Traditional cheese making techniques and recipes are used to produce
the Ashgrove Cheese range. The cheese is all produced by hand in open
vats.
The Milk
The cheese making process beings with the production of high quality milk.
At Ashgrove we only 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 to 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 to 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.
Working the curd
The curd solidifies in the bottom of the vat. It is then cut into pieces
and turned regularly for about 1 hour. This removes moisture and assists
in the lactic acid fermentation.
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.
At Ashgrove the shortest maturing time is 2 months for the Creamy Lancashire. The longest is 2 years for the Vintage Cheddar.