Thursday 13 August 2015

From MIlk to Cheese

We have been studying the process of how milk becomes cheese. We collaborated on a SOLO sequence map and then each wrote our own summaries. Welcome to the fascinating world of cheese making!

From Milk to Cheese by Sherlyn

Cheese is a tasty dairy product made from milk and is eaten the world over. Dairy products are New Zealand's biggest export earner (NZ $12.1 billion in 2011) with cheese making up 12% of all dairy exports. Cheese has to be made before people can eat it. Making cheese takes many steps.

From Cows to Factory

Firstly the milk is collected. The herd of cows are led into the milking room where they get milked. In the olden days cows were milked by hand where as now cows get milked by machines. I think milking cows with machines is better than milking cows by hand because it is quicker, you don’t need more employees and your hands won’t hurt from milking lots of cows. The milk comes from the cows udders. Milk for making cheese is not just from cows goats, camels and reindeer can also be milked. The milk is transported through tubes where it is kept cold. The milk needs to be cold otherwise it will turn sour. The milk is then stored in tanks before being picked up by trucks and taken to the cheese factory.

Making Curds

When the milk reaches the cheese factory it gets heated to kill the germs. Bacteria and enzymes are then added to the milk which forms lumps called curds (curds are the solid part of sour milk). After that the curds are put into moulds.

Pressing

Weights are then pressed down on the moulds. The curds then turn into blocks or wheels of cheese.

Ripening

When the cheese has been formed it is taken to the storage room to ripen. Ripening gives the cheese its taste, smell and feel. Did you know that one of the smelliest cheeses in the world is Epoisses? Which is from France. Epoisses is so smelly that it is illegal to take it on public transport! Stinking Bishop is Britain’s famous smelly cheese. You are allowed to take it on public transport but it came number eight in the top ten of the world’s smelliest cheeses.

To the Store

Finally when the cheese has finished ripening it is sold. The factory sells lots of different types of cheese like swiss, cottage cheese (curds and whey), cheddar, blue and mozzarella. The cheese is transported by trucks, aeroplanes or trains to shops and stores.

I believe that if New Zealand didn’t produce milk and cheese we would be a totally different country. Milk and cheese is very important to New Zealand because we earn a lot of money from selling dairy products and we are famous for it. If New Zealand stopped making dairy products lots of people would lose their jobs.

2 comments:

  1. Fantastic detailed summary Sherlyn. I was impressed with how you recognised the importance of dairy production to the economy of New Zealand. You may have also liked to include a small part about what happens to the whey when the cheese is separated. I enjoyed reading about the stinky cheese. I wonder if you can get Epoisses in New Zealand?

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  2. Great job Sheryln I liked how you sequenced how milk turns into cheese, because now I know what the processes is.

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