Solutions · · 3 min read
Cheese Plant Line: Vats, Pressing, Brining and Ripening
A cheese plant line built around your cheese type: pasteurized milk into vats, renneting, cutting, pressing and brining, with mozzarella cookers and stretchers for pasta filata lines.
By the process engineering team at Supreme Beast Intelligent Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Key takeaways
- Hard and semi-hard cheese needs about 10 litres of milk per kilogram, so cheese output drives milk intake more than any other dairy product.
- The vat is the heart of the line: size it to the milk you can supply per batch, then match the press, moulds and brine capacity to it.
- Every capacity figure below is the listed figure from the linked product page; anything not listed there is confirmed against your recipe and site.
How does the line work?
Cheese making is a batch process built around the vat. Milk is prepared, set with rennet, cut, cooked and pressed, then salted and ripened. The steps below follow a hard or semi-hard cheese; mozzarella adds cooking and stretching.
- Milk preparation: milk is pasteurized and cooled to renneting temperature, and standardized to the fat and protein your cheese needs.
- Renneting and setting: rennