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Dairy
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How to Milk a Cow By Hand
The udder should be washed. I take a warm pail of water, an old wash rag and an old towel with me to the barn to rinse and dry the udder. This keeps any mud or manure from falling into your bucket.
Take your milk bucket and set it under the teat to be milked. Best to start off with one teat, once you are good at it you can handle two at a time.
Pinch the top of the teat (closest to the bag) with your thumb and fore-finger (pointing finger). Close the next finger, then the next, then the next (one at a time) over the teat as if you were trying to work water out of a hose.
Release your pinch at the top of the teat (and your other fingers too) and allow milk to enter the teat. Pinch the top of the teat (closest to the bag) with your thumb and fore-finger and repeat the previous movements.
It make take a few times but pretty soon you will be developing a rhythm. Every cow fills her teat back up at a different rate (depending upon how full the udder is) so you'll need to figure this how fast to go as you go along.
Submitted by KP, WA
Pasteurizing Milk
If you don't have a store-bought pasteurizer, you can easily perform this task on your stovetop.
You can use the double-boiler method. If you don't have a standard double-boiler, just use two pots, one large and one smaller, so that the small one can fit into the large one. The reason you want to do this is so that the milk doesn't scald on the bottom.
Directions;
Put a few inches of water in the bottom half of the double-boiler. In the top pan, place your milk. Using a thermometer, heat the milk up to 161 degrees F slowly. Stir it to make sure the milk is an even temperature throughout.
After it is brought up to 161 degrees F, remove the top pan and set it in a sink full of very cold water to cool it quickly.
Submitted by KP, WA
How to Separate Cream from Milk
This will not work for store-bought whole milk that has been homogenized. To extract the cream from fresh cow's milk by hand, put the milk in a shallow dish in a cool place. After 12 to 24 hours the cream will have risen to the surface. Using a spoon or ladle, gently skim it off. Store the cream in the refrigerator in a clean, covered jar.
Submitted by Kim, WA
Making Butter
Since you probably don't have a churn handy (and if you do, you probably already know how to make butter), this is a recipe for making butter in your blender.
Take a quart of fresh cream (or, if you don't happen to have a dairy cow, buy a quart of heavy whipping cream from the store) and let it sit at room temperature until it reaches about 55 degrees.
Put it in your blender or mixer, and turn the speed down to the slowest it can go. This is important! You'll have whipped cream if you go too fast!
Eventually (anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours, depending upon the cream and the temperature of the cream) the butter will 'break' and you will hear a sloshing in your mixing bowl. If you look you will see tiny grains (or larger blobs) of what looks like it could possibly butter. The rest of the liquid is called 'buttermilk' (not the cultured kind you buy from the store). Strain it away from the butter, keeping the butter in the bowl. Save the buttermilk for baking or drinking. It just de-fatted milk.
Put a little water in your bowl and mix it again with your mixer or blender. This is 'washing' the butter. Drain the water off. Do this several times until the water drains clear (not cloudy).
Now you need to 'work' the butter, to get out any remaining buttermilk. A wooden bowl which has been soaked in cold water is best. That's because the butter won't stick to the sides. When I first started I just used a plate. Use a wooden spoon or butter paddle (that has also been soaked in cold water) and (for lack of a better term at the moment) squish the butter/scape it into a blob... squish the butter/scrape it into a blob... over and over until no more buttermilk squeezes out.
Now you have butter. If you have a buttermold, you can make a fancy block of butter. I usually put mine in a small butter crock. Before I had a butter crock I just wrapped it in Saran Wrap and put it in the fridge.
Submitted by Kim, WA
Making Sour Cream
To make sour cream, take one cup of fresh cream (or, if you don't have a milk cow, buy heavy whipping cream from the store). Mix it with one tablespoon of sour-cream (this is where the culture comes from).
You need to keep this mixture, in whatever container you mixed it in, at about 70 degrees for 24 hours. If the top of your fridge is warm you could set it there.... I just fill up a bowl with hot water and put the container in there (usually have to weight it down or it will float). After 24 hours it will have thickened considerably. (If not, the temperature was too low... just get it to 70 degrees and let it sit until it thickens). Then put it in the fridge. It is best to refridgerate it for 24 hours before using it.
Once you have your sour cream, you can use a tablespoon of it to get your next batch going...
Submitted by Kim, WA
Cheese
Introduction to Cheesemaking
.
Cheese is a
fermented milk product made from the curds produced when milk is
coagulated. Usually it is made from cow's milk but there are many
varieties made from sheep's milk and goat's milk. Cheese can also be
made from the milk of various other animals. Real mozzarella, for
example, is made from buffaloes' milk
.
The Legend
Most cheese authorities and historians consider that cheese was first made in the Middle East. The earliest type was a form of sour milk which came into being when it was discovered that domesticated animals could be milked. A legendary story has it that cheese was 'discovered' by an unknown Arab nomad. He is said to have filled a saddlebag with milk to sustain him on a journey across the desert by horse. After several hours riding he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find that the milk had separated into a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps. Because the saddlebag, which was made from the stomach of a young animal, contained a coagulating enzyme known as rennin, the milk had been effectively separated into curds and whey by the combination of the rennin, the hot sun and the galloping motions of the horse.
ALTHOUGH Scotland has a pre-history of farming that extends back to around 4000 BC, it is unlikely that the skills of making cheese existed to any extent during that period. Certainly, the first settlers appear to have come from Central Europe, up through what is today Yorkshire and along the east coast of Scotland to the fertile areas in the Moray firth. Further settlers used the western seaways to settle in Argyllshire and the Outer Isles, moving on to northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland.
They brought with them wheat and barley, bred cattle, sheep and goats, and had the ability to clear large tracts of woodland to establish grassland areas and for cereal growing. Nevertheless, the many hill forts and broch towers that remain today show that the communities were far from settled and reflect the uncertainty of the times in which they lived. In effect Scotland was very much on the periphery of things - geographically and culturally.
Cheesemaking as we know it in Scotland today is basically a European development of skills acquired from the 'Fertile Crescent', the area of land between the Euphrates and Tigris in Iraq.
Archaeologists have discovered that as far back as 6000 BC cheese had been made from cow's and goat's milk and stored in tall jars. Egyptian tomb murals of 2000 BC show butter and cheese being made, and other murals which show milk being stored in skin bags suspended from poles demonstrate a knowledge of dairy husbandry at that time.
It is likely that nomadic tribes of Central Asia found animal skin bags a useful way to carry milk on animal backs when on the move. Fermentation of the milk sugars would cause the milk to curdle and the swaying motion would break up the curd to provide a refreshing whey drink. The curds would then be removed, drained and lightly salted to provide a tasty and nourishing high protein food, i.e. a welcome supplement to meat protein.
Cheesemaking, thus, gradually evolved from two main streams. The first was the liquid fermented milks such as yoghurt, koumiss and kefir. The second through allowing the milk to acidify to form curds and whey. Whey could then be drained either through perforated earthenware bowls or through woven reed baskets or similar material.
A few miles from the author's home in Wiltshire,UK, perforated earthenware bowls dating back to 1800 BC have been unearthed on Windmill Hill, an enclosure built by the Neolithic 'beaker people'. These could well have been used for draining cheese curd. To this day woven baskets are still used in India for the making of Surati Panir and Dacca curds.
From Biblical sources we learn that when David escaped across the River Jordan he was fed with 'cheese of kine' (cows) (2 Samuel 17:29), and it is said that he presented ten cheeses to the captain of the army drawn up to do battle with Saul (1 Samuel 17:18). Indeed, records show that there was at one time a location near Jerusalem called 'The Valley of the Cheesemakers'. Clearly, skills had been developed to preserve milk either as an acid-curd based cheese or as a range of lactic cheeses, and fermented milks such as today's unsweetened natural yoghurt.
Learning these techniques, the Romans with their characteristic efficiency were quick to develop cheesemaking to a fine art. Written evidence shows clearly how far the Romans had changed the art of cheesemaking:-
Homer, ca. 1184 BC, refers to cheese being made in the mountain caves of Greece from the milk of sheep and goats. Indeed one variety called 'Cynthos' was made and sold by the Greeks to the Romans at a price of about 1p per lb. This could well have been the Feta cheese of today.
Aristotle, 384 - 322 BC, commented on cheese made from the milk of mares and asses - the Russian 'koumiss' is in fact derived from mare's milk and is fermented to provide an alcoholic content of up to 3%.
Varro, ca. 127 BC, had noted the difference in cheeses made from a number of locations and commented on their digestibility. By this time the use of rennet had become commonplace, providing the cheesemaker with far greater control over the types of curd produced. Cheese had started to move from subsistence to commercial levels and could be marketed accordingly.
Columella, ca. AD 50, wrote about how to make cheese in considerable detail. Scottish cheesemakers today would be perfectly at home with many of the principles he set out so clearly some 1900 years ago.
By AD 300, cheese was being regularly exported to countries along the Mediterranean seaboard. Trade had developed to such an extent that the emperor Diocletian had to fix maximum prices for a range of cheeses including an apple-smoked cheese highly popular with Romans. Yet another cheese was stamped and sold under the brand name of 'La Luna', and is said to have been the precursor of today's Parmesan which was first reported as an individual make of cheese in AD 1579.
Thus, Roman expertise spread throughout Europe wherever their empire extended. While the skills remained at first with the landowners and Roman farmers, there is little doubt that in time they also percolated down to the local population. Roman soldiers, who had completed their military service and intermarried with the local populace, set up their 'coloniae' farms in retirement, and may well have passed on their skills in cheesemaking.
With the collapse of the Roman Empire around AD 410, cheesemaking spread slowly via the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic seas to Southern and Central Europe. The river valleys provided easy access and methods adopted for production were adapted to suit the different terrain and climatic conditions. Cheesemakers in remote mountainous areas naturally used the milk of goats and sheep.
Tribes such as the Helvetica, who had settled in the Swiss Alps, developed their own distinctive types of cheese. They were in fact so successful in doing this that for a period all export of their Emmental cheese was banned. In Central and Eastern Europe the displacement of people through centuries of war and invasion inevitably slowed down developments in cheesemaking until the Middle Ages. Production was often restricted to the more remote mountainous areas where sensible cheesemakers simply kept their heads down and hoped for the best.
In the fertile lowlands of Europe dairy husbandry developed at a faster pace and cheesemaking from cows' milk became the norm. Hence, the particular development of cheeses such as Edam and Gouda in the Netherlands. This was much copied elsewhere under a variety of similar names such as Tybo and Fynbo. A hard-pressed cheese, relatively small in size, brine-salted and waxed to reduce moisture losses in storage, proved both marketable and easy to distribute.
