Processors not only ones making great cheese

Dairy Foods, August, 1995 by Jack Mans

WSU has named its unique cheese "Cougar Gold" - Cougar after the university mascot and Gold after Dr. N.S. Golding, who developed the cheese in the 1940s. It seems that the U.S. government wanted to pack cheese in metal cans so it could be shipped to troops all over the world without damage. However, as conventional Cheddar cheese ages, it produces carbon dioxide that causes cans to swell. Golding discovered that adding a certain lactobacillus culture to the milk minimized C[O.sub.2] generation, and Cougar Gold was born.

"Even though we make Cougar Gold by the traditional Cheddaring process and everyone calls it Cheddar, it's not a true Cheddar cheese," says Creamery Mgr. Marc Bates. "It doesn't meet the standard of identity for Cheddar because of the addition of the lactobacillus culture."

In fact, Cougar Gold doesn't even taste like Cheddar cheese. It has a distinct nutty flavor somewhat resembling Swiss or Gouda.

Cougar Gold is packaged in 30-oz steel cans that allow the cheese to age almost indefinitely, although it must be kept refrigerated. An unopened can of cheese will become sharper, dryer and more flavorful and crumbly with age. All Cougar Gold is aged for at least one year, and all cans are printed with the date of production. About half the cheese is sold through WSU's university store and local grocery stores; the remainder is sold worldwide via mail order.

Three-year-old plant

The university built a new $3.25-million creamery - which primarily houses the cheese operations - in 1992. The cheese plant produces 300,000 lb of cheese per year, or about 160,000 30-oz cans. About 75% is Cougar Gold, the remainder being Cheddar and flavored Jack-like cheeses, also packed in 30-oz cans.

While smaller than a commercial plant, with one 15,000-gal vat of cheese per day, the operation is one that any processor would be proud of. Milk is supplied from the university dairy herd and goes through all of the normal tests. After pasteurizing, it is pumped into the enclosed vat where culture is added. And in a step that could be emulated by many commercial operations, the pasteurizer, vat and CIP are controlled by a microprocessor accessed through a PC keyboard.

Product is pumped to a standard finishing table for whey to drain, after which curd is augered up into longhorn hoops for overnight pressing. The cheese is then cut into the proper size rounds.

"The new plant gives us an ideal combination of income for the university and experience for our students," says Bates.

TO ORDER COUGAR GOLD OR OTHER WSU CHEESE PRODUCTS, CONTACT WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY CREAMERY, 101 FOOD QUALITY BUILDING, PULLMAN, WA 99164-6392. PHONE: 800/457-5442. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHEESE PLANT, CONTACT MARC BATES AT 509/335-7516.