Parmesan With Kermit and His Muppets

While staying with  Massimo we went to the factory to see how they make Parmesan Cheese.

It was  2 km up the small narrow country road, another of our suited up Italian reception guys was taking us and some of the other Antica  Courte house guest on bikes.

What are you crazy have you seen how the Italians drive!!!  not going to get me on a bike in Italy no way. We and another couple follow in the so call safety of our cars,  it was like we were the followup support team to an Italian suited Kermit wearing his large timber-grained glasses and his following Muppets.

It was a nice drive through farm lands and we got to see the country side nice and slow, real slow with cars over taking at great speed. Maybe thats why car drivers drive on the centre line in anticipation of the bikers as they are everywhere. Well the professional looking ones with mussily carves, bottoms than can where lycra, in illuminated signage outfits all training for the Italian Tour, not our bunch of retards in bums that swallow the seats and swerving from side to side. We arrive at the factory a few minuets after the Muppets, gave them some time to un-insert the bike seats, we stopped to view better scenery.....

Well if it's not lycra is doesn't look good on a bike seat..... 

We learnt they use 50 % milk from the afternoon which is not as rich and then 50% from the rich mornings milking. In large stainless-steel vats it is mixed together and with the addition of a rennet it  makes curds and whey. 

From 500  litres of  milk they make only 50 kgs of cheese 1 wheel. 

The byproduct whey is feed to the pigs.

This process happen in the first day and the separated cottage looking cheese is put into wheel moulds to set over night. The cheese is then submerged in a salted bath for 22 days. It is removed and the drying process starts. The wheels are stacked on individual timber shelving some 20 high and as long as the eye can see, each rack has a load of 100,000 kgs. In this shed alone it had 13 of these timber storage racks. As the cheeses dry they loose weight and finish as a 40 Kg wheel. So again with my little calculator out there are 2500 wheels per stack x 13 stacks so some  32,500 wheels on this storage shed.

Each cheese all 32,500 are hand removed every month, rotated and the mould that is developing is brushed off and it is put 1 shelf higher. This is repeated for a  minimum 18 months and up to 36 months.  

Every wheel is tapped each month to check there is no internal cracks forming and if it is they are rejected as seconds and grated and sent to Australia..... 

If the cheese makes the distance it is heat stamped and sold . Only cheese with the Parmigiano Reggiano skin are allowed be sold under this label,  it is also protected under DOC.