CHEESE STANDARD.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17972, 18 March 1930, Page 10

CHEESE STANDARD.

FACTORS IN THE QUALITY

HINTS FOR MANUFACTURERS. THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENT. Mr A. McKenzie, dairy instructor at I-lawcra, gave an interesting address to Uic factory managers’ conference at Pa tea. His subject was standardised cheese, and the text of his remarks is as follows : The standardisation of milk for cheese-making having now become fairly general in Taranaki, a few remarks hearing on the actual work and final results may be acceptable. A fair amount of experimental work in this direction was carried out by the Dairy Division at Longburn factory covering eight of the highest testing months over two consecutive years. It is largely from the knowledge acquired during that time that our data has been compiled. An Important Factor. One of the most important factors that should be recognised toy factory directors and managers when contemplating the manufacture of standardised cheese is the quality of the finished product, for without any shadow of doubt the average quality of any article of produce dciermlnes to a very large exent the average selling value of the whole. if hv placing on the British consumers' table a cheese, whether full cream or standardised, that is palatable, well mr.de and attractive »in appearance when cut wc can induce them to cat two ounces whereas before only one ounce was consumed wc will have no need to worry about the price per pound; the consumer will create the demand and the demand will take care of the price.

The quality of Hie milk received at a standardising factory requires keeping up to the highest possible level. Standardised cliee.se may carry more moisture than full cream, and objectionable flavours will therefore develop much more readily. For that most important reason standardising factories arc strongly urged, where pasteurisers are installed, to pasteur- ! ise all milk received and to see that all the milk received is of good, sound quality. If the milk from twenty suppliers is In one vat and one of them has delivered milk that is unsound, such milk has become the governing factor in lowering the quality, and ultimate selling value, of that vat of cheese, and that supplier is sheltering behind the good quality milk delivered by the other nineteen. I have no hesitation in saying the nineteen have received unfair treatment in having their quality lowered by the j Introduction of the faulty milk from one supplier. In fact, one cannot be blamed for suggesting that there are Instances where the worst suppliers would appeal 1 to be running the factory’s business, inasmuch as they override the directors by the fear that their milk will be transferred to another factory if taken to task, and the manager receives instructions that all milk irrespective of quality must be accepted. Factories Should Be Firm. Now if there are many suppliers delivering good sound milk to our factories, and it is no hardship for others to do the same, I venture to say that if every Taranaki factory took a firm stand in this dirtetion and gave the manager a freer hand there would he a most noticeable improvement in a verv short time.

In addition to milk quality there is the everlasting yield question. In Taranaki we have a good many li*rge companies with several branch factories. The yield of each is compared at the directors’ table, and the manager who happens to be at the bottom often receives instructions to •climb up, irrespective of Hie conditions under which he may be working; whether his casein content he high or low is never considered. He must follow instructions, and the only course open to him is to leave moisture in ids cheese, with the usual result that the quality suffers. There has been more than usual comment on our cheese quality recently, and the instances just given are responsible for a good measure of the need for such comment, the blame for which can only be laid on the doorstep of the factories concerned. There are many of our factories producing a fair quality cheese, hut the fact remains in plain view that so long as some of our directorates are going to talk quality on Monday and yield for the rest of the week we are going to have factors contributing towards a lowering of quality and prestige and more unfavourable comment passed about out cheese as a whole than would otherwise be the ease. Further, any factory overloading either full cream or standardised cheese with moisture, whether deliberately or unconcernedly, is not only reducing the value of our cheese as a whole hut is sheltering behind the factories that have built up our reputation with cheese the buyers could depend on for steady quality.

Quality All the Time. If, therefore, we are to obtain full cream value for our standardised cheese It is imperative that we pay every attention to quality. By so doing there is no reason why the selling value of standardised cheese should not be equal to full cream. Any factory that overloads standardised cheese with moisture will 'have to carry its full share of responsibility for the death and burial of the whole business. Such a cheese will not he a palatable article of food, and will not only bring discredit on the standardised brand but will undoubtedly lower the price for Itself as well as for those of better quality. The very appearance of a new brand on the market will cause keen buyers to look deeper than the rind. Is it not, therefore, to our advantage to have in evidence as few faults as possible so that no excuse can be put forward from that end for a lowering of price. Standardised cheese to be worth while must realise the full market value.

