We test the milk in the cheese dairy, to find out if it is healthy and suitable for making cheese, then to ascertain what its shortcomings are, which is important due to the appropriate application of the processing method, finally to find out how much fat it contains, dry matter etc., because the performance of the cheese and the profitability of the product depend on it. In short, We judge milk according to its health and content.
Therefore, the professional training of a cheese maker is to develop skill and confidence in quick, but an accurate assessment of the milk. Working in the dark would be reckless here.
APPEARANCE EXAMINATION, SMELL AND TASTE OF MILK
The milk test begins as soon as you receive it, the senses are a simple and very good help for a skilled and perceptive cheesemaker: sight, smell and taste.
E nglish of milk. Even in appearance, it is often possible to conclude that the milk is adulterated and that the cowshed is clean. Bluish tinged milk makes you suspicious, that it is being harvested or diluted. Colostrum is strongly yellow. Unstrained but carelessly milked milk often leaves stool particles on the sieve, litter and feed. With internal injuries or inflammation of the udder you can see blood or pus. Small lumps of cheesecake retained on the strainers indicate that the udder is not very alive. This observation requires an immediate inspection of the barn and the exclusion of sick cattle from the delivery of milk.
The smell of milk. It is easier to recognize the more numerous and more hidden defects of milk by smell than by taste, especially if we smell the wetted walls of the watering can, where a thin layer of milk spreads over a large area, as a result, a lot of odorous substances are released during evaporation. A sour smell can be noticed beforehand (22 do 27°M) than sour taste (29 do 31°M).
The taste of milk. We will also detect many disadvantages by taste, among them such, which we did not notice with our eyes and smell, e.g. bitter milk, etc.. Take a little milk for a teaspoon, we taste, then rinse the teaspoon.
Stagnant and stagnant milk should also be tested by taste 12 hours. The disadvantages after this time are clear, especially in the cream layer, which normally should be mildly sweet, fragrant, not sour, bitter or stringy. Having poured the milk from the standing bowls, attention is paid to the sediment remaining at the bottom. Healthy and clean milk does not create any sediment.
It must be mentioned, that the taste testing of many samples is not only superfluous compared to other tests, but also undesirable for health reasons.