Cheesemaking 101 3 rd Annual Grow the Coast Conference Marc Bates Bates Consulting LLC 1
Agenda Brief History of cheese and cheesemaking Milk types and sources 9 Key processes in cheesemaking Resources and upcoming events Questions 2
Cheese What is Cheese? Nutritious and tasty dairy food A means of preserving milk A hobby A job A business 3
Cheese What is cheese? Milk that has had some of the water, lactose and minerals removed To aid the above process milk is coagulated by either acid or enzymes To aid the process and improve flavor and shelflife, the milk is acidified by direct addition or by fermentation of lactose by bacteria 4
Cheese When was cheese 1 st made? approx. 7,000 years ago Recent discovery of potsherds with milk residue resemble a strainer or curd collector Neolithic man was thought to be lactose intolerant so cheesemaking may have been necessary to get nutrition from milk. 5
Cheese Where was cheese 1 st made? Europe Southern, Denmark, British Isles Near East Africa(Egypt) 6
Then and Now Many small producers and small cooperatives Consolidation to a few large Pioneers in the current wave Proliferation of small farmstead and artisan producers Proliferation of small local cooperatives 7
Tillamook 1909 Ten independent cheese producer s joined to form Tillamook County Creamery Assn. It s purpose was to be a quality control organization for the many local cheese factories. 2009 Approx 110 farm families own TCCA which has two cheese plants Tillamook Columbia River Processors 8
Darigold/NW Dairy Assn What we know today as Darigold began because many small producers needed a way to process and market their milk. 1903 Alberta Creamery in Kittatas county was WA first dairy cooperative. It s Successors eventually merged with others in 1960 to become NW Dairymens Assn. 9
Darigold/NW Dairy Assn 1918 Several Evaporated Milk processors joined to form United Dairymen s Assn of WA which joined with Umberto Dickey s Consolidated Dairy Products Brokerage to successfully market Dairy products 10
1980 s Pioneers of the New Wave Juniper Grove s Pierre Kolich studied cheesemaking in France and established cheese business in Redmond in 1987. Ig Vella of Rogue Creamery called the Godfather of the Artisan cheese industry. Sally Jackson Cheeses Started on a Grant under the Carter Adminstration. Pleasant Valley Dairy George Train Now 2 nd and 3 rd Generations Quillasasscut- Lora Lea Misterly attended 1986 WSU Cheesemaking class and presented at a subsequent class. Rolling Stone Chevre Parma Idaho Karen and Chuck Evans 11
Oregon Cheesemakers 1999 there were < 5 small artisan or farmstead producers of cheese 2005 there were < 10 Today maybe as many as 25 including milk from cows, goats and sheep. 12
Washington Cheese Makers 1999 there were 9 licensed cheese plants In 2005 there were 18 In 2007 there were 29 Today Washington has approximately 40 cheese plants. 13
New Cooperative Ventures Oregon Cheesemakers Guild OSU Center for Small Farms North Coast Food Web Food Roots Puget Sound Food Network Whidbey Island Grown Red Rooster Route State Route 6 Cheese Trail Skagit Farm Tour Washington State Cheesemakers Association (WaSCA) Skagit Wholesale Market 14
Guler Caves Over 100 years ago these caves near Trout Lake WA were used to store butter made by local producers. 1940 s locals and professors from WSU tried to duplicate Roquefort using the caves for aging. 2010 Cascadia Creamery established at Trout Lake, WA as one of Washington s newest licensed Cheesemakers. 15
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Milk-the Primary Ingredient Contains: Water Lactose Butterfat Protein Minerals 17
Milk-the Primary Ingredient Species commonly used to provide milk for cheesemaking: Cow Goat Sheep Others including Water Buffalo, Yak, Camel 18
Milk-the Primary Ingredient Sources Maintain your own milking herd/flock Purchase From another small farm From a cooperative Store milk can be used for home/hobby 19
Major Processes of Cheesemaking Milk treatment Acidification/fermentation Coagulation Syneresis or moisture removal Texturizing Molding/shaping Salting Affinage/aging Packaging 20
Milk Treatment Raw-fresh, filtered and cooled Suitable for aged cheeses only Heat treated-less than legal pasteurization Labeled and handled as if from raw milk Pasteurized minimum time and temp for heat treatment in approved equipment Suitable for all cheesemaking UHT or Ultra Pasteurized Not suited for cheesemaking 21
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Direct Acidification Direct addition of acids such as citric, acetic, lactic or phosphoric to the milk Added to cold milk before proceeding to make a cheese such as fresh mozzarella Added to very hot milk when making Paneer or whole milk Ricotta Some cheese may employ both a direct acidification and a fermentation step 23
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Acidification by Fermentation Fermentation of lactose to lactic acid by cultures Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Usually takes about 24 hrs Some cheese procedures do most fermentation before coagulation (Chevre) while other do most fermentation after bulk whey removal (Feta) 25
