tiny bubbles in the cheese a signature of grass-fed cows?

[Guest guest]

Norfolk County's lone dairy farm gets into cheese business

FOXBORO - As the only local farmers who make cheese, the Lawton family takes pride in giving folks a fresh alternative.With daughter Terri already known for her production of raw milk from the family farm's 25 milking cows, parents Ed and Lawton started the Foxboro Cheese Co. this past summer. The Lawtons have been offering their cheese at their shop in front of the historic farmstead on North Street as well as at some local farmers markets, including the one now held Sunday afternoons at Attleboro Farms.The company's Fromage Blanc is churned out by and Ed with help from employee Gagne of Norton. It's a spreadable, pasteurized cheese that has a cream cheese-like consistency and comes plain or flavored with lemon and honey, tomato-basil or chives.Terri Lawton and Gagne have also created an Asiago under the Foxboro Cheese banner. It's a hard cheese made from raw milk that has what Terri describes as a nutty, buttery taste and is younger and moister than a longer-aged, crumbling Asiago. The younger Asiago is commonly used in sandwiches and can be melted to top dishes.The Lawton family began producing and selling their own cheese because they thought they could reap more value from the family-farm made product than by distributing it through larger commercial retailers.

As the sole remaining dairy farm in Norfolk County and with the closest farmstead cheesemaker in Westport, the Lawtons are hoping their cheese will appeal to people who value living sustainably and eating fresh, locally-grown products.The family makes their cheeses in a 210-gallon batch vat - a water tank retrofitted by Ed in the 1930s barn that he and Terri rebuilt.An agricultural grant helped cover some of the initial capital costs of the cheese operation, said Terri, who graduated from Purdue University in 2002 with a double major in animal agri-business and agricultural communications in 2002. She also served a stint as a state dairy inspector in Massachusetts.To make the Asiago, the raw milk is brought from the barn into the cheese room and brought up to 80 degrees in the vat. A special bacteria, or culture, is added and then the cheese is left to set for about half an hour.Rennet, a natural complex of enzymes, is added to catalyze the reaction - in other words, makes the cheese firm, Terri said. She and then use cheese knives to cut the resulting curd into small chunks, which are then stirred for two hours in the vat."Sometimes it seems like all day," Gagne joked.Exposed to different temperatures during the stirring, the curd "starts getting a certain springiness," Terri said. The whey is drained after the curd settles to the bottom of the vat, then the mixture is put into 3-pound molds where it sits overnight.The next morning, brings the cheese to the temperature-controlled, underground "cheese cave" below the vat room. There, it must age for at least 60 days, in accordance with federal health regulations.It takes about six hours to make the Asiago, not including the 60 days for aging, Terri said."The first week takes a little care; turning and salting the brine," Ed said.

Terri said caring for the cheese in that first week is like caring for "a baby."The Fromage Blanc is pasteurized mildly. The heat is turned up to 145 degrees on the fresh milk and then cooled to between 85 and 88 degrees.It's inoculated with cultures and then allowed to set overnight, or between 13 and 17 hours. The whey is then drained, a process that takes three to five hours, and the cheese is then bulk-packed in four-gallon buckets. Later, it's separated into well-stuffed 8 oz. containers for sale."The total processing time from the start of heating is about 19 hours," Ed said.The family, with 's help, usually turns out 175 pounds of the Fromage Blanc every other week and 160 pounds of the Asiago a month.Terri compares the Fromage Blanc to yogurt cheese while she said the Asiago has a buttery, as opposed to cheddar-like, taste.Cheese connoisseurs, she said, will appreciate that the young Asiago "has little bubbles because our cows are eating grass. It's a mark of quality."Terri said what's fed the cows - grass, hay, some whole oats - "goes along with our other mission with raw milk; offering people a choice of what they feed their family."The Lawtons said they are likely to produce other cheeses in the future and are planning to sell their wares at more farmers' markets this season. said they plan to enter the Asiago in the Big E's cheese contest this year.

BY SUSAN LaHOUD SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:19 PM EST

[Guest guest]

Is this true? Are there other physical differences as well?

>

>

> Norfolk County's lone dairy farm gets into cheese business

>

> FOXBORO - As the only local farmers who make cheese, the Lawton family

> takes pride in giving folks a fresh alternative.

