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 Milk Types: Buffalo  | Cow [Vache]  | Goat [Chevre]  |  Mixed Milk  | Sheep [Ewe]

               Pasteurized and Raw Milk Cheese Information

Pasteurized Milk:
Milk that is heated to 145 degrees F for a period of 30 minutes, or to 161 degrees F for 15 seconds, and is then rapidly cooled, is referred to as Pasteurized milk and is considered to be free of pathogens [US Code of Federal Regulations].

Current US law requires that all domestic or imported cheeses must either be made from pasteurized milk or be held at 35 degrees F for a minimum of 60 days before it can be sold.

Making cheese from the milk of just one species of animal, even when all the animals are fed the same, can result in variations in quality; especially when raw milk is used.  And, making cheese from just one species, where some of the animals have been nourished on one type of feed and others have been fed another variety, can introduce still more variables into the cheese equation.  These desirable variables are virtually eliminated when the cheese maker uses pasteurized milk.

Why Make Cheese with Raw Milk?
For thousands of years, cheese has been made from raw milk.  It was only in the mid 1800s that the French scientist, Louis Pasteur, discovered how to preserve beer and wine through a heating process.  In 1907, the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, associated with the University of Wisconsin, and in collaboration with the USDA, began research on using pasteurization in cheese making.

Raw Milk:
This is the milk collected directly from the animal and which contains natural floras that are both useful and harmful to man.  Some of the harmful pathogens, in non-pasteurized milk, can cause diseases such as brucellosis, tuberculosis and undulant fever.  Often, cheeses made from raw milk are aged in excess of 60 days to avoid the transfer of such pathogens to man.  Such aged cheeses are considered to be free of pathogens [US Code of Federal Regulations]. These cheeses have much more flavor than those made with pasteurized milk.

The USDA:
The United States FDA restricts the importation, into the U.S., of all cheese that is made from raw milk and has not been aged, at a temperature of 35 degrees F for a minimum of 60 days.  It also forbids the sale of any raw milk cheese that has not been properly matured for the prerequisite 60 days. 

The FDA recognizes, based upon extensive experience and testing that, when cheese is correctly matured over a period of 60 days, the micro flora that are a natural constituent of raw milk, eradicate all the pathogens in the cheese; consequently, cheese made from raw milk that has been properly aged, may be safely sold in the United States. 

There is also universal recognition that cheese made from raw milk contains a higher complexity of taste and aroma.  The effect of the flavor-inducing feeds, together with that of selectively bread milk giving animals, is not boiled away.  Rather, it remains in the milk to enhance the favorable richness of the cheese.

The pros and cons of pasteurized verses raw milk, and the pros and cons of pasteurization are as follows:

Pros:
   a. Results in increased consistency [uniform quality] between
       cheeses from a particular cheese maker;
   b. Allows for the use of lower quality milk;

Cons:
   a. Lower flavor levels due to the elimination of 90% of all micro
       flora in the milk;
   b. Retards the cheese ripening process;
   c. Makes it difficult to produce a cheese with depth and
       complexity of flavor.

We prefer cheese made from raw milk:
You will notice that many of our cheeses, both domestic and European, are made with raw milk. 

It is up to the cheese maker to blend together his/her ‘feel’ for making cheese with the results of the latest scientific findings about milk and cheese.  The cheese maker, in many cases, must understand the basic differences between the milk of various animals such as cows, goats, sheep and buffalo.  This is because there are many cheeses that are made from some combination of these milks.  He or she must know the fat, protein, milk sugar and mineral contents of these milks and their effects upon the finished product.

Milk contains small globules of fat, the size of which depends upon, among other things, the type of animal that produced the milk, the type of feed and the animal’s breeding.  The fat is an important ingredient in the determination of the cheese’s aroma, body and flavor.  Cheese made from skim milk, which is entirely devoid of fat, lacks flavor and interesting body and texture.  However, when as little as 1% fat is added, a background flavor is produced.

Making gourmet cheese from raw milk is a challenge that the Master Fromager enjoys.  And, this is the type of cheese we most enjoy eating and selling.  Raw milk cheeses are enjoyably different from those made with pasteurized milk.  Try them for a really exceptional gourmet experience.  Bon appétit!