Parmesan Timeline

Cows are fed on locally grown crop

The cows are milked in the afternoon

The evening milk goes straight to the dairy, it is not stored

Once in the dairy the milk is put in large table like trays where it is left overnight for the cream to seperate.

The cows are milked again very early in the morning

The morning milk arrives at the dairy. The cream is skimmed off the milk that has been resting the night before, it is not wasted though, it goes off to make delicious butter. The morning milk is then mixed in with the skimmed evening milk to large copper vats

A natural starter culture of lactica ferments obtained from the spontaneous acidifcation of whey remaining from the previous days cheese processing. The rennet is added to coagulate the milk and form the curd.

The curd is broken into grains by hand and cooled. It then settles to the bottom of the vat and forms a compact mass

The cheese mass is then cut into halves and hung in muslin to drain

The cheese mass is placed into special plastic moulds to start shaping process

After 2 days being turned many times to drain the cheese is then moved to a stainless steel mould to form the final shape. It is at this point that the cheese is identified with its markings by a plastic belt that wraps around the cheese within the stainless steel mould

3 days after production the cheeses are placed in a saturated brine solution. They stay here for approx. 20 days absorbing salt and releasing water

The last step before maturation, the cheese is transferred into a warm room for 24 hours at 30 degrees

The last production step is maturation, this has to be at least 12 months. The temperature at this stage must not fall below 16 degrees

During this time the consortium carry out checks by tapping on each wheel to identify the cheese quality. By tapping and piercing the cheese they are able to identify cracks or holes inside the cheese

If the controls are ok after 12 months the consortiums fire stamp is added to the cheese

Only at this stage does it become Parmigiano Reggiano