LAUBURU cheese dairy Consumer Information Create your website easily with Site W Advice sheet: Raw, Thermized, Pasteurized milk? The difference More and more we hear about cheeses made from raw milk, from pasteurized milk, but the neophyte gets confused and sometimes leaves on preconceived ideas! First of all, let's give the definition of the different treatments: Raw milk : When it is used, the milk does not undergo any heat treatment (heating). The bacterial flora of the milk (the microbes) is fully preserved. In principle, fresh milks are used a few hours after milking the animals. This is generally the case for farmhouse or artisanal cheeses which process "proximity" milks and whose initial quality is easier to manage by the cheese maker. By preserving this natural and wild bacterial flora, we promote the production of tastes, odors and aromas in cheeses which are more subtle and elaborate! However, it must be said that this leads to more variations in taste and quality in the finished product. Thermized milk :Thermization is a slight heating that the milk undergoes (45 ° C for 30 seconds or 72 ° C for 1 second). The goal is to partially sanitize the milk and therefore possibly destroy certain pathogenic germs (bad microbes) such as listeria which could be present while preserving a good part of the natural and initial bacterial flora of this one. This process can be applied by certain artisans and industrialists who use milks from a wider geographical origin. It is rarely applied by farmers because it requires specific and often expensive equipment for small structures! In this case, the addition of lactic ferments selected to reactivate the enzymatic activity will be a little more important than in raw milks. Pasteurized milk : It is a heat treatment of milk (63 ° C for 30 seconds or 72 ° C for 15 seconds) which aims to eliminate any pathogenic germ (bad microbe) present in the milk. It is in particular a means of protection that manufacturers have found to protect themselves from “bad milks” which may be present in their products of great mix and of diverse and sometimes distant origins. In this case, the proportion of lactic ferments to be added will be greater and we will have “standardized” cheeses with more uniform and less atypical tastes and flavors! This process is rarely used by farmers because they have better control over their raw material and the cost of such a process is too high! Microfiltered milk : This is a special treatment only applied by manufacturers for mass production. The cream which is separated from the milk is pasteurized. Skimmed milk passes through a system of extremely fine membranes which retain bacteria. The end result will be cheeses that are very homogeneous in taste but without much character. Our opinion ... Having raw milk cheeses is not necessarily a guarantee of quality and pasteurized milk cheeses are not necessarily "bad" and tasteless. Our experience allows us to tell you that I know bad cheeses made from raw milk and very good cheeses made from pasteurized milk! It is important to know that a cheese is a quality of milk used, a quality & know-how in terms of manufacturing and maturing, that the work and experience of the cheesemaker and the cheese maker. traditional refiners are important! A product well worked with a quality raw material will give you a good cheese in the end and vice versa ... However, we understand that our preference goes towards farmhouse and artisan cheeses made from raw milk which develop more aromas and tastes and which turn out to be more typical than industrial cheeses… .. Establishment in a large area