Re: - Meadow Creek? My supplier says raw cheese is really raw!

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

As promised (but a tad late) I got in touch with my supplier of raw milk & farm products. I asked the horse's mouth (so to say!) if the raw cheese they produce and sell is heat treated in any way and was told, "No." They make Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese from their herd's raw milk. I asked very specifically, "Is there any heat at any point during the making of cheese ?" Again I was told "no." They do aged cheeses also, such as Gouda and Tilsit. Those are heated, yes, Janet Brunner is right on that accord. But not each and every cheese they turn out are heated.

Ok back to enjoying my Monterey Jack raw cheese! Mmmmm!Sara

Minnesota

I just saw a message about "not heat treated cheese".I am a cheese maker and would like to know how in the world they make cheese without heat? Mesophilic bacteria do not start to even work until 84+ degrees (at lower temperatures their activity is too slow to develop the cheese properly). This sounds a little rude (and I don't mean it to be of course) but I don't think these cheesemakers are being totally honest. This might be a misunderstanding of what they are referring to as "heat treatment". What is heat treatment then. . . 110 degrees or above? 120 or above? This is probably the case. Raw milk cheese is only cheese that has not been pasteurized prior to cheese making and is not pasteurized in the production of the cheese. (this sounds redundant. . .) Pasteurization of course occurs with heating the milk to 145 degrees or more for 30 minutes or 160 for I think 5-10 minutes (I have to check - I don't pasteurize!) I make Gouda, Havarti, Baby Swiss, Colby, Cheddar, Edam etc. and the swiss cheeses actually get heated to 120+ degrees. Cheese recipes are basically the same everywhere. If they weren't the same then you would NOT end up with the same cheese.

[Guest guest]

--- Heating (to 110F or so)also helps separate curds and whey. I

can't imagine them hanging all the cheese in cheesecloth to separate

curds from whey but it is one way to do it, I suppose. Dennis

In RawDairy , " Sara L. Rheault " <sara@r...> wrote:

> Hello everyone,

> As promised (but a tad late) I got in touch with my supplier of

raw milk & farm products. I asked the horse's mouth (so to say!) if

the raw cheese they produce and sell is heat treated in any way and

was told, " No. " They make Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese from

their herd's raw milk. I asked very specifically, " Is there any heat

at any point during the making of cheese ? " Again I was told " no. "

They do aged cheeses also, such as Gouda and Tilsit. Those are

heated, yes, Janet Brunner is right on that accord. But not each and

every cheese they turn out are heated.

> Ok back to enjoying my Monterey Jack raw cheese! Mmmmm!

> Sara

> Minnesota

> I just saw a message about " not heat treated cheese " .

>

> I am a cheese maker and would like to know how in the world they

make

> cheese without heat? Mesophilic bacteria do not start to even

work

> until 84+ degrees (at lower temperatures their activity is too

slow

> to develop the cheese properly).

S. thermophilus is the mesophile for jack and mozz I think.Dennis

[Guest guest]

> Hello everyone,

> As promised (but a tad late) I got in touch with my supplier of

raw milk & farm products. I asked the horse's mouth (so to say!) if

the raw cheese they produce and sell is heat treated in any way and

was told, " No. " They make Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese from

their herd's raw milk. I asked very specifically, " Is there any heat

at any point during the making of cheese ? " Again I was told " no. "

They do aged cheeses also, such as Gouda and Tilsit. Those are

heated, yes, Janet Brunner is right on that accord. But not each and

every cheese they turn out are heated.

> Ok back to enjoying my Monterey Jack raw cheese! Mmmmm!

> Sara

> Minnesota

> I just saw a message about " not heat treated cheese " .

>

> I guess I'll have to call these people myself. Sorry I'm so

skeptical but I just can't believe it. Cheese recipes haven't

changed in hundreds of years and if they did (as you would know right

away if you made cheese at home and accidentally made a mistake on

your temperature - even by 1 or 2 degrees during different processes)

you would not have the cheese you were trying to make. Even if they

start at the cows body temperature they would still have to lower the

temperature by 10 degrees or so and then raise it again by 10-14

degrees. If you start too warm it first of all doesn't rennet

correctly, and at the cutting stage the curds become too brittle, too

small, and lose almost all moisture veerrryyy quickly. The end

temperature for Cheddar for instance is 101.5-102 F, with the start

temperature at 86 F.

Sorry again for my extreme skepticism. . .

the dairymaid