Step 1: Pasteurization

All cheese starts with raw milk, and there is nothing more important to the quality of the cheese than the quality of the milk.

While the debate rages over the taste and aesthetic superiority of raw milk cheeses, we here in Western Maryland are required by State Law to pasteurize our milk prior to the cheese making process and we're just fine with it.

Pasteurization is a simple process. By raising the temperature of the milk to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, we ensure that the milk is cleansed of any potentially dangerous micro-organisms. Proponents of raw milk cheeses argue that pasteurization also kills beneficial micro-organisms that ultimately contribute to the complexity and depth of taste development in the cheese. In states like Pennsylvania where raw milk cheese are permitted, they must be aged for a minimum of 60 days or eight weeks.

As a cheese lover myself, I have eaten some incredible cheeses from raw milk but believe that similar cheeses can be just as easily made from pasteurized milk. I'd stand our cheeses aged only 5-8 weeks against similar raw milk cheeses any day.