system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: how are different types of cheese made?
gpt
All cheese goes through the same basic process.   A starter bacteria is introduced which consumes the lactose and shits out lactic acid.   The rise in acidity causes the two proteins in milk to separate -- the casein and the whey.  Then rennet is introduced which further solidifies the casein and voila you have your curds.   What you do with those curds next is what will determine what kind of cheese you're making.   Fresh cheeses like cottage cheese and ricotta have nothing done to them.   They're salted and most of the whey is drained.  The little chunks are the curds and the liquid is the whey.   Whether you cook the curds, how fine you cut them, how hard you press them, as well as if you introduce any extra mold after they're pressed all determine what kind of cheese you end up with.   Softer cheese keep more of their moisture and are made from larger curds, where as hard cheeses are drier and are made with smaller curds.   Stinky cheeses usually have special molds added to them after this process.