Our speaker at our last meeting was new Milton resident, Mark Anderson.
Mark has been a cheese maker at the Stirling Cheese Factory for the past 24 years. It was great to have him along to share his experience with us. He emphasized the importance of looking after the milk, from the cow’s teat through to the vat at the factory, to make good cheese. Too much stirring or rough handling breaks up the fat molecules which are important in the cheese making process. Milk is checked in the farmer’s silo for any unwanted ‘extras’, like penicillin or water. The milk needs to be kept at 4-5° until it reaches the silos at the cheese factory. 300,000 litres of milk go into the silo to make a batch of cheese. 5000 tonne of cheese is made in a run and 200 tonne is made per day. 1.7 million litres of milk is used per day! Mark shared the full process of making the cheese with us and also talked about the by-products, such as the curd and whey – nothing is wasted! He also explained how efficient the plant was and that any waste water came out as pure water, back into the river.
It was a fascinating talk and we thank Mark for sharing his expertise with us.
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