How We Make Our Cheese
The ultimate art of cheese making…
Step 1
Our smooth and creamy cheddar cheese is lovingly crafted from top quality Holstein Friesian cows milk, fresh from the Barber family’s rural farm in Somerset, England.
It is pasteurized at 162.5F for a minimum of 15 seconds and infused with natural mixed starter cultures, historically the only authentic way to make cheddar, in order to add friendly bacteria to the milk and start the cheesemaking process. This ensures that every drop of goodness is embraced to form our mouth-watering cheddar!
Step 2
After adding the rennet, the mixture then sets and begins to form solid curds – a process known as curdling – which can take from as little as 30 to 40 minutes!
Step 3
The next stage is cutting the set curd, an essential step in hand-crafting our heavenly cheddar! By cutting the curd into small pieces, extra surface area is created in order for whey (the watery part of milk that stays after curdling) to escape, leaving behind just the essentials to make our tastebud-pleasing cheddar.
Step 4
Here comes the best part! The curd is then attentively turned by hand – a process which is known as ‘cheddaring’ from which cheddar cheese derives its name. This step allows the Barber family’s passionate cheese makers to feel the curd and make very subtle changes and add characteristic flavors, based on their experience, skills and knowledge that have been built up over an incredible six generations!
Step 5
Once the hand-turning step is completed, the curd is then salted to preserve the finished cheese and milled into chip sized pieces ready for the next step!
Step 6
The curd is then smoothly pressed into blocks and safely stored in wooden cheese boxes for up to two years – depending on the variety of our cheddar! During this essential cheese ripening time, the cheddar is graded a minimum of three times by experts to continually determine which cheese is perfect and ready to make its way to your home.
The deliciously delightful cheddar is then ready to enter your life and truly tickle your tastebuds – isn’t your mouth just watering already!