Research helps boost production of aged California Cheddar
Cheddar is one of the most popular varieties of cheese sold in the world and one of the most flexible. It comes in mild, mellow flavors and robust, sharp versions that will thrill any palate. While all cheese markets have grown over the past decade, the market for aged Cheddar, in particular, has expanded rapidly as consumers look for natural cheeses with unique, intense flavors.
Cheddar production is second only to Mozzarella in California, where most of the milk used in cheesemaking is Grade A with a microbial count of less than 50,000 colony-forming units (cfu) per ml. However, because of its good quality, there was anecdotal evidence suggesting that California milk could not be used to produce good-quality, aged Cheddar cheese. This is due to the incorrect notion that a high count of natural microflora in milk contributes positively to cheese ripening and flavor development. Also, as the state’s cheesemaking processes are highly mechanized, it was thought that California Cheddar cheese, which is mostly made by the stirred-curd method, would be distinctly different from Cheddar made by the traditional milled-curd method and not able to compete in the aged Cheddar marketplace.
This was the situation facing Cal Poly researchers, led by Dr. Nana Farkye. With support from cheese industry partners, Hilmar Cheese Co. and Kraft Foods, and funding from the California Dairy Research Foundation, Dr. Farkye set out to demonstrate that with proper starter selection, good-quality, aged Cheddar cheese could be made using the stirred-curd method and using California milk. In addition to the cheese industry partners, starter culture companies also participated in the research by supplying cultures that would work under cheesemaking conditions specific to California.
“This project was important to Hilmar because we saw two opportunities for aged Cheddar – first to diversify our product mix and second to meet the growing U.S. consumer demand for more intensely-flavored cheeses,” said Phil Robnett, VP of Cheese for Hilmar Cheese Company. “We didn’t want to do so by duplicating something that already existed. We wanted a unique product with our own flavor profile that could be produced consistently in the volumes required by our customers. The opportunity to work with Cal Poly and have the benefit of their facility, equipment and staff resources allowed us to evaluate more options in detail in a reasonable timeframe.”
The project played a role in enabling Kraft Foods to work with Hilmar to produce acceptable aged California Cheddar for national distribution.
“Industry involvement was imperative to the success of this project,” said Farkye. “Hilmar and Kraft provided input not only in the planning but also sampled and graded cheeses, provided cheesemaking supplies and, most important of all, their expertise as cheesemakers in producing large volumes of cheese with consistent quality. The culture companies also helped to evaluate samples before they were sent to the third party sensory lab.”
Ultimately the project successfully demonstrated the ability to produce quality aged Cheddar from California milk. Kraft aged Cheddar (produced in California and elsewhere) is available throughout the U.S. Hilmar sells aged Cheddar to private label, regional and national brand cheese packagers for retail grocery, food service and ingredient companies in the U.S. and throughout the world, and under the Hilmar label at the Hilmar Visitor Center in its California facility.
