Manufacturing process

Cheese is milk which has matured: that is to say this product consists of soild substances which form in milk when, after a natural process or treatment, it separates into curds and whey. Caseificio Barone S.r.l. collects its own cows' and goats' milk daily from carefully selected farms in the Murge Salentine hills. Once it reaches the factory, the milk is separated and treated accordingly. The first phase for all qualities of raw milk is termizzazione. This is a very important operation in order to destroy the potentially pathogenic organisms and thus guarantee the factory's products.

The second phase is the acidification of the milk which guarantees the right ph balance. Subsequently, rennet is added to turn the milk into soft curd and liquid whey. The curd consists of coagulated casein, the main milk protein, and the fatty substances contained in it. Whey, on the other hand, consists of various proteins, sugar, mineral salts and water.

The separation of the curd from the whey is what determines the different kinds of cheese. In fact, part of the curd, partly drained off, is hung up in pervious containers to allow the rest of the whey to drip through. This is the process for making giuncata cheese, for example: a seasonal fresh cheese, typical of the Salento area, where the excess whey is eliminated during the setting stage in rush containers ("giunco" means rush in Italian).

As for mozzarella, the subsequent stage is spinning during which time capable hands move skilfully in a vat containing a large mass of soft white cheese and water at a temperature of 90°, shaping the mozzarella into knots, plaits, rolls and various other forms including small creamy balls. To harden up the mozzarellas are placed in cooling vats for about an hour before being packed. This last phase is mechanised. Other cheeses are left to mature for longer, even several weeks, in a temperature and humidity controlled environment to produce a tried-and-tested hand-made product.