Accepting it that the milk received is of good quality, the main features 1.0 be observed in the manufacture of standardised cheese are cook, acidity, and salt. The three are dependent one on the other. Where the starter will permit, cook to 100 degrees V. for three hours; have the curd reasonably dry during cheddaring, - and ■ do not apply the salt until the curd Is ready. The degree of acidity required at salting varies from factory to factory. The higher the amount of skim added the more difficult, it will he found in most factories to overcome openness in texture. In our Longhorn experimental work it was found I hat standardised curd required a higher acidity than the same milk made into full cream cheese running from 10 to 15 points higher acidity with a lower cook than the full cream vaL Most of our standard-

ised cheese was finest and as high as 94i points. Tile idea that an undercooled, sloppy curd will give a higher yield will not be found correct in actual practice. A weil-cooked curd stirred dry and cheddared the full three hours will carry more acidity than one under-cooked, and the higher the acidity up to that required the more moisture such a cheese will carry without detriment. Skim Milk Percentage. Regarding the percentage of skim milk added and its relation to the fat in the cheese solids, if we take a standard full cream with 3 per cent, fat and 2.1 per cent, of casein, giving a ratio of casein lo fat of .7, turn it into cheese after allowing for 7 per cent, fat loss in manufacture, there is about 53 per cent, fat in the dry matter by calculation. The fat loss may at times, however, be above 7 per cent. Added lo that is the fact that under actual analysis it is possible to have a variation of 2 per cent., giving in some instances an actual fat analysis of about 51 per cent. Standardising on this basis, it will be found that milk containing 4 per cent, fat and 2.5 per cent, casein could have about 16 per cent, of skim milk added and still retain 50 per cent, in the dry matter. Each .1 rise in test admits of practically a further 1 per cent, increase in skim. Each 4.7 per cent, of skim will reduce the fat in the dry matter by about 1 per cent. A simple formula that may be applied |

for determining the percentage of skim he added to any val when the fat and casein content is known is as follows:—Fat 4.0, casein 2.5, equals in ratio of casein to fat of .625. This represents the full cream ratio of casein to fat. It is desired to standardise this to the equivalent of 3.0 per cent, fat full cream milk, the ratio of which is .700. The formula is: Ratio desired multiplied by 100, divided by the full cream ratio of any vat. In this instance the desired ratio is .700, which multiplied by 100 and divided by .625 equals 112, or 12 per cent, of skim required. Assuming the fat loss to lie 7 per cent, this will give a cheese (after allowing for a possible error in analysis of 2 per cent.) showing around 51 per cent, to 53 per cent, in the dry matter. Should it he desired lo get closer to the 50 per cent, minimum Ihc formula would be .730 multiplied by 100 and divided by .625, equals 116.7, or 16.7 of skim. The fat content in dry matter would range from 50 per cent, to 52 per cent.., with a possibility of odd vats being under standard. In actual practice it will be found that a variation in the ratio of from .025 to .03 will alter the fat In the dry matter about 1 per cent. From this it will be seen that from March 1, when aiming for 52 per cent, fat in the dry matter, the percentage of skim would be reduced by 4.7 per cent, for each per cent, of fat increase desired in the dry matter—on the above figures equal to 9.4 per cent, in each case. .

In the figures just given it is accepted that the casein content of the skim is about on a level with that in the full cream milk to be standardised. If 10 per cent, of fat has been extracted it will be found that the whey butter has decreased by practically an equal percentage. Factories having an exceptionally high test are strongly advised for the general welfare of the industry not to go to the limit in skim adidtion. Our experience is to the effect that high quantities will undoubtedly lower the keeping quality of the cheese.