The process illustrates the steps that need to be taken in order to produce cheese.
Overall, the entire manufacturing procedure comprises three phases, including the treatment of milk, the coagulation of its fat content, and the ripening stage that fosters the maturity of these dairy products.
In the first stage, raw milk is mostly treated with a process of pasteurization, which removes harmful bacteria. The pasteurized milk is then standardized and filtered before entering a tank. For other traditional cheese-makers, they would bypass these steps and let the milk enter the tank directly.
The milk is then treated with rennet, a form of enzyme, that helps it coagulate. A mixture of microorganisms is then added to this liquid to initiate the fermentation process. The milk is then solidified before a cutting process takes place as a device turns the milk into small cubes. These cubes are then stirred and cooked before having the whey content drained.
The curds have their whey content removed through a pipe underneath the tank before being milled. Salt is then added to the curds, and at this stage, people would extract these curds and sell them as cottage and cream cheese. Other forms of cheese would need the curds to be poured into molds and allowed to ferment further. Each individual mould would be pressed to release more whey water before a long period of time is allowed for the cheese to mature.