The Art of Making True Cheddar

The Milk

The cheese making process beings with the production of high quality milk. At Ashgrove we use milk produced from our own dairy herd. This means we know the quality of raw milk entering the factory. 

Pasteurisation

Pasteurisation is a heat treatment to kill bacteria. The milk is heated to 72 deg C and held there for 15 seconds before cooling to 31deg C and running out into the cheese making vats.
All dairy products produced in Australia for human consumption must undergo the pasteurisation process.

Starter Culture

Starter culture bacteria are then added to the milk. Different bacteria are used to produce different flavours in the cheese.
The main function of the starter culture bacteria is to convert the lactose (milk sugar) to lactic acid. 

Rennet

Once the vat is full an enzyme known as rennet is added to the milk to coagulate (set) it.
All cheese produced at Ashgrove is made using non-animal rennet.

Cutting the coagulum

Once set the milk coagulum is cut into little cubes of curds and whey. The curd is what will become the cheese; the whey is a by-product of the cheese making process.

Curds and Whey

The curds and whey are stirred and heated. The higher the heating temperature the more moisture that is removed from the curd and the harder the finished cheese becomes.

Draining the vat

After heating and stirring the whey is removed from the vat. The whey produced at Ashgrove is fed back to the dairy herd who drink it as they walk to and from the dairy.

Cheddaring

Cheddaring is a process unique to making traditional Cheddar cheese.
Cheddaring involves turning and stacking the curd every 5 to 15 mins over a period of an hour. Each time the cheese is turned the stack gets higher.
Ashgrove is one of only two cheese manufacturers in Australia using traditional cheddaring techniques.

Milling

Once a certain level of lactic acid is achieved the curd is fed through a machine called a mill. The mill chops the curd blocks into pieces the size of potato chips. This gives a large surface area on the curd.

Salting

The large surface area is required for rapid absorption of salt, which is then added to the curd. The salt inhibits the fermentation process, removes moisture from the curd and acts as a preservative during the maturing process.

Pressing

The salted curds are placed in cheese moulds. The shape of the mould determines the shape of the finished cheese. The filled moulds are stacked on presses. A ram is lowered onto the moulds squeezing the last of the whey out and forcing the curd to matt back together.
The cheese remains in the moulds over night. The next morning the finished cheeses are knocked out of the moulds. It takes one day to make the cheese but at this stage it has very little flavour.

Maturation

The finished cheeses are taken to temperature controlled maturing rooms to sit on shelves to mature and develop flavour.
The maturing process is the breakdown of fat and protein in the cheese. The longer a cheese is left to mature the more the fat and protein will break down and the stronger the flavour becomes in the cheese. Mild cheese is young cheese, mature or vintage cheese is old cheese