Cheese Production
Our cheeses are produced on the farm with the milk from our pedigree herd of Friesian cows.The production takes from 5 to 7 months, depending on the type of cheese.
The cheese production process...
Milking -
The pedigree cows are milked twice a day.
The mornings milk is pumped over to the cheese room vat, where the milk is pasteurised.
The mornings milk is pumped over to the cheese room vat, where the milk is pasteurised.
Add Starter and Rennet - The Starter culture is added to sour the milk, once this has occurred rennet is added which helps to coagulate and set the milk.
Cutting the curd -
The set milk is cut to separate the curd from the whey.
Run off the whey -
Once the cheese has been gently scalded to help the curd further extract whey, the whey is drained off.
Cut and Channel -
The cheese is cut into managable pieces to release more whey into the channel, allowing the whey to run off easily.
Mill the curd and add salt - The curd is milled to get an even consistency and salt is added, to give the cheese flavour.
We also add chives at this point if we are making Derby with chives.
We also add chives at this point if we are making Derby with chives.
Fill the moulds - The moulds are lined with cheese cloths which is a traditional method of maturing the cheese and helps to produce the rind.
The cheeses are then pressed overnight to help press more whey out.
The cheeses are then pressed overnight to help press more whey out.
Dress the cheeses -
The cheeses are rubbed with Staffordshire's Cold Pressed Extra Virgin 'Just' Rapeseed Oil, which helps to create the distinctive rind.
Maturation - Depending on the cheese type we have made, the cheeses are kept between 5 months for the Staffordshire and 7 months for the Derby and Eccleshall Red.
