 And the priest shall make them smoke upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto YHWH; it is a guilt-offering. Leviticus Chapter 8 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh. 26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before YHWH, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and upon the right thigh. 27 And he put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon the hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave-offering before YHWH. 28 And Moses took them from off their hands, and made them smoke on the altar upon the burnt-offering; they were a consecration-offering for a sweet savour; it was an offering made by fire unto YHWH. Leviticus Chapter 9 17 And the meal-offering was presented; and he filled his hand therefrom, and made it smoke upon the altar, besides the burnt-offering of the morning. 18 He slew also the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which was for the people; and Aaron's sons delivered unto him the blood, and he dashed it against the altar round about, 19 and the fat of the ox, and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver. 20 And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he made the fat smoke upon the altar. 21 And the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave-offering before YHWH; as Moses commanded | ||
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