• Home
  • Online Store
    • How it works
    • Our products
    • Login
    • Cart
    • Check out
    • My Account
  • Our Products
    • Milk
    • Cheese
    • AmazeBalls
    • Cream
    • Butter
    • Ice-Cream
    • Online Store
  • Making Our Products
    • About the milk
    • From the cow to the milk bottle
    • How we make our cheese
    • From the milk to the cream bottle
    • Churning our butter
    • Our awards
  • In The Kitchen
    • Cheese board
    • Cheese care and storage
    • Beer and cheese guide
    • Recipes
    • Cooking with Ashgrove videos
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Upcoming events
    • Our rewards
  • Tours
    • School tours
    • Bus & coach tours
  • About Us
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • In the community
    • In the media
  • Contact Us
    • Contact us
    • Find retail outlets
    • Employment Application
    • In the community

Ashgrove Cheese

Award-Winning Tasmanian Farm Milk, Cheese, Cream and Butter

  • Online Store
  • Our Products ›
    • Milk ›
      • Ashgrove Tasmanian Farm Milk
      • Ashgrove Fresh Barista Milk
    • Cheese ›
      • Cloth
      • Cheddar
      • English County
      • Blue
      • Uniquely Tasmanian
      • Continental
      • Flavoured
      • Organic Cheese
    • AmazeBalls
    • Cream
    • Butter
    • Ice-Cream
    • Our Awards
    • Online Store
    • Find Our Products
  • Making Our Products ›
    • About the milk
    • From the cows to the milk bottle
    • How we make our cheese ›
      • Crafting our curds
      • Ageing our cheese
    • From the milk to the cream bottle
    • Churning our butter
    • Our Awards
  • In The Kitchen ›
    • Cheese board
    • Cheese care and storage
    • Beer and Cheese Guide
    • Recipes ›
      • Baking and sweet treats
      • Butter, cream and sauces
      • Bruschetta, crostini and pizzas
      • Salads and vegetables
      • Milk, smoothies and drinks
    • Cooking with Ashgrove Videos
  • News
  • About Us ›
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • In the Community
    • In the Media
  • Contact Us
    • Contact us
    • Find Retail Outlets
    • In the Community

Crafting Our Curds

Ashgrove Cheese makingTraditional cheese making techniques with modern methods are used to produce Ashgrove Cheese.

Twice a day fresh creamy milk is delivered within hours of milking to the factory.  The milk is tested to ensure it meets our quality standards.  The milk is then pasteurised and placed into holding vats where it is selected for processing into our range of premium Tasmanian dairy products.

Milk – the process of cheese making beings with premium quality pasteurised non homogenised milk.

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

Rennet – once the vat is full of milk for cheese production an enzyme known as rennet is added to the milk.  Ashgrove Cheese uses non-animal rennet and is used to coagulate (set) the milk.

Ashgrove Cheese productionCutting 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 temperature the more moisture is removed from the curd, the harder the matured cheese becomes.  The curds and whey are separated by slowly draining the whey from the vat.

Working the curd – using the traditional cheddaring technique and the skills of our cheese maker we cut our curds by hand into pieces and then carefully hand turn them regularly for over an hour.  This helps remove moisture and assists in the lactic acid fermentation.

Milling – once the desired level of lactic acid is achieved the curd is placed through a mill.  The mill chops the curd blocks into smaller pieces.

Salting – the smaller pieces of curd are then salted.  These small pieces allow a larger surface area to absorb the salt.  This inhibits the fermentation process, removes moisture from the curd and acts as a preservative during the maturing process.

Pressing – the salted curds are ladled or placed into cheese moulds.  The shape of the mould determines the shape of the finished cheese.  The filled moulds are then stacked on presses where a weight is lowered squeezing out all the remaining moisture and forces the curd to matt back together.  The cheese remains in the moulds over night and the next day the cheeses are knocked out of the moulds ready for the maturing room.

Maturing – the 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 a well aged cheese.

Ageing Our Cheese

Shopping Cart

online-shop

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Ashgrove Cheese Club – Join FREE now!

Ashgrove Cheese Club – Join FREE now!
Sign up below for member only benefits and information or find out more here

Visit the Online Store

online-shop
Start shopping now

Find Retail Outlets

Find Our Products Find our products

Ashgrove Cheese Pty Ltd · Privacy Policy · Shipping & Return Policy · Terms of Use · Contact Us · Login · Site by Weave Media
SSL Certificate