Penn State Extension Cheese Tracking System

Purpose

The Penn State Extension Cheese Tracking System is designed to help cheesemakers track the quality and consistency of their cheese. By defining and monitoring measurable parameters, cheesemakers can understand how variation in raw materials and processes can impact the sensory characteristics and quality of their cheese. This information can help cheesemakers adjust their practices to consistently make better cheese and troubleshoot problems.

System Overview

The Penn State Extension Cheese Tracking System was developed for small-scale cheesemakers because they often have multiple responsibilities and a small staff, which leaves little time to develop their own comprehensive record-keeping system. The system is designed to be adaptable, and it may be of use to larger-scale cheesemakers and manufacturers of other dairy products that wish to modify the tracking templates for their products and processes.

The Penn State Extension Cheese Tracking System consists of customizable documents and spreadsheets to record, track, and evaluate data for:

• Milk composition and quality
• The cheesemaking process
• Processing after the initial cheese make day
• Cheese chemical composition
• Cheese sensory characteristics

The Instructions document explains each component and associated files, and how to customize the documents and worksheets to meet the cheesemaker's needs.

Download the Cheese Tracking System now.