PRODUCTION PROCESS
Upon delivery and approval of the milk, it is included in the white and yellow cheese production process. The Ravnogor Dairy is a borderline case, lingering between a family farm and industrial production per se. It uses modern technological equipment and at the same time adheres strictly to the traditional methods of production of white and yellow cheeses which have been in use for more than 100 years, investing in it their own specific manual skills and craftsmanship. Production quantities are not large, and no dairy products bearing the Ravnogor label contain preservatives, enhancers or powdered milk. To produce 1 kg of yellow cheese from cow’s milk we use about 10 litres of raw milk! To produce 1 kg of white cheese from cow’s milk we use about 6.5 litres of milk.
Thermization, normalization, pasteurization
THERMIZATION, NORMALIZATION, and PASTEURIZATION are the technological processes through which raw cow’s milk goes so that all harmful bacteria may be destroyed and the good taste of the milk preserved. Starter cultures (lactic acid bacteria) and rennet are added after pasteurization. This is very important for white and yellow cheese ripening, taste and shelf life.
Cheese ripening
The RIPENING stage is essential. The process of ripening includes all types of biological transformations of white and yellow cheese; products change their characteristic features and get a sharper aroma and flavour. To insure proper ripening, storage temperatures and humidity levels should be closely monitored. The dairy farm has different chambers, which in addition to the crystal clear air so high up in the mountains, provides optimum ripening conditions.
Quality Control
QUALITY CONTROL. The dairy farm employs GMPs and НАССР (Hazard analysis and critical control points) systems and adheres strictly to a monitoring system for QUALITY control of each product. These rules are closely supervised by inspectors from the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency.