Functions of Cultures Lower the ph Acidify the milk/cheese Promote syneresis Create a texture Extend shelf life Develop flavors and aromas 26
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Coagulation Modification of the protein (casein) in milk to form a gel structure Protein gel traps butterfat, water, cheese cultures, lactose within the matrix Can be made to happen by acidification of the milk, addition of enzyme and combinations of heat and acid or heat and salt 28
Coagulation by Acidification ph is a system used to measure acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Scale of 1-14 with 7 neutral. Normal milk is very slightly acidic at ph 6.5-6.7 Milk coagulates at a ph of 4.6-4.8 at what is referred to as the isoelectric point 29
ACIDITY Alkaline ph + Acid 14 7.0 6.7 6.5 5.0 4.6 Neutral ph ph Normal Milk Precipitation of caseins (Curd formation) % acid.14.16.82 T I T R A T A B L E A C I D I T Y 30
Enzyme Coagulation Rennet lay or common term applied to a group of enzymes that will coagulate casein. Tablets or liquids Single or double strength Vegetable or animal sources Degraded by time and contamination 31
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Syneresis -the separation of liquid from a gel caused by contraction of the gel Cutting Ladling Acidification Heating/cooking Stirring Drain/strain 33
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Texturizing Physical manipulation of curd to create a texture Colby-individual curds are stirred continously Cheddar- loaves of curd are turned and piled to create a chicken breast texture String cheese- curd is heated and stretched to make a pasta filata or filamentous dough texture 36
Stirred Curd Colby 37
Hand Cheddaring 38
Whole lotta Stretching Going on! 39
Salting Salt is added both for flavor and for preservation May be added in a variety of ways Internal dry-cheddar Quick equalization of salt throughout the cheese External dry- small format goat cheeses Salt equalizes over a couple of days in the cheese Brine salted- Gouda- finished wheels placed in solution of brine Will take 2 or more weeks after removal from brine to equalize 40
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Moulding/Shaping Also known as hooping. Putting curds into a final desirable shape Balls, wheels, blocks Format may be associated with and necessary to make the particular cheese Brie or Swiss Format may be more of a tradition-blocks for cheddar or large wheels for Parmesan 42
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Affinage or Aging Enzymatic modification of the curd creates flavor and texture of final cheese. Enzymes are present in the cheese from The milk Residual coagulant LAB Adjunct cultures Ripening cultures 45
Emmental 46
Affinage The enzymes fall into two main categories Proteolytic Those that breakdown proteins Lipolitic Those that breakdown fats 47
Comte 48
Proteolysis Peptidases break casein down into smaller units called peptides Peptides come in bitter, sweet, acid and salty flavors Amino peptidases break peptides down to individual amino acids contributing a wide variety of flavors 49
Cabot s Clothbound Cheddar 50
Lipolysis Enzymatic breakdown of fats to glycerol and free fatty acids Milk fat of cheese contains a wide variety of fatty acids which can be split off by lipolysis. Short chain fatty acids are more intense in flavor and aroma. 51
Perail du Lazarc 52
Affinage/Aging Textural changes also occur during aging Fresh Cheddar curd is firm, rubbery and squeaks on your teeth-hence the name squeaky cheese Medium Cheddar is pliable and sliceable Mature Cheddar begins to be short and crumbly. 53
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Packaging Natural Rinds may serve as packaging for uncut wheels. Vacuum packaging used for rindless cheese where mold is not a desirable trait. Where mold is desirable cheese is not packaged until mold is fully developed which may be 2 weeks for Camembert or longer for a blue 55
Willamette Valley Cheese - Gouda 56
Beecher s Flagship Reserve 57
Packaging Bloomy rind and smear cheeses tend to like paper or cellophane as opposed to plastic Clothbound Cheddars are again being made. Rounded wheels for Gouda are suited to waxing Cut pieces of finished cheese may be vacuum packed or wrapped in paper or 58
Joyce Snook, Pleasant Valley -Gouda 59
Resources Ingredients, utensils, kits and books http://www.getculture.com/ http://www.cheesemaking.com/ www.urbancheesecraft.etsy.com http://www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/ http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/ 60
Resources Organizations Oregon Cheese Guild www.oregoncheeseguild.org American Cheese Society www.cheesesociety.org Dairy Practices Council www.dairypc.org 61
Upcoming Events OCG Cheesemaker Education Day Late Jan or Early Feb @ OSU WSU Basic-Plus Cheesmaking Shortcourse Feb 17-19, 2015, Mt Vernon, WA Alpine Cheese Making w/ Ivan Larcher Early June @ OSU OSU Practical Cheesemaking Oct 6-8, 2015 in Corvallis 62
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