rennet

rennet substance containing rennin, an enzyme having the property of clotting, or curdling, milk. It is used in the making of cheese and junket. Rennet is obtained from the stomachs of young mammals living on milk, especially from the inner lining of the fourth, or true, stomach (abomasum) of milk-fed calves. The preparation of rennet was formerly a part of the domestic function of making cheese; the inner membrane was kept in salt, dried, and, when rennet was needed, soaked in water. Now extract of rennet is made and sold commercially. It is usually prepared by soaking the tissues in warm, slightly salted water and straining and preserving the resulting liquid. Heat interferes with the action of rennet.

rennet Extract of calf stomach; contains the enzyme chymosin (rennin) which clots milk. Used in cheese making and for junket.

rennet Substance used to curdle milk in cheesemaking. Obtained as an extract from the inner lining of the fourth stomach of calves and other young ruminants, rennet is rich in rennin, an enzyme that coaguIates the casein (protein) of milk.