>

> With daughter Terri already known for her production of raw milk from

> the family farm's 25 milking cows, parents Ed and Lawton started

> the Foxboro Cheese Co. this past summer. The Lawtons have been offering

> their cheese at their shop in front of the historic farmstead on North

> Street as well as at some local farmers markets, including the one now

> held Sunday afternoons at Attleboro Farms.

>

> The company's Fromage Blanc is churned out by and Ed with help

> from employee Gagne of Norton. It's a spreadable, pasteurized

> cheese that has a cream cheese-like consistency and comes plain or

> flavored with lemon and honey, tomato-basil or chives.

>

> Terri Lawton and Gagne have also created an Asiago under the Foxboro

> Cheese banner. It's a hard cheese made from raw milk that has what Terri

> describes as a nutty, buttery taste and is younger and moister than a

> longer-aged, crumbling Asiago. The younger Asiago is commonly used in

> sandwiches and can be melted to top dishes.

>

> The Lawton family began producing and selling their own cheese because

> they thought they could reap more value from the family-farm made

> product than by distributing it through larger commercial retailers.

>

> As the sole remaining dairy farm in Norfolk County and with the closest

> farmstead cheesemaker in Westport, the Lawtons are hoping their cheese

> will appeal to people who value living sustainably and eating fresh,

> locally-grown products.

>

> The family makes their cheeses in a 210-gallon batch vat - a water tank

> retrofitted by Ed in the 1930s barn that he and Terri rebuilt.

>

> An agricultural grant helped cover some of the initial capital costs of

> the cheese operation, said Terri, who graduated from Purdue University

> in 2002 with a double major in animal agri-business and agricultural

> communications in 2002. She also served a stint as a state dairy

> inspector in Massachusetts.

>

> To make the Asiago, the raw milk is brought from the barn into the

> cheese room and brought up to 80 degrees in the vat. A special bacteria,

> or culture, is added and then the cheese is left to set for about half

> an hour.

>

> Rennet, a natural complex of enzymes, is added to catalyze the reaction

> - in other words, makes the cheese firm, Terri said. She and

> then use cheese knives to cut the resulting curd into small chunks,

> which are then stirred for two hours in the vat.

>

> " Sometimes it seems like all day, " Gagne joked.

>

> Exposed to different temperatures during the stirring, the curd " starts

> getting a certain springiness, " Terri said. The whey is drained after

> the curd settles to the bottom of the vat, then the mixture is put into

> 3-pound molds where it sits overnight.

>

> The next morning, brings the cheese to the

> temperature-controlled, underground " cheese cave " below the vat room.

> There, it must age for at least 60 days, in accordance with federal

> health regulations.

>

> It takes about six hours to make the Asiago, not including the 60 days

> for aging, Terri said.

>

> " The first week takes a little care; turning and salting the brine, " Ed

> said.

>

> Terri said caring for the cheese in that first week is like caring for

> " a baby. "

>

> The Fromage Blanc is pasteurized mildly. The heat is turned up to 145

> degrees on the fresh milk and then cooled to between 85 and 88 degrees.

>

> It's inoculated with cultures and then allowed to set overnight, or

> between 13 and 17 hours. The whey is then drained, a process that takes

> three to five hours, and the cheese is then bulk-packed in four-gallon

> buckets. Later, it's separated into well-stuffed 8 oz. containers for

> sale.

>

> " The total processing time from the start of heating is about 19 hours, "

> Ed said.

>

> The family, with 's help, usually turns out 175 pounds of the

> Fromage Blanc every other week and 160 pounds of the Asiago a month.

>

> Terri compares the Fromage Blanc to yogurt cheese while she said the

> Asiago has a buttery, as opposed to cheddar-like, taste.

>

> Cheese connoisseurs, she said, will appreciate that the young Asiago

> " has little bubbles because our cows are eating grass. It's a mark of

> quality. "

>

> Terri said what's fed the cows - grass, hay, some whole oats - " goes

> along with our other mission with raw milk; offering people a choice of

> what they feed their family. "

>

> The Lawtons said they are likely to produce other cheeses in the future

> and are planning to sell their wares at more farmers' markets this

> season. said they plan to enter the Asiago in the Big E's cheese

> contest this year.

>

> BY SUSAN LaHOUD SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:19 PM

> EST

>