France developed a wider range of cheeses from the rich agricultural areas in the south and west of that country. By and large,soft cheese production was preferred with a comparatively long making season. Hard-pressed cheese appeared to play a secondary role. To some extent this reflects the Latin culture of the nation, mirroring the cheese types produced in the Mediterranean areas as distinct from the hard-pressed cheese that were developed in the northern regions of Europe for storage and use in the long cold winter months that lay ahead.
However, throughout the Dark Ages little new progress was made in developing new cheese types (see Table 1.1).
Table 1.1: The Development of Some Cheese Varieties
with the Date First Recorded
Cheese Variety Year(AD)
-------------- --------
Gorgonzola 879
Roquefort 1070
Grana 1200
Cheddar 1500
Parmesan 1579
Gouda 1697
Gloucester 1697
Stilton 1785
Camembert 1791
Data compiled from Scott (1986).
While the Romans had an influence on cheesemaking in England (Palladius wrote in detail about Romano-British farming practice in his day in the south of England), thanks to the recalcitrant Picts and Scots any influence on cheesemaking in Scotland that might have taken place was foredoomed. As Burke (1990) puts it succinctly:-
"no Romanised townships sprang up; there were no farmstead villas of the type found in southern Britain; and the sheer cost in fortification, roadworks and supplies required to maintain a presence in such bleak and unrewarding country finally defeated even the most assiduous empire builders".
Some little authority by the Romans lingered on in south and west of Scotland, but by the end of the 4th century they had largely withdrawn from Scotland to face the ultimate demise of their once mighty empire.
Relatively little is known about cheesemaking in Scotland before the 11th century. Based firmly on the need for a stable pastoral environment, cheesemaking could have had little place during the warring periods of the Picts and the early Celts. The Vikings, by imposing their culture in northern and western Scotland for over 500 years, provided a period of comparative stability. Their skills lay more in the mining and metalworking crafts together with cattle raising and fishing, where cheesemaking may have played only a small part. Progressively, however, the cheesemaking skills extended into the Western Isles and Hebrides, normally at little more than subsistence level.
It is certain that with the incursion of the Celtic tribes from Ireland and the spread of Christianity, initially, in south west Scotland, cheesemaking would also have been carried out, albeit on a relatively small scale, at monastic level. The role that the Church had in providing the seed corn of such activities has long been underestimated, lasting as it did for the best part of 1000 years in Britain. As self-contained communities sometimes farming large areas of land they kept large flocks of cattle and sheep. The products, including cheese, would be used by the community and sold where possible as a means of revenue.
The first step towards increasing the role of cheese at national level came when Kenneth I united the Scots and the Picts and formed a kingdom in central Scotland. This eventually expanded to include Strathclyde and Lothian, the latter originally a part of Northumbria. Malcolm III and his wife (who later became Saint Margaret) continued the development of what was to become a feudal state. Such development was carried to its ultimate when David I became king, and he was in many ways a man born before his time. He had been brought up in England for many years, and as a 'combined' Scotsman he was interested in trying to harmonise the workings of the two nations politically and economically. Having retained the ownership of extensive estates in Herefordshire he arranged for large herds of Highland cattle to be driven down, fattened up on his estates and then sold in the London market. This was in fact a precursor of a much larger trade in cattle-droving from the west Highlands to England. Developed throughout the 17th-19th centuries this may have led eventually to the progressive breeding of dairy cattle in the Cunningham district of Ayrshire. Furthermore, by extending the feudal system and having centralised the seat of Government in the Forfar area and later Stirling he provided the opportunity for accurate records to be kept of what went on in his kingdom.
Much new information has come to hand in investigations Dr. A. Simpson of the Royal Museum of Scotland. While researching for the History of Scottish Weights and Measures, he came across records which clearly show the extent to which cheese formed a vital part of the royal revenue. A charter from St. Andrews records the income of Culdee monks who lived at the priory of St. Serphs on Loch Leven. These monks had an annual grant of cheese which was measured in 'cudruns' of cheese. This term, which appears regularly in other charters and always refers to cheese, is one of many trade terms now lost for ever. Throughout the medieval years and until the early 17th century, Scotland and England had distinct and separate standards for weights measurement. Two basic standards existed: one for merchants often exporting overseas, and another for everyday commerce. The terms were often linked to a specific product, the classic case being the Woolsack. This contained an agreed volume of wool that was accepted in Britain and on the Continent by merchants for trading purposes. Sometimes a term was localised. In Forfar, for example, sea coal was sold by the 'net', though today we have no knowledge of just how much a 'net' of coal weighed. For everyday commerce in the home markets, the Scottish weight was known as the 'tron', and hence, the names we see today in certain Scottish burghs such as Trongate. This was the burgh location where goods passing through were weighed on an approved beam, and revenue for the King was extracted from the weight recorded. Interestingly, this standard was finally abolished in Scotland around 1618 without a word of explanation, and its relationship to today's measurements (i.e. lb or g) remains unclear.
So by examining burgh charters granted throughout the Celtic period to the mid 16th century we can get a useful indication where cheese was made, but not to date how much in weight terms. The records in fact show that for a period cheesemaking was carried out in Forfar and later Stirling on the King's estates. A very tight control was kept by his scribes where full debit and credit lists were maintained for a range of cheeses purchased. Ecclesiastic records include 'cudruns' of cheese as part of the tithes paid to the King. In Stirling some 30 cheese were awarded and later records from the same estates show that the price of cheese had dropped from 3 schillings to about 7 pence per 'cudrun'.
A similar situation existed in England, and according to Cheke (1959) it could be described as follows:-
"In England in AD 1256 cheese was sold by the 'pondus', a weight of 42 pounds (lb) and each 'pondus' contained six cloves, a clove being seven pounds. A 'pondus' cost 7 schillings in 1208 , 9s and 8d in 1213, 10s in 1223 and 12s 6d in 1247. By 1290 it was 9s and during the bad years of 1299-1300 it had risen to 13s 4d but by 1304 it was back to 9s again which shows that even in the days of concentric marketing, the general position had an effect on the consumer's price".
The types of cheese must have varied considerably. Cheese for the Royal household may have been made from full cream milk. The norm would possibly have been the harder type of skimmed milk cheese that could be stored and which travelled well. Later we shall see that cheese made from double cream for the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles, has its counterpart today, but this was more the exception than the rule. Milk was far too valuable a commodity for every day use, and the normal route may well have been to skim off the cream and make butter. Possibly the buttermilk was drunk or added to the skimmed milk and cheese made therefrom, having the whey to drink as a useful bonus.
By the time that Robert the Bruce came to the throne in, the value of cheese as a supplement to the diet had been well established. Records show that cheese was supplied to some of his troops who fought at Bannockburn with results that are generally felt in Scotland to be highly commendable, though possibly not elsewhere.
Some years later he followed in the steps of Magnus Barefoot and circumnavigated the Kintyre peninsula, towing his boat across the isthmus between Tarbert and the West Loch, in the approved fashion. The King's clerk on this occasion recorded that the party was supplied by the Constable of Tarbert with provisions which included cheese valued at about 3s per 'cudrun'.
Cheese remained very much of interest to succeeding monarchies. Indeed, Fenton (1976) noted that:-
"the export of cheese was in fact forbidden by James VI in 1573; in 1661, Charles II required 2 oz of bullion to be brought to the mint for each 5 cwt of cheese exported. Under the reigns of William and Anne, the import or use of Irish, English or foreign butter was forbidden. The quantity of cheese paid as part of secular rents was such a regular feature, that the word 'kain',a payment in kind for rent, came to mean a certain quantity of cheese, about 60 cwt in Argyllshire, Dunbartonshire and Galloway, and the dairyman who paid his rent in cheese was a 'kainer'. Since butter, and especially cheese, are easily portable, they were particularly useful for trade. The twelfth century Assisa de Tollonies laid down tolls of a halfpenny for a load of butter or cheese on horseback, and a farthing for a load on a man's back. From Caithness, quantities of butter made up in the shape of globes were carried in open boats to Moray, up to 1800, and the "pastry of the baker's shops at Elgin and Forres were then enriched with their importation". At the same period Moray was also buying cheese from Banffshire, and the cheese was being imported by grocers from Cheshire and Gloucestershire. Supplies, therefore, were carried over very long distances to areas where dairy farming was not developed and possibly places like the cheese warehouse adjacent to Gray's Close in Edinburgh, marked on a plan dated 1790, were staging posts in this trade between England and the north of Scotland".
From the early 1600s, the pastoral Highlands, which had been supplying the Lowlands with cheese, increasingly turned to cattle rearing and droving to the Scottish Lowlands and England. Until the 16th century, in the Lowland areas outside the large estates the ferm-toun featured extensively, operating on the 'run-rig' system. An interesting account of life in a ferm-toun can be seen at Auchindrain, Argyllshire which had a continued existence of over 900 years. While cheese is not mentioned, we see that a supply of 'vells' was part of the tenancy clearly implying that cheese could have been made by the landlord in the 1740s.
By the beginning of the 18th century, developments such as the iron plough, threshing machine and underground tile drainage were to change for ever the farming landscape, especially in the south and west of Scotland. Individual farm holdings progressively enclosed the land, crop rotation was practised, a start was made on the selective breeding of cattle from which was to develop the Ayrshire cow.
The stage was being quietly set for the dairy farms of north Ayrshire which would start the pace of cheesemaking for the next 50 years. In Upper Clydesdale, sheep's milk cheese would continue to supply the Lothians and Edinburgh until the early 20th century when ease of transport by road and rail would confirm the dominance of Dunlop, then creamery based Cheddar. The traumatic period of Highland Clearances would see sheep and later forestry replace multiple small crofts. Crofting would be driven to the peripheral coastal areas and Outer Hebrides, and cheesemaking once again would revert in large measure to a subsistence activity, except perhaps on the mainland straths with good road access to the Lowland markets. The way to make cheese, which had been handed down on a traditional unquestioning 'word of mouth' basis, began to be challenged. Enterprising farmers were to ask, how they might service effectively the burgeoning markets in central Scotland.
An outpouring of written articles, letters, observations and demonstrations took place throughout the 19th century on milk and cheese production which laid the foundation for the dairy industry in Scotland as we know it at present.
The process of cheesemaking is an ancient craft that dates back thousands of years. By today's standards of industrial technology, the process of cheesemaking is still a complicated one which combines both "Art" and "Science" together. The subject of cheese has been extensively investigated by many research groups in many countries, and in-depth information has been reported, for example, by Kosikowski (1982), Scott (1986), Robinson (1993) and Fox (1993). Nevertheless, the primary stages of cheesemaking are shown in Figure 2.1, and in brief the constituents of milk can be described as follows.
