Cheese is way of preserving milk for long periods of time. In the process, the milk in cheese becomes something completely unlike milk, but cheese has its own interesting and delicious properties. Cheese-making is a long and involved process that makes use of bacteria, enzymes and naturally formed acids to solidify milk proteins and fat and preserve them. Once turned into cheese, milk can be stored for months or years.
The main preservatives that give cheese its longevity are salt and acids. The basic steps in cheese making go something like this (for most common cheeses like cheddar