In comparison to traditionally made cheeses, only a minimal curd
treatment is required when retentates are used for cheese making.
The foil-ripened MF cheeses had a good cohesion of curd grains and an
elastic and compact body. In contrast, the body of the smear-ripened
cheeses showed mechanical openness (occurrence of irregularly
shaped holes). This defect could be prevented by vacuumizing the
MF cheeses (dried after brining) in foil before smear-ripening (Fig. 3).
In general, all MF cheeses had a tendency to tear. During the first few
days after production the MF cheeses had to be handled with care