Figure
2.1: The Basic Stages of Cheesemaking
Milks from different species of mammals have been used for the manufacture of cheese, and Table 2.1 illustrates the major differences in the chemical composition of these milks.
Table 2.1: Chemical Composition (%) of Milks of Selected Species of Mammals. (Data compiled from Scott (1986)).
Animal Fat Protein Milk Sugar Minerals
-------------------------------------------------
Cow 3.8 3.0 4.8 0.75
Goat 6.0 3.3 4.6 0.84
Sheep 9.0 4.6 4.7 1.00
Buffalo 6.0 3.8 4.5 0.75
-------------------------------------------------
As a result, variations in the quality of cheese do occur, depending on the type of milk used. For example, milk containing high total solids (sheep) increases cheese yields, and conversely, milk high in fat produces softer cheese, but improves the mouth-feel of the product. Thus, the cheesemaking process has to be modified in relation to the type of milk used.
In nature, milk is produced to feed the offspring; however, let us consider for a moment what happens when a calf takes in milk from its mother. The milk has to provide all the essentials for the body-build-up of the calf during the critical period up to weaning. She also provides certain compounds which give initial protection from bacterial disease, until the calf can build up its own immunity. First, the milk drawn from the teat is warm and sweet, and the milk sugar (lactose) provides both encouragement to drink more and will provide energy later when needed. Passing into the first of three stomachs, it is progressively acidified until arrival at the fourth stomach. Here it comes into contact with two coagulating enzymes (chymosin and pepsin - previously known as rennin). These enzymes are basically organic catalysts i.e. substances which promote a particular chemical reaction without being themselves used up in the process. So these enzymes combine with the acidified milk and curdle it to form a fine clot. The clot (or curd as it is better known) then passes forward into the intestine. Having been changed into a curd, its passage through the intestines is slowed down just long enough to be digested (protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and lactose), and absorbed through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream suitable for future body-building. Later we shall see the role of these enzymes in cheesemaking.
Cheesemaking capitalises on the curdling of milk. First, the milk is carefully selected to make sure there are no antibiotics or harmful agents that could affect the process. The milk is then heated and held at a given temperature for a short period to destroy any harmful bacteria (i.e. pasteurisation). Special starter cultures are then added to the warm milk and change a very small amount of the milk sugar into lactic acid. This acidifies the milk at a much faster rate and prepares it for the next stage. Rennet (mainly chymosin) is then added to the milk and within a short time a curd is produced. Pepsin is not normally used in Britain except for certain specialised cheeses. The resultant curd is then cut into small cubes, and heat is applied to start a shrinking process which, with the steady production of lactic acid from the starter cultures, will change it into small rice-sized grains. At a carefully chosen point the curd grains are allowed to fall to the bottom of the cheese vat, the left-over liquid, which consists of water, milk sugar and albumen (now called whey) is drained off and the curd grains allowed to mat together to form large slabs of curd. The slabs are then milled, and salt is added to provide flavour and help preserve the cheese. Later, it is pressed, and subsequently packed in various sized containers for maturing.
That is the basic method for making what is known as a hard-pressed cheese. Now we can look more closely at the individual components of milk to see what they do.
Fat exists in milk as small globules that can vary in size depending on the breed of cow. The fat in the milk helps to produce flavour, aroma and body in mature cheese. Cheese made from skimmed milk is hard in body and texture, and lacks flavour. However, only a small amount of fat (as low as 1%) can produce a background flavour, and today's makers exploit this with their 'low-fat cheese' for which there is a growing demand.
Protein exists in two forms in milk as a suspension/colloidal (casein) and in a soluble form (whey proteins). As an analogy, however, consider the first type of protein as a densely woven mesh rather like a string vest suspended freely in the aqueous phase of milk. As long as the milk remains sweet, this structure is unaffected and the milk remains totally fluid. However, if the milk acidifies (i.e. goes sour) without the presence of coagulating enzymes the structure changes quite suddenly at the 'iso-electric point', and a fragile curd is formed that collapses with the slightest agitation into tiny fragments. A typical example is the fine mass we see when milk sours naturally. By adding rennet, at just the right time before the milk would go completely sour, the structure of the casein is changed radically to form a solid curd called para-casein. This can then be cut with knives and saved to be collected as grains of curd for subsequent processing.
The second fraction of protein is called albumen (alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin). This as described above passes out with the whey and is usually lost, though it can be recovered by specialised and expensive filtration methods. When hot milk is allowed to stand still for any time, whey proteins appear as a 'skin' on the surface.
In milk different enzymes may arise from the cow herself, from bacteria present in the teat canals or from organisms that gain entry to the milk at a later stage. As we shall see shortly these enzymes have a profound effect on the quality of raw milk, and the ripening of cheese in the store. For example, lipases, proteases and lactase enzymes hydrolyse the fat, protein and lactose respectively into different components. In this case, these enzymes, which occur naturally in the milk or which are sometimes supplied by the indigenous bacteria in the milk and the added starter culture, can change the milk fats and proteins in the process of ripening the cheese to produce the delicate flavours and aromas that make mature cheese so enjoyable. Later we shall see just how a cheese grader can assess these vital elements.
These are organic substances in milk which help to promote growth. Milk fat holds the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and the water soluble vitamins are the B complex and C which are in the whey. They also play an important part in encouraging bacteria to grow in the cheese ripening process.
This is the main sugar in the milk. It provides the energy source for the starter cultures to produce lactic acid, and so helps to modify the milk for cheesemaking. About 10% of the lactose is used by the starter bacteria to make lactic acid, and the rest is drawn off with the whey. It was used in the past to feed to pigs for fattening up, but with the massive increase in cheese production this no longer became practical.
In the twenties, a private firm (Whey Products Ltd.) was set up in England to exploit the use of whey by concentrating it to about 65% total solids, crystallising the lactose, then washing and refining it for sale to the pharmaceutical and baking industries. For some years after the Second World War, the United Creameries Ltd. (UC Ltd.) at Tarff accepted whey from cheese creameries in Galloway for pre-concentration and transfer south to Haslington for final refining. Tarff creamery closed down in the early seventies due to the advent of large whey installations at Galloway and Lockerbie creameries for whey drying.
Surprisingly enough, whey was generally considered by practical cheesemakers of the day to be little more than a confounded nuisance and where sewage facilities were not available large quantities were simply dumped surreptitiously into ditches, down old quarries, sprayed over land or piped straight out to sea.
Those substances are present in milk and consist of metallic components (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper) and non-metallic elements such as sulphur, chlorine, phosphorous. Calcium is probably the most important mineral for the coagulation of milk, and together with the protein is an excellent source of food, especially for children who can absorb it quickly into their growth system.
Cheese is really a form of fermented milk, and acid production is carried out by starter cultures. Milk being sourced from a living animal has bacteria in it when fed to the calf. Some bacteria produce acid, others help to digest the protein in the milk; some use milk as a base for their own development which, in the case of disease-producing bacteria, can infect those who drink it. Tuberculosis, brucellosis and undulant fever are three examples of diseases that can affect those who may drink unpasteurised milk.
Happily, the acid producing bacteria can in some cases directly suppress disease-producing bacteria under normal conditions. This is why fermented milk products are among the safest foods to take in their natural state particularly in areas where food hygiene may be suspect. Down through the centuries until around 1860, the existence of bacteria and how they worked was not known. According to Crawford (1959) a few countries in Europe including Scotland played an important role in the early days of cheesemaking when little was known of how to use bacterial cultures effectively. The first breakthrough came when a French scientist called Louis Pasteur was able to show their harmful effect in wine and later in milk. Lister in 1873 isolated a mesophilic bacterium which he named Bacterium lactis and later known as Streptococcus lactis (the present designation is Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis) for use as a cheese starter culture.
The first practical use of bacterial cultures for the dairy industry was in fact for butter. In 1890, the Danish scientist Storch developed a selected strain of bacteria which he called Streptococcus cremoris (the present designation Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris), and this knowledge was soon applied to cheesemaking. In Scotland pure cultures were first used in the south west in 1895. At that time discoloration in cheese was a problem caused by contamination of the raw milk. A committee of interested parties decided that this should be checked by thorough cooling of the evening milk and by the addition of a vigorous pure culture to start the fermentation in the mixed evening and morning's milk when cheesemaking started. The success, which followed extensive trials in the south west of Scotland, did much to establish the practice of using pure starter cultures. In the period from 1895 to around 1910, there was growing interest in the use of pure starter cultures for cheesemaking in Scotland. During the same period, Lloyd in England developed a test to determine acidity in milk. Workers on the continent selected pure bacterial cultures just for making cheese to which the name was given as starters.
Until the middle of the 19th century, cheesemakers on croft and farm simply held over a portion of soured milk or whey in a small jug or churn and used it the following day to make cheese. This worked perfectly well as long as the amount of cheese being made was relatively small, but cheesemaking was never consistent and results varied greatly. Cheesemaking was carried out only in the summer months and at the end of the season starter had somehow to be kept for the next year. This was in fact done in many rural areas in Scotland by filling up a clean bottle with starter, corking it securely and burying it in the back garden. The following Spring it was dug up and, after one or two sub-cultures, used again for cheesemaking. Henderson (1972) gave an excellent account of cheesemaking in Galloway where this method of keeping starter was employed. Mr Hugh Irvine also recalls that if the starter failed the crofter/farmer simply got another culture from the local chemist.
Moulds play their part in cheesemaking. The white mould seen on Camembert helps to hydrolyse the protein in the final cheese by working from the outside in. Blue moulds can be added with the starter, and help to breakdown the curd produced from the inside of the cheese outwards. Sometimes, to help the growth of blue mould, the cheese is pierced with a skewer which lets in air and helps the mould to spread and carry on the good work of protein/fat hydrolysis. This explains the blue streaks seen sometimes in Danish Blue cheese.
Over the last sixty years much work has been done to develop starters that would work consistently under creamery conditions. In effect we have moved from the forties where starter was made up fresh each day in liquid form to the situation now where starter is kept as freeze-dried or in deep freeze cabinets and added as a powder or granules, respectively, to the vat before cheesemaking begins. These starter culture systems are known as direct-to-vat inoculation (DVI).
