It All Starts with the Milk

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It All Starts with the Milk

Making great cheddar begins at the farm, with the highest quality milk. Our farmer-owners are proud of the milk their cows produce. Rightfully so; they’ve won national awards for the quality of their milk.

Multiple breeds of cows provide a blend of milk that gives us just the right combination of butterfat and protein. The milk is loaded onto refrigerated trucks daily, bound for the creamery. But first, each batch is tested. If it doesn’t meet Tillamook standards for the highest quality milk, it doesn’t belong in our cheese.

At the Tillamook Creamery, the fresh milk is heat-shocked. Unlike pasteurization, heat-shocking raises the temperature just enough to kill any bad bacteria, while preserving the milk’s beneficial enzymes. This is an important step in the cheesemaking process, as the cheddar’s flavor, body, and texture depend upon these enzymes.

Next, the milk is poured into vats for cooking and we add a starter culture that produces lactic acid. This is an important step in the cheesemaking process because the lactic acid helps coagulate the milk and also contributes to the flavor and texture development of the cheese. For our yellow cheddars, we also add annatto, a natural coloring that creates consistency in the color of our cheese. Rennet, usually a vegetable-based enzyme, kicks off coagulation in the milk. In our Vintage White Medium Cheddar and Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar, traditional rennet is used.

Next comes step 2, Curds and Whey.