Variation of Laboratory Cheesemaking Procedures

The variability of yield for Cheddar cheese manufactured in 7- and 390-kg-size vats and cottage and direct-acid-set cheese manufactured in 7-kg-size vats was compared. The direct-acid-set cheese had less variability than Cheddar or cottage cheese (% coefficient of variation was .91, 1.79 and 4.69, respectively) manufactured in 7-kg-size vats and Cheddar cheese manufactured in 360-kg-size vats (% coefficient of variation was .91 and 1.98, respectively). Cottage cheese had the largest variability between replications using small vats because of additional stirring and curd manipulation required in its manufacture. Therefore, when cheese variety is of no concern, the direct-acid-set cheese procedure would reduce variation between replication more than traditional Cheddar procedures when used in an experimental design. In addition, a greater number of vats of cheese could be manufactured per day using the small vat system.