The New Zealand Dairy Research Institute has done much excellent work on starter development for over fifty years. In the mid 1930s, Dr H.R. Whitehead was able to isolate single strain cultures for cheesemaking, and in the 1950s this was taken up by Auchincruive and the Scottish Milk Marketing Board (SMMB) with much success. Professors R.H. Leitch and D.M. Smillie played a leading part in this development at Auchincruive as did Mrs M. Fox who travelled extensively all over Britain to advise on starter usage, in particular with Stilton cheesemakers.
For over forty years, United Dairies Ltd. (UD Ltd.) operated a full-time research laboratory in London. During the Second World War and immediately afterwards, the search was on to develop trouble-free starters at creamery level and give them maximum protection at the bulk starter preparation stage. Anderson, Meanwell and Symons developed a number of starters that were to prove resistant to a virus called bacteriophage for a period. Another UD Ltd. Scot, Mr J.E. Lewis, developed a starter protection method, which became known as the 'Lewis' system, and for 20 years provided key protection to making starter in bulk at creamery level. An alternative method known as the 'Jones' system, which was developed in New Zealand, was also used for some years by the SMMB, in Dalbeattie and Galloway creameries.
The need to coagulate milk has been well recognised since Roman times, and this can be achieved by the selective use of certain plants or by extracting the enzyme rennet (chymosin and pepsin) from the fourth stomach of the milk-fed calf. Plants are not used today in Scottish cheesemaking though they are widely used in some European countries and the far East. In Britain, the butterworts, artichokes, teasel, spearwort and thistles are said to have been used, but are usually too mild for general use. Up to the 19th century, Ladies' Bedstraw (Galium verum) was said to have been used for making Cheshire cheese.
Records for the making of rennet go back to the 16th century. The farmer or small-holder cheesemaker would select and slaughter a milk-fed calf, remove and wash the fourth stomach carefully. He would then hang this out to air-dry in which case it would become known as a 'vell'. There was a regular market for dried vells. It is difficult to ascertain how these vells were first used in traditional farmhouse cheesemaking in Scotland or elsewhere. However, it is most likely that dried pieces of vells were added directly to the milk, and at later times vell extracts in salt solution were used. Basically, sliced or mascerated vells were soaked in salty water to provide a solution of enzymes. Filtration may have been used for the purification of the final rennet solution. Storing the rennet in a salt solution keeps it in good condition and suppresses any bacteria that might cause a deterioration in quality. Such rennets are known as 'calf rennets'.
Rennet is very strong in action (1 part of commercial rennet can coagulate 5000 parts of milk) and today rennet supplies are meticulously monitored. The main suppliers are Chr. Hansen's of Denmark and Rh™ne Poulenc of France. The British firm of R.J. Fullwood & Bland Limited of Ellesmere in Shropshire (who manufactured non synthetic annatto and rennet for over 200 years) no longer supply it, as their core business is now the manufacture and installation of milking machines and associated products.
Another form of rennet is called 'vegetable' rennet which is derived from certain strains of fungi and bacteria. Today, this type of rennet is very popular, reflecting a move towards organic foods, and the manufacture of 'vegetarian cheese'. Substantial amounts are now used at farmhouse and creamery level. Recently, due to world shortage of calf rennet, recombinant or genetically engineered pure chymosin derived from different microorganisms is available on the market, and is currently used by many cheesemakers in different countries.
By this term we mean sodium chloride, the common salt used at home for cooking and seasoning food. Four main methods are used depending on the type of cheese that is being made.
These are called textured cheese, such as Cheddar, Cheshire and the English regional cheeses including Caerphilly, which undergo pressing for a period from 18 hours up to 2-3 days after being put into the cheese moulds. Throughout the cheesemaking process we have described for Cheddar, the starter is steadily making acid, its speed in so doing reduced somewhat in the heating process used in the final stages. To stop further acid development, and also to provide an element of flavour and help preserve the final cheese, salt is added after the curd blocks are milled. The amount varies with the type of cheese made, but is usually around 1.5 - 3% (w/w). Salting provokes a further small rush of whey, cools the curd slightly and controls further acid development. In traditional cheese vats, the salt was added by hand after milling either in the vat or in the 'cooler' (a trolley-like vehicle on which curd blocks were cheddared and made ready for milling). However, in modern automated plants, the salt can be blown from a salt-silo directly on to the milled curd laid out on a moving bed. Mechanical probes assess the curd depth and adjust the amount of salt needed electronically.
These are also hard- and semi-hard pressed cheese, but usually salted for a much shorter time and relatively large and small in size, respectively. A typical example would be the Edam (Dutch) and Emmental (Swiss). In this case, the cheese are removed from their mould and tumbled straight into a bath of salt solution strong enough to float the cheese. By holding these cheese in huge shallow tanks, they start absorbing salt, and after a period they are floated along to similar tanks with an even stronger salt solution during which the salt continues to be absorbed. They are then removed by elevator from the brine bath, allowed to dry out by which time the degree of salt needed has spread through the cheese.
Soft cheese types, which tend to be small, can be rubbed with salt on the outer surface at least once, and sometimes twice. The salt can then migrate across the cheese in about 24 hours. This method of salting assists in the formation of rind on the cheese.
Salt is usually applied on the curd before moulding, sometimes on the curd while in its mould or indeed after the cheese has been removed from the cheese mould.
Moulding has nothing to do with the blue green mass sometimes seen on traditional cheese, or stale bread, but is the term used for containing and pressing salted curd into a certain shape in which it can be matured before finally being sold. In Scotland, traditionally they referred to such containers as 'chissets' (see Plate 1).
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Plate 1:
Traditional chissets of the type used by Scottish
farmhouse cheesemakers.
The 'chissets' were made of oak wood and banded with iron for strength. They came in various sizes based on the width of the final cheese. Cheddar cheese were usually 60 to 80 lb in weight on the larger farms down to relatively small moulds used in Highland crofts that made a cheese of some 3-5 lb in weight. The first stage was to line the mould with a coarse cheesecloth called 'scrim' that would help to drain the initial flow of whey. The salted curd was then shovelled or hand filled into the 'chisset', and the final few handfuls being placed centrally to pack the 'chisset' completely. The ends of the 'scrim' were folded over neatly then the so-called 'follower' was placed on top. Being of slightly less diameter than the 'chisset', it would sink down into it slightly and so apply pressure to the curd within.
Having filled the 'chisset', be it on the croft or farmhouse, the next step was to consolidate the curd into a firm mass. Many and varied were the methods for doing this. It is essential to apply pressure progressively so that the whey can be uniformly expressed and not locked into the curd permanently. On the croft with a shortage of space and capital, recourse was made to that abundant local material - stone. The need was to secure a stone that would exert just the right amount of pressure relative to the size of the 'chisset', and experience was the best guide. However, a stone was a dead weight in itself as a single unit, and early trials were made using a stone with a screwed shaft sunk through it on an iron or wooden frame. This allowed the dead weight of the stone to be progressively applied and so improve the overall drainage and firming up of the curd. Such a system was in fact used by Barbara Gilmour, generally recognised as the founder of Dunlop cheese, and a similar press remains to this day at The Hill Farm near Dunlop where she lived and worked (see Plate 7).
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Plate 7:
Eighteenth century stone press (1760) still in situ
within The Hill Farm, Dunlop.
Moving up the scale from croft or farm level was the two or four 'chisset' cast-iron press which was very common throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries. Here the 'chisset' was slid on to a circular table, another 'chisset' placed on top and the press head lowered down by a hand wheel as shown in Plate 2.
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Plate 2:
Cast iron presses in a cheese room at Kirkwall.
A big advance as it allowed pressure on the cheese to be easily adjusted by placing a series of different weights on the counter-balanced pressure levers. This was of particular value where cheese such as Cheshire were being made. It is necessary to apply pressure progressively over two or three days due to the much wetter curd involved in traditional Cheshire cheesemaking, and also allowed the relatively rich (salted) cheese whey to be collected. Pressure was applied to the cheese for two or three hours then it was released. The 'chissets' were up-ended, the 'scrim' was then pulled up tight to ensure that no folds that may have been driven onto the top or into the sides remained. The followers were replaced and the cheese repressed at full overnight pressure. This could also mean a return late in the evening to tighten up the presses, a chore not always welcomed after a hard days work.
Traditionally made cheese often had to face a period of storage under conditions far from ideal. Accordingly, a Cheddar would be made with up to 36% moisture in the final curd to allow for a loss in store of 3-6% before it was finally sold. A firm coating was, therefore, essential to prevent damage of the cheese and mould penetration. The following day the cheese in their 'chissets' would be removed from the press and taken over to the scalding benches. Here the 'chisset' would be inverted, and the rim tapped against a block of wood or rubber so that the cheese and cloth slid out freely on to the knock-out stool. It would then be reversed, and very hot water poured over the cheese. This was the first stage in forming the rind by hardening of the protein on the surface of the cheese. It was then returned to the mould in the same 'scrim' and re-pressed for some two hours to cool and firm up. The cheese were then removed after being reversed and a fine cloth would be placed over the cheese. Then the cheese and cloth together would be knocked down into the 'chisset' before returning to press for a second night. The following morning after being knocked out, the fine cloth was removed and the cheese were then transferred to the loft or cheese store. At this stage it would be still 'tender' and require some final support.
The first step was to coat the surface of the cheese with a form of grease that would provide a fixative and close up any surface deficiencies. Pig fat was in common use and a colleague of the author recalls full well as late as 1940, before turning up for school each morning, calling in to collect a bucket of lard and 'larding the cheese' at Stewarton. After larding the cheese would then be secured with a roller bandage wound round from bottom to top. Stitched in position it would then be stamped for identification, and placed carefully on the cheese shelf. A drying-out period of one or two days would then ensue.
Mr George Nichol, after a lifetime's experience as farmhouse and creamery cheesemaker, and ultimately the senior Company of Scottish Cheese Makers Ltd. (CSCM Ltd.) grader for many years, writes about cheese storage as he saw it :-
"Conventional cheese lofts did not have any heating or cooling as we know it today. Some enlightened farmers had a cooling system of a kind which consisted of mains water being pumped up along pipes sited on either side of the roof crown and running the full length. In warm weather, in spring and summer, these were turned on and the mains water ran down the slates to cool the roof on either side. The majority of conventional lofts had only wooden shelves, some had what were called 'turning dales' (Plate 3). These held 10 or 12 traditional Cheddars (70 lb) which could be turned all at once. This reduced the time taken each day to turn the cheese. Flavour and quality depended to a large extent on hygiene at milking, equipment, cheese cultures and the cheesemaker's ability to make good cheese (about 35-36% moisture). If he had slow cheese, which generally tended to hold moisture, the flavour would go bad fairly quickly (4-5 months). If the acid in the cheese developed very rapidly, a lot of the cheese in store would run whey and would have to be sold at a lower price, as would the ones that had gone off flavour, resulting in a loss to the farmer. The body of cheese in conventional lofts could be affected by the rise in temperature during spring and summer. This gave rise to problems with the shape of the cheese which as usual led to a loss of money when selling the product. In conventional stores humidity was fairly critical, if too high or too dry this resulted in a lot of mould or cracked rinds, respectively.
Cold storage enables cheese to be stored at a constant temperature which means control of the maturation of the cheese. Even high moisture cheese can be stored at a temperature which if properly controlled, allows the cheese to be stored for another 2-3 months without unduly affecting the flavour".
The traditional cheese, placed in the store immediately out of press, was basically a rubbery and elastic mass of curd, still warm from the cheesemaking operation, and largely without flavour or aroma. The milled particles still retained their identity in spite of the pressing over the previous two days. There may well have been some mechanical openness and free moisture. For the first few days it needed careful handling. Eventually the curd cooled and became more solid, and a firm bodied structure ready for the changes that would turn it into the type of cheese aimed at by the maker. The actual ripening process - then and now - is brought about through the agency of enzyme systems produced by bacteria which have grown or are growing in the curd.
Cheese made from raw milk will always have a subtler and richer flavour at the end of its ripening period as the raw milk bacteria and their enzymes are carried forward into the final making process. Pasteurising the milk can destroy the indigenous bacteria and also the lipolytic enzymes that both contribute to flavour and aroma. However, the pathogenic (or 'illness-causing') bacteria are destroyed by pasteurisation, and where close control of the milk cannot be exercised ultimately by the cheesemaker (as it may arrive in bulk from several farms) pasteurisation is regarded as obligatory for such supplies.
At the time under review, however, farmers had complete control of their own supplies and the cheese was made on the spot. Indeed, raw milk cheese making was the norm on farms almost until the outbreak of World War II. This still applies today to the small number of dedicated 'raw milk' farmhouse cheesemakers in Scotland who operate under an "Agreed Code of Conduct" in the making of cheese from raw milk. However, in 1964-65 a "Code of Practice for Cheesemaking" was introduced and accepted by all the major cheesemaking organisations in the UK under which the milk was and is subjected to heat treatment.
According to Scott (1986) the ripening process could be briefly described as follows:- "Although the breakdown of the main constituents of curd, i.e. protein, fats and sugars, is responsible for the changes in body, flavour and aroma, they are not necessarily degraded step by step. The amount of cross-linking of degraded products and the multiplicity of enzymes in the curd give rise to a multitude of substances which, individually affect the body, flavour and aroma of cheese. However, it is the combinationof these individual flavours and aromas against the background of the intact fats and proteins which constitute those characteristics appreciated by the customer".
Much of the above was affected by the temperature of the cheese store or loft. This helped to account for the variable quality of pre-war cheese on the farm. Faced with stiff competition from Scottish creamery and Colonial cheeses, their numbers declined steadily. The last traditional farmhouse cheesemaker in Galloway was Mr J. B. Finlay of Ross farm, who stopped making cheese in 1974 (see Plate 12).
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Plate 12:
Billy and Nan Carnochan at Ross Farm.
While grading and marketing of cheese today will be dealt with in-depth later, a brief note on how cheese were assessed for quality and marketability follows. Happily, in spite of the massive changes in cheesemaking systems down to the present day, the selection of cheese remains firmly subjective. The skills and long term experience of a cheese buyer remain paramount. In pre-war days this was the function of the cheese 'cadger' who usually a representative of a cheese buying firm or an individual who bought and sold cheese on his own initiative.
How then did the buyer go about it? On entering the cheese loft he would both look and sniff. Look to see if the cheese were sitting upright, not sagging and had a good firm coat with a powdery blue mould surface. The sniff would confirm that delicate aroma that Cheddar/Dunlop would provide, totally absent in today's film wrapped and boxed cheese in a cold store. He would then place his four fingers on the top of the cheese and press firmly with his thumb. A slight spring was sought to confirm good body of the cheese and no excess moisture.
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Plate 4:
Examples of cheese & butter irons.
The tool of his trade would then be brought into action known universally as the 'cheese iron' (Figure 4). These were made either in Kilmarnock or Edinburgh and were supplied in various lengths and diameters to suit the cheese being tested. A Cheshire cheese iron had a larger 'bore' as the curd is more flaky and brittle when tested. The best irons were made from blue polished steel, such as the writer's (4 K/D) made by Hislop in Kilmarnock about 1870. Placing the iron against the cheese the grader would push it firmly in, gauging the resistance of the curd. Straight away he had an indication of the type of cheese to expect, reflecting the state of protein breakdown. He then gave the the iron one or two turns and withdrew gently a plug of cheese which he then examined critically. The sequence of evaluating the cheese by a grader was as follows:-
first he passed the plug under his nose to check for any obvious off-flavours and to assess the degree of maturity from the gas released;
then he would check for visible defects, mottling, dirt contamination, open texture, graininess, bleaching;
the iron would be turned over and the back surface examined; if the cheese had the right moisture level it would have shrouded the blade with a clear film of fat, a dry curd would leave no fat or small particles of rolled curd on the surface; and
the iron would be reversed and the plug slid forward, a piece being then broken off at the end, this would be moulded between thumb and first two fingers which would give a very close indication of the degree of protein breakdown (known as 'body') and at the same time release more aroma (yet another indication of maturity level); assessments could be made if the cheese was pasty, crumbly, solid or friable and he would also look at the 'break' of the plug to check the texture and for any free moisture.
All of this took only a few seconds by which time he had assessed the cheese for acidity and flavour. Occasionally, he would taste it in confirmation. By these means he was able to assess whether the cheese should either be kept for further ripening, whether it was ready for sale or with careful control of subsequent storage temperatures would become superlative in due course. The ability to foretell with accuracy what cheese will be like weeks or months later can only come with experience, was and remains the hallmark of a competent 'cadger', buyer and CSCM Ltd. Graders.
Thermophilic Starter Culture
..
Cheese
cultures are necessary to inoculate the milk with friendly
bacteria.
These bacteria serve two functions. First, they cause the milk
to become more acidic aiding its coagulation. Second, the
bacteria help develop the flavor of the cheese.
.
Cheese cultures
are divided into two basic types mesophilic and thermophilic. These
terms describes at the temperature the culture thrives at. Mesophilic
(from the Greek words meso – meaning intermediate and philic –
which means loving) cultures thrive around room temperatures.
Thermophilic (from the Greek words thermo – meaning heat and philic
– which means loving)cultures require a higher temperature.
Professional quality cultures can be bought from a cheesemaking
supply company. They are usually available in a freeze dried
form. A home-spun method is to use cultured buttermilk as a
mesophilic starter or fresh yogurt as a thermophilic starter.
.
This simplest of cultures can generally be used for all recipes
requiring a thermophilic starter. The taste of the final product will
vary slightly from that of a true cheese culture.
.
Start with 2 cups
of FRESH milk. Heat it to 185 F (85 C) on the range top or in a
microwave. Be careful not heat to high or the cream will
separate.
.
Let the 2 Cups of milk
cool to at least 125 F (52 C) room temp.
.
Add one heaping table
spoon of FRESH yogurt (either homemade or store bought “live and active
culture” type like Dannon plain).
.
Mix the yogurt into the
milk thoroughly with a fork or a whisk.
.
Keep the mixture at 110
F (44 C) for 8-10 hours until a firm yogurt has set. This can be done
by using a double boiler on a low setting or by placing the inoculated
milk into a small CLEAN mason jar placed in a warm water bath.
The bath can be kept warm by placing it on an electric range top at the
lowest possible setting (so that ‘ON’ light is just on). Monitor
the temperature closely the first few times you do this and you will
become a better judge of the temperature settings of your range
top. This way with future cultures you can set the process up and
not worry about it for 8-10 hours.
.
Pour this culture into
a full sized CLEAN ice cube tray and put into your FREEZER. As with all
steps of cheesemaking, cleanliness is next to godliness.
.
Once frozen, remove the
cubes and put into a CLEAN sealed container or plastic freezer
bags. It is a good idea to label the container to distinguish it
from your mesophilic culture.
.
The resulting ice cubes
are each 1 oz of thermophilic starter.
.
Add
these cubes (thawed) to your recipes as required. The cubes will keep
for about one month.
.
To make more starter simply thaw one cube and use it as the fresh
yogurt used in step 3.
Mesophilic Starter Culture
...
Cheese
cultures are necessary to inoculate the milk with friendly
bacteria.
These bacteria serve two functions. First, they cause the milk
to become more acidic aiding its coagulation. Second, the
bacteria help develop the flavor of the cheese.
.
Cheese cultures are divided into two
basic types mesophilic and thermophilic. These terms describes at the
temperature the culture thrives at. Mesophilic (from the Greek words
meso - meaning intermediate and philic - which means loving) cultures
thrive around room temperatures. Thermophilic (from the Greek
words thermo - meaning heat and philic - which means loving)cultures
require a higher temperature. Professional quality cultures can be
bought from a cheesemaking supply company. They are usually
available in a freeze dried form. A home-spun method is to use
cultured buttermilk as a mesophilic starter or fresh yogurt as a
thermophilic starter.
.
This simplest of cultures can generally be used for all recipes
requiring a Mesophilic Starter. The taste of the final product will
vary slightly from that of a true cheese culture.
.
Start with 2 cups of
FRESH store bought Cultured Buttermilk.
.
Let the 2 Cups of
buttermilk reach room temp. (70 F/ 21 C).
.
Then allow the
buttermilk to ripen for about 6-8 hrs. (Store bought buttermilk does
not have a high enough concentration of bacteria to serve as a starter
culture without ripening.)
.
The resulting
buttermilk will be much thicker and sour then what you started
with. It should have the consistency of fresh yogurt, if it
doesn't let it sit a few more hours.
.
Pour this culture into
a full sized CLEAN ice cube tray and put into your FREEZER. As with all
steps of cheesemaking, cleanliness is next to godliness.
.
Once frozen, remove the
cubes and put into a CLEAN sealed container or plastic freezer
bags. It is a good idea to label the container to distinguish it
from your thermophilic culture.
.
The resulting ice cubes
are each 1 oz of mesophilic starter.
.
Add
these cubes (thawed) to your recipes as required. The cubes will keep
for about one month.
.
To make more starter simply thaw one cube and add into 2 cups of fresh
milk. Mix thoroughly with a fork or a whisk. Allow the
milk/culture to stand at room temperature (70 F/ 21 C) for 16-24 hours
or until the consistency of fresh yogurt. Then follow from step 5
Why does cheesemaking predominate in the south and west of Scotland?
Who was Barbara Gilmour and what was her true role in developing the Dunlop Cheese ?
How did cheesemaking develop in the south and west of Scotland ?
How important were the 'cadgers' and what is their role today ?
What is the Bowing System and what effect did it have on Scottish Cheesemaking ?
How did English and American Cheddar cheese affect cheesemaking in Scotland ?
Why did farmers co-operatives emerge in Scotland in the late 19th century ?
To the 'incomer', Scotland's fame often rests on its mountainous scenery, fine seaboards, a reputation for beef and sheep rearing together with fishing, the latter sadly depleted in these days of fishing quotas. In particular, at carefully selected sites throughout the Highlands and Western Isles traditional skills and the continuing search for perfection inherent in the Scottish psyche have together created a delectable range of spirituous liquors, providing both a useful source of income to the Exchequer and a continuing delight to the discerning, in short 'uisge a bheatha' the 'water of life', or, in common parlance, whisky. Winters are generally not cold having regard to the latitude because of the presence of the Gulf Stream which warms the western and northern shores. Without its beneficial effect the 'early tatties' of Ayrshire or indeed Inverewe Gardens might never have been established. As a nation, agricultural resources are relatively small, less than 20% of the land is cropland and more than half is classified as rough grazing.
Conditions that are considered as best suited for dairy farming include :-
a mild wet climate to provide plenty of grass over an extended grazing season;
a tradition for the selection and breeding of high milk-yielding cows;
the need to work a seven day routine be it on the farm or in the creamery and having a social structure that accepts this, and
access to nearby markets for the prime product (raw milk) and the facility to dispose of any surplus production as cheese and butter, the traditional products of 'last resort' .
As a result, the conditions best suited for dairying are in the south and west of Scotland, the counties of Ayrshire, Argyllshire, Wigtownshire and the Stewartry (Kircudbrightshire). Through unique circumstances cheese is also made in the Orkney Islands and this has established an excellent reputation in recent years. In the days when sheep rearing was on a much larger scale than now, sheep's milk cheesemaking was common. Today, this is largely restricted to specialist cheesemakers in the south of Scotland.
For many people Barbara Gilmour is without doubt the doyenne of Scottish Dunlop. The traditional and widely accepted view of how Dunlop cheese began arises mainly from a report by Rev. Brisbane (1793) who indicated:-
"That the art of making sweet milk cheese as it is called was first introduced into this parish by one Barbara Gilmour whose grandson is still living and is proprietor of the same farm. Having gone to Ireland to avoid the hardships which people were then exposed to on account of religion, she is said to have brought it with her when she returned about the time of the revolution".
From this statement has spread the comfortable story that Dunlop cheese arose directly from her efforts and its association with Irish cheesemaking methods. It was further endorsed by Col. Fullarton in 1842 who commended the product, and noted that the cheese as being equal in quality to any cheese from Cheshire, Gloucestershire or Wiltshire. However, a fascinating side to this story has emerged in the account reported by Fulton (1861) in which he wrote as follows:-
"Barbara Gilmour - It was at this time believed that sound cheese could not be made from new or full milk, and her success being attributed to supernatural agency, she narrowly escaped the penalty awarded for witchcraft at the cross of Irvine, as a reward for her innovation. Records are extant in the town of Irvine. It appears that the manufacture of Dunlop cheese was long confined to the locality of its birth; for it was not adopted in the other districts of that county until the lapse of more than a hundred years, and then only by farmers who had settled there from the neighbourhood of Dunlop. At the end of the last and the beginning of the present century, however, it was generally adopted in the south and west of Scotland, where it has for many years been extensively manufactured".
Some years earlier, Mr W. Aiton a farmer from Strathaven, and a reputable author on the agricultural scene in Ayrshire, had his doubts. He pointed out that Cunningham already had an excellent reputation for both butter and cheese long before the appearance of Barbara Gilmour, and that practical cheesemakers were already well aware of the value of leaving all or some cream in the milk for cheesemaking to improve its quality. His own view was that Dunlop cheese had been so-called from a trader who lived in the parish of Dunlop and had carried to Glasgow much of the cheese from that and neighbouring parishes (McQueen, 1961). Much later, Bayne (1936) in his reputable book on the history of the parish noted:-
"the Rev. Brisbane admitted to the Rev. Dickie that he hazarded the theory of Irish origin in his Old Statistical Account (OSA). In any case wherever Barbara Gilmour learned the art of cheesemaking it is she who introduced it to Dunlop. Her stone press is still preserved in the Hill Farm" (see also Dickie, 1845).
(137K)
Plate 7:
Eighteenth century stone press (1760) still in situ
within The Hill Farm, Dunlop.
Certainly, a stone press remains at The Hill Farm to this day incised with the date 1760 (Plate 7) but Barbara Gilmour in fact died earlier. A tombstone to this effect can be seen still in the Dunlop kirk yard, lying against the southern face of the church tower. The inscription is dated 1732 and reads:-
"This is the burial place of John Dunlop of Overhill and Barbara Gilmour his spouse (sic) and their children. Barbara Gilmour was the originator of that brand of cheese known all over the world as Dunlop Cheese".
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Plate 5:
The Hill Farm, Dunlop in 1995.
Painstaking research by the current tenant of The Hill Farm (Photo 5), where Barbara Gilmour lived and died, has established the links between certain inscribed lintel stones in various locations on the property. Documentary evidence from a variety of sources confirm that the families who occupied the property included Mr J. Dunlop and his wife Barbara and this appears to be confirmed by an inscribed lintel stone date 1692 still in place in the oldest part of the house (Photo 6).
A stone, which might be the remains of a primitive cheese press, lies in an enclosure to the south of The Hill Farm but has no identifying marks. A further point of interest is the line of the original main road from Irvine to Glasgow which passed her doorway at The Hill Farm. OSA records for Kilwinning show that there was in fact a regular cheese trade between Ireland and Scotland at the time, and she would have been well aware of such trade.
What remains beyond doubt, is the pioneering work of Barbara Gilmour did by developing the making of sweet cream cheese, later called Dunlop. Assuming her return after the Revolution of 1688, she married Mr J. Dunlop of The Hill Farm at Dunlop. Something of an evangelist in the matter of making sweet milk (unskimmed milk) cheese, she must have been a forthright and energetic character who travelled widely to teach the making of Dunlop cheese, and so developed a nation-wide demand. This demand stimulated merchants to visit Cunningham, buy Dunlop cheese and sell it throughout the central lowlands of Scotland. Her system for making Dunlop was widely copied and extended rapidly to many all parts of Scotland by the end of the 18th century, even where traditionally sheep's milk cheese had been made.
Of much interest to the historian are the two Statistical Accounts for Scotland. The first or Old Statistical Account (OSA) was published in 1793 and is a record of parish activities throughout Scotland as noted down by the local man of learning (the minister). A second or New Statistical Account (NSA) was published around 1840. Both provided invaluable details of the changes that were taking place in Scotland, not least in Agriculture, and within a defined period. Cunningham throughout the 18th century steadily developed in importance for cheesemaking and this has been well recorded in the OSA.
McQueen (1961) singled out the importance of dairying in each of the parishes in south west Scotland, and (Figure 3.1) shows the situation with the publication of the OSA.
Figure
3.1: Dairying Counties in Northern Ayrshire at the time of the Old
Statistical Account.
Note: Concentration of dairy farming in
Cunningham with only a little in the Solway counties. After McQueen
(1961).
The concentration of dairying in north Ayrshire at that time is clearly seen with relatively little dairying in the Solway counties, apart from limited areas in the Nith and Dee river valleys.
During the closing years of the late 18th and start of the 19th century the Solway Counties of Scotland began to move towards dairy farming particularly in Galloway. In the fifty years from 1690 to 1740, Galloway was the most depressed area in Scotland. This was the direct result of the religious troubles known throughout the south west of Scotland as 'the killing times', which, it is said, had forced Barbara Gilmour to flee to Ireland. In 1780, farms formerly let at £280 per annum were being given away free to their tenants provided they paid the public burdens on them.
In 1697, Defoe (1989) wrote:-
"The people of Galloway do not starve; though they do not build ships, trade abroad, yet they have other business, that is to say, they are mere cultivators of the earth, and in particular, breeders of cattle, such as sheep, the number of which I may say is infinite, that is to say innumerable; and black cattle, of which they send to England, if fame lies not, 50 to 60,000 every year, the very toll of which before the Union, was a little estate to some gentlemen upon the borders; and in particular the Earl of Carlisle had a very good income by it".
In 1700s, Robertson (1985) reported:-
"The state of agriculture in Galloway showed hardly any improvement throughout the middle-ages, except on the monastery farms. The peasants lived under the same miserable conditions of servitude as they had done for several hundred years. Methods of farming and implements were still primitive, and the winter feeding of stock was still the problem it had always been. The land remained undrained and unfenced and crops of oats and barley were poor. Except in a few isolated cases in which the abbeys granted longer leases to a few priviledged farmers, the peasants tenure was on a year to year basis and consequently no one made any effort to improve the land".
With the development of the Industrial Revolution in the North of England, there was a growing demand for Galloway beef. Purchased on the hoof, slaughtered and laid down as salted beef, such store cattle provided a useful addition to the table throughout the winter months in an era before refrigeration. Change was, however, on its way. By the middle of the 18th century, local breeders began to cross their cows with a breed from Cumbria and the famous Belted Galloway was developed to achieve recognition at national level.
The 'improvement' period of agriculture found its way to Galloway when William Craik of Arbigland (1703-1798) introduced many new English methods of husbandry (enclosures, liming the land, crop rotation, effective grassland management, the lighter iron plough). In short, setting an environment that was to suit dairy farming in a region with an exceptionally mild climate, largely free of frost, and in chosen areas particularly good grazing. His methods were quickly taken up by farmers, particularly in the Rhinns and Machars of Wigtownshire, and the coastal areas of Kircudbrightshire. By following a similar approach the Earl of Stair near Stranraer was able to upgrade some farms to secure a letting which, formerly at £7.2s 6d, would secure a rental of £195.
Land resources are finite, none more so than in Cunningham where the establishment of larger farms had reduced the opportunities for keen young farmers to set up in business for themselves. Increasingly, they looked south to the Solway counties and liked what they saw. The relative isolation of Galloway from the rest of Scotland had meant farms could often be obtained at low rents. The climate was mild, agricultural improvements were approaching completion and good grazing was available. They could bring with them cheesemaking skills acquired to perfection at home, and dairy cattle giving much greater milk yields than the local breeds. A steady flow of young Ayrshire farmers began, and within some fifty years would change farming in Galloway to a pattern that remains to this day.
By the middle of the 19th century, dairy farming was well placed in Galloway and this is shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure
3.2: Dairying Counties at the time of the New Statistical
Account.
Note: The spread of dairying into Galloway in just 40
years.
After McQueen (1961).
McQueen (1961) described early cheesemaking in Galloway as:-
"By 1850 the dairy system, based almost universally on the Dunlop cheese, had spread from its original home in Cunningham throughout the whole of the Ayrshire Plain and had made substantial inroads into Wigtownshire (especially the Rhinns), the better parts of the Stewartry and into parts of Dumfriesshire, mainly Upper Nithsdale which is in direct contact with Ayrshire and was nearest to the centres of demand. The lower parts of Dumfriesshire were late in adopting the system on any scale mainly because physical conditions, both of soil and climate, allowed a relatively prosperous mixed economy. In addition, before the advent of rail transport Dumfriesshire was peculiarly remote from the main centres of demand. The county was never well endowed with facilities for sea transport as, for example, was Wigtownshire where sea transport of cheese, both to the Clyde and to Liverpool, unquestionably played an important part in the early development of dairying".
The first dairy farm in Wigtownshire was established at Fineview in the parish of Kirkcolm by an Ayrshire farmer, Mr J. Ralston. He was soon followed by a number of farmers who could pay the relatively high rents which arable land could command at that time, partly as a result of the Crimean War. Another well-known farmer, Mr J. McMaster of Culhorn in Stranraer, wrote in the journal of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society in the 1860s that the 'cadgers' of Ayr and Lanarkshire had a "significant horror" of Galloway Dunlop. Robertson (1985) pointed out the following:-
"About 1830 the conservative beef-raising farmers of Galloway were shocked to observe the ever-increasing numbers of Ayrshire cattle appearing on some of the farms in the province, and they viewed this sordid 'commercialisation' of agriculture with the utmost distaste. One Wigtownshire writer in 1838, declared angrily that farmers believe that the very sight of Ayrshire cows in the neighbourhood corrupts the native breed and that these new-fangled dairy cattle would assuredly contaminate the Galloway breed and perhaps displace it altogether. The main talking point in farming circles at the time was undoubtedly beef or milk and a Stewartry observer probably summed up the whole controversy more shrewdly when he wrote in 1841. The dispute is settled in this way: while those who can afford to indulge in luxuries retain the Galloway; while those to whom quantity is an object of importance - as the keepers of dairies - adopt the Ayrshire breed of cows. The rapidly increasing population everywhere had created a rising demand for milk, butter and cheese, and Galloway's naturally heavy crops of grass made dairying a profitable business".
The ascendancy of the Ayrshire breed into the Solway counties was noted by Menteath (1842) of Closeburn, near Dumfries:
"It may be added that the opinion is becoming more and more general, that the Ayrshire breed of cows is superior to any other on our Island, qua the pastures, the byres, and the milk-house. In size and weight, they suit the grass enclosures of Dumfriesshire well. They are easily fed, and in the proportion to bulk, give more milk than any other. Already, as milkers, they have supplanted, to a great extent, all the other kinds in the country from which they take their name, and are creeping fast over Dumfriesshire and Galloway. Galloways, as beefers, are excellent stock, but we have known many instances in which Ayrshires of the same age and size attained, to a nearness, kindred weights. Two year olds of this breed will give the same price as Galloways of the same age. In a late rural ride through a portion of sweet Nithsdale, we observed some fine specimens at Brownhill, the property of Mr J. Sloan, the new tenant of the farm, and hostelry so intimately associated with the name of Burns and the scene of some of his merriest convivialities. They seemed splendid animals of large size, handsomely formed with milk vessels fully developed, placed in the true position - of all points as regards the teeming treasures of the milking pail".
It has been claimed that the Ayrshire cow was first bred at one of the home farms of Mr J. Dunlop, Titwood, about 1793 when the Kilmarnock Club for Ayrshire Cattle was formed. This farmer was recognised as one of the most notable of the early breeders in the region. The first Ayrshires were bred by crossing the local type of Highland cow which came from Carrick and an unknown imported Dutch bull. This breed had the names Dunlop cow, afterwards the Cunningham cow and later Ayrshire cow.
Robert Burns also played his part in the introduction of the Ayrshire to Galloway. Writing in 1788 to Mrs J. Dunlop of Dunlop he expressed gratitude on receiving as a present from her husband "the finest quey in Ayrshire".
Mr Aiton asserted that for many years past the breed had been introduced into every county in Scotland, and into many of these in England (McQueen, 1961). However, the peripatetic Mr W. Cobbett on a visit to Scotland in 1832 went so far as to purchase an Ayrshire bull and ten cows for his farm near London where he felt "they will be worth a Kentish or a Sussex farmers' going fifty miles to see".
The 19th century was a period of much breeding and selection by farmers leading to the development of the characteristic elongated udder in Ayrshire cows which distinguishes it from other breeds. It was, however, often considered useful as a dual purpose animal when its propensities as an excellent forager and high milk yielder became apparent. Thus, it was often crossed with other breeds such as the Galloway which eased its introduction into the Solway counties and with it cheesemaking on a large scale for the first time.
By the early 1800s, the dairy industry in north Ayrshire had become highly organised and profitable. Farmers recognised the basic tenets of cleanliness and domestic hygiene, and took steps to ensure these were improved and maintained. Another factor was the growth of commercialism in the 19th century. Inevitably, as farms grew larger, a pre-occupation with cheesemaking dominated the farmer's activities. There was, thus, room for the growth of a middleman or 'cadger' as they were called in Scotland. The English equivalent was known as a 'factor'. They toured farms and bought cheese by direct negotiation. Often they supplied advice and help; where cheese of indifferent quality had been produced, they could place these at minimum loss to the farmer while maintaining the classic precept of "buy cheap and sell dear". A glance at a map will show how Stewarton and Dunlop were well placed on the main routes to the Clyde Valley and Edinburgh, and business developed rapidly. By 1837, there were in fact some fourteen 'cadgers' in Dunlop parish who made a useful living from cheese sales.
It was not until the advent of the Bowing system in Galloway that major improvements were made in the quality of cheese. Two contributors tell us something about this system from the point of view of a former Bower's family, and from a farm owner where this system was used for 120 years in Kirkcudbrightshire.
First, George Nichol takes up the story :-
"This was a system used on farms in Scotland whereby a dairy man would, instead of being paid a weekly wage, contract with a farmer to milk cows etc. on a rented or lease basis. This contract would consist of the farmer supplying cows, buildings and utensils, some feeding stuff. In return he would get his cows milked, cleaned, fed, premises cleaned and where cheesemaking this was also carried out. Basically, the farmer and dairy man would agree a certain gallonage per cow, same for a heifer, any milk the animal produced over and above the agreed gallonage was the dairy man's. The contract normally commenced on the 28th November for one year. These dairymen were known as Bowers (pronounced as 'Booers') and if they were good at their job it generally led to them becoming farmers in their own right. There was great rivalry among dairymen to get these jobs knowing full well to what it might lead".
The system well suited keen young immigrant farmers from Ayrshire looking for a start in farming life and, eventually, a place of their own. An older form of payment had been derived from tithes paid to the Church in the 17th century. In this case the rent was paid in cheese and when such a payment became a regular feature the term 'kain' came into being. The dairyman, who paid his rent in this fashion, came to be known as a 'kainer'. In Argyllshire, Dunbartonshire and Galloway the quantity of cheese paid was typically 60 cwt. Bowing gave Galloway farmers with little knowledge of the new-fangled dairying system a chance to gain knowledge and secure a good return on their investment in equipment. Generally, it was exercised in the large farms with more than 30 cows. Milking machines had still to be invented and a dairymaid could normally attend to about ten cows. Its extension in Ayrshire, however, was more limited. The farms were smaller, hand milking and cheesemaking could be handled easily by the family unit.
Second, Mr C.H. Campbell of Castle Douglas, noted that the first Bower agreement of its kind was used at Slagnaw farm in 1854. Appendix I outlines in considerable detail just what the Bowing agreement entailed, and this well repays reading as an indication of the range and scope of such an arrangement. It should be read in conjunction with George Nichol's account of cheesemaking on the farm where the overall requirements of the owner are seen to dovetail neatly into the day to day working in the cheese room.
Bowing remained a feature in the south west until the early 20th century. The gradual decline of farmhouse cheesemaking, and the establishment of the Milk Boards in the early thirties, brought about its final eclipse.
In the opinion of many in the dairy trade, including the writer, Mr J. Harding was the true founder of Cheddar cheesemaking in Britain. He was the first practical cheesemaker to set out clearly and logically how cheese can be made. He cut through the 'mystique' of cheesemaking, stressing the need for meticulous hygiene and accurate record keeping of the process at all stages from raw milk to the finished product in store. By rolling up his sleeves, he demonstrated on site that the Cheddar making technique could overcome any alleged difficulties of pasture, location, cattle, and weather. His system was enthusiastically received, indeed keen makers such as Mrs R. McAdam of Baldoon in the Wigtownshire Machars went to Somerset to see for herself and returned with enthusiasm to encourage other local makers.
In 1860s, Mr J. McMaster of Culhorn in Stranraer sets out in some detail the situation around that period in Galloway; commenting on the introduction of new cheese presses, and jacketed vats heated by steam or hot water (Robertson, 1985). His comparison of Cheddar and Dunlop cheesemaking methods as seen at the time is interesting:-
"Dunlop characteristics: The aim of the Dunlop makers was to avoid acidity, consequently the evening's milk was thinly distributed on the vessels, and the temperature kept low. In the process much rennet and high temperature were used, and hot, not sour, whey occasionally added. The curd was first cut into large pieces about 4 inches square, then several times, until one inch square was reached. The remainder of the process is similar to Cheddar, which will be detailed at full length. It is, however, to be noticed that the Dunlop maker aims at what Dr. Volecker considers to be the best practice in regard to acidity, viz. taking off the whey when it is not noticeable to the ordinary observer; and what he erroneously sets down as absolutely neutral".
From about 1860 onwards, there was an increasing polarisation of cheesemaking in Scotland. The coming of the railways, the establishment of the Cheddar production, the larger farms and more progressive outlook of makers in the Solway counties, all combined to ensure the area would ultimately predominate in cheesemaking. There was a readiness with new capital and equipment to extend Cheddar production at the expense of Dunlop manufacture.
However, the introduction of creamery manufacture was on the horizon, and the `high water mark' for farmhouse and croft cheesemaking was being approached. From 1842 onwards, American and English cheese began to compete seriously with Scottish Cheddar and Dunlop. Cheesemaking on the farm became progressively less profitable because the market for liquid milk in the Glasgow area increased steadily, offering a more profitable option. It became clear that small farmhouse cheesemakers would have to work collectively together if they were to compete effectively with creamery - made cheese, both home produced and Colonial. These changes, together with the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 would trigger the start of farmers' co-operatives some thirty years later as a means of replacing old equipment and finding new markets.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, Scottish farmhouse cheese-makers had some hard decisions to take. While the depression years of the thirties had still to come, it was evident that a new approach to the making and marketing of farmhouse cheese would be needed. Increasing amounts of good quality Cheddar were already being landed at Scottish ports where Canadian Cheddar representing at that time around 70% of all imports into Scotland (Table 4.3).
TABLE 4.3: Annual Average of Imports of Cheese into Scottish Ports (x,000 tons)
Port 1909-13 1932-36 1955-58
Aberdeen 0.1 0.4 -
Glasgow 3.2 5.9 7.3
Grangemouth 0.2 - -
Leith 3.3 1.7 0.8
Scotland 6.8 8.0 8.1
(After Houston (1961).)
By the turn of the century, Scotland's industrial base in the Clyde Valley, Lanarkshire and north Ayrshire had become firmly established. The demand for liquid milk was steadily increasing, at a price more favourable than that of making cheese. Many of the smaller Cunningham and north Ayrshire farms found themselves with outdated cheesemaking equipment and could not consider reinvestment, particularly in the larger rectangular cheese vats that were now becoming essential. They took stock and decided that the formation of Farmers Co-operative Associations linked to the establishment of small creameries at key points near water and a railway would permit them ease of access to the liquid market in winter and allow joint investment in cheesemaking equipment to handle the summer flush of milk. Locations such as Stewarton, Dunlop, Kilmaurs, Lesmahagow, Rowallan, Galston, Pinwherry and Craigie saw the establishment of such localised creameries which survived, often under-capitalised, with great difficulty in the late twenties and early thirties - until the advent of the Scottish Milk Marketing Board in 1933. Further south, Lockerbie, Sanquhar, Holywood and Kirkcudbright Farmers Co-operative Associations come into being, occasionally as the result of private enterprise and principally to manufacture local surpluses of milk into cheese or butter. For many years the Kilmarnock Dairy Show was the focal point for cheesemakers throughout the west of Scotland.
The situation, however, in Galloway was somewhat different. Small companies had been established in the Nith Valley to service the liquid market in Edinburgh and Glasgow initially by road but later by rail. Cheese was only made in the flush summer months. The relative isolation of central Scotland from the Solway Counties would hamper any large scale development of liquid milk despatches into Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ayrshire farms would always stand in the way of such development, being closer to the market and providing greater flexibility through their smaller Farmers Co-operative Associations creameries. In Galloway, the lead was given by Mr T. Clement (later Sir Thomas Clement) the largest buyer of cheese at the time in Scotland. He came down to Wigtownshire and after discussion with local farmers set up at Dunragit in 1882 the first Farmers Co-operative Creamery Association in Scotland. This was to handle any surplus milk from the cheesemaking farms and to provide a continuing base for making butter, cream, milk powder and margarine. The site was well chosen, facing south in the centre of a rich dairying area, good access to water, immediately beside a rail junction to either Glasgow or England, and with the sea close by for easy disposal of factory sewage. Milk was received in a variety of containers some having a capacity of 20 or 45 gal for which a crane was specially provided to hoist them to the receiving platform. By 1890, it was a major employer in the district with some 300 employees who travelled daily to work by special train from Stranraer a few miles away. Sir Thomas was a man of energy and vision who formed in 1891 the first private dairy manufacturing company in Scotland, United Creameries Ltd.
The high water mark for farmhouse cheesemaking was probably around the early part of the 20th century. While we have seen the disappearance of smaller makers into the co-operatives, there remained a number of makers who were dedicated to cheesemaking even after the arrival of the Milk Boards in 1933/34. However, the writing was already on the wall for them due to a number of reasons, some outwith their control.
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Plates 10 and 11:
John McCarlie, cheesemaker at Rainton Farm,
Gatehouse-of-Fleet.
Probably the most obvious was the sheer hard work involved in cheesemaking on a small scale, and the lack of men and women prepared to devote the long hours, seven day a week requirement that cheesemaking entailed on farmhouse or creamery (Plates 10, 11 and 12).
(211K)
Plate 12:
Billy and Nan Carnochan at Ross Farm, Kirkcudbright.
Here George Nichol reminds us from his own experience at his father's farm just what was involved on a typical farmhouse cheesemakers day in 1920/30:-
4.10 am Out of bed, have a cup of tea and scone.
4.30 Start machine milking where it would usually take 1.25 hours to milk 60 cows with 6 units. As milking progressed, milk was carried to the dairy to be added to the previous evenings milk in the cheese vat. After milking, cows returned to pasture.
6.00 Before going for breakfast, the starter was added to the milk which ripened during breakfast. Ripening time was approximately 1 hour.
7.00 Rennet was added, stirred into the milk and left to set. During this time various other tasks were carried out in the dairy such as scalding the previous days cheese, washing cheese cloths, and boiling and cooling milk for starter propagation.
7.50 Coagulum was cut by hand-knives to size required suitable for making Cheddar, sometimes Cheshire.
8.00 Commence stirring by hand with wooden rake, and a slow and gradual application of steam to the water in the jacket of the vat.
9.00 By this time maximum scald had been reached and stirring continued for another hour.
10.00 If acidity was proceeding normally, the curd was then pitched and the whey run underground through a separate drain to a whey tank at the pig houses for feeding to the pigs at various times throughout the day.
10.15 Vat was emptied of whey and curd was removed by a scoop into a curd table fitted with wooden racks and covered with 'scrim' cloths which were used to cover the curd and keep it warm.
10.35 Curd was left for 20 minutes to matt together then cut into blocks about 18 inches long and 10 inches wide.
12.00 During Cheddaring that normally took 2-21/2 hours, the curd was turned, piled and covered with the cloths after each turn. Lunch also taken.
1.00 pm If acidity was right, curd was milled by hand using a peg mill into a large metal box which sat underneath the mill.
1.20 When milling was finished, the box was lifted and emptied into the curd cooler. Here the salt was added a little at a time. As each addition of salt was applied the curd was stirred by hand. After all the salt was applied the curd was stirred for about 15 minutes, then left for another 10 minutes before starting to pack into 80 lb 'chissets'.
2.00 'Chissets' were filled having been 'punched' by hand during this operation and always finished with a raised heap in the middle. The reason for this being the curd when pressed spread more evenly across the 'chisset'.
3.00 Afternoon break plus various other chores such as cleaning up in the dairy, washing the utensils etc.
4.00 Afternoon milking time again.
6.00 Finish milking and after checking all was well, inoculate the sterile milk with some culture that he had retained from that day's culture that had been used to make cheese.
After breakfast time in the morning, the hired help would go out and muck out the cowsheds and wash them. They would then muck out the pigsties and feed the pigs. After lunch they would go into the dairy to help the cheesemaker to finish the cheesemaking. However, the cheesemaker's wife would assist in the dairy washing milking units etc, and go into the house about 11 am to prepare lunch and clean the house".
In his personal reminiscences, the late Mr J. (Jimmy) Crawley (unpublished) recalls similar patterns of working at the farm in Wigtownshire where he also made cheese. His duties included cow and pig management in addition to learning how to make cheese. The working terms were on the basis of a wage of £12 for six months plus board and lodging. During the harvest he was expected to assist in the fields for which an extra £2 was given.
The arrival of the SMMB in 1933 had its primary aim to secure the maximum return to the farmers for milk purchased and sold on their behalf. Significantly, the Board had taken over some 19 small working creameries and after a pragmatic and totally commercial appraisal of each one, selected creameries were retained and built up for cheese manufacture by the Board. Furthermore, they embarked on a programme of selecting and training key employees for subsequent management posts, a number of whom made a positive contribution to the changes in the Scottish dairy industry that were to take place later.
It should be remembered that in addition to securing a statutory monopoly of milk supplies in their area, the Board, by purchase of the Farmers Co-operatives, had also secured the right to 50% of manufacturing milk gallonage in their area. The emphasis was securing the best possible return on the investments made. The strategy adopted was to capitalise on their own creamery throughput and provide marginal support for the farmhouse cheesemakers in the way of a manufacturing allowance per gallon for cheese made. In the 1960s, this amounted to around 7.5d per gallon with which efficient makers were able to carry on. The margins were slim and they faced competition both from Board creameries in their locality and from the private creameries in the south west. Grocers' vans, which pre-war toured the country districts, could offer cheap acceptable 'Colonial' cheese from Canada and New Zealand at highly competitive prices. The cold statistics speak for themselves (see Table 4.4).
TABLE 4.4: Farm Cheese Production in Scotland: 1907-70
Year Tons
1908* 5700
1925* 7300
1931* 7100
1935 3800
1939 2000
1945 800
1950 600
1960 400
1970 73
* = to year ending March.
After McAlpine (1981).
Many efforts were made to encourage farmhouse cheesemakers to keep abreast of developments in cheesemaking. Pre-war College County Advisers were available to tour regularly round farms, offer advice and help. The Auchincruive Agricultural College was available to offer sound assistance, and farmers were encouraged to keep abreast of the latest developments, particularly in starter propagation and control. Had farmers concentrated on Dunlop manufacture as an added value product they may well have succeeded instead of competing with factory-made Cheddar stored under optimum cool air conditions.
(198K)
Plate 13:
James and Helen McHarg.
While there is little doubt that in the mid 1930s the quality of some farmhouse cheese could vary from excellent to indifferent, those who stayed through to the end had ensured for themselves and Scotland a deserved reputation for excellence. Names such as Houston, Niven, Dunlop, McColm, Whyte, Leiper, McTaggart, Hughes, Finlay, Ramsay and McHarg (Plate 13) are remembered to this day for the excellent cheese they made.
Stirred-Curd
Cheddar Cheese
from
Arielle's
Recipe Archive
I
N G R E D I E N T S & I N S T R U C T I O N S
Heat milk
to 90 degrees, add culture (1/2c buttermilk per 2 gals milk) Cover
and hold at 90 degrees for 45 minutes.
Add rennet, hold at 90
degrees for 45 minutes.
C
