Curds are a
dairy product obtained by coagulating
milk in a process called curdling. The coagulation can be caused by adding
rennet or any edible
acidic substance such as
lemon juice or
vinegar, and then allowing it to sit. The increased acidity causes the milk proteins (
casein) to tangle into solid masses, or
curds. Milk that has been left to sour (
raw milk alone or
pasteurized milk with added
lactic acid bacteria) will also naturally produce curds, and
sour milk cheeses are produced this way. Producing cheese curds is one of the first steps in
cheesemaking; the curds are pressed and drained to varying amounts for different styles of cheese and different secondary agents (molds for blue cheeses, etc.) are introduced before the desired aging finishes the cheese. The remaining liquid, which contains only
whey proteins, is the
whey. In cow's milk, 80% of the proteins are caseins.