What is the process called when cheese is made?

The process of cheese-making encompasses the various techniques and steps involved in transforming milk into cheese. It includes curdling the milk, separating the curds from the whey, and then further processing the curds through methods such as pressing, aging, and flavoring. This process is complex and varies by cheese type but fundamentally centers around manipulating milk to create a solid product, which is cheese.

While fermentation is integral, as it often involves microbial action to develop flavors and textures, it is a part of the broader cheese-making process rather than being the sole definition. Pasteurization and homogenization are methods used to treat milk but do not define the process of turning milk into cheese itself. Hence, cheese-making is the most accurate term that encapsulates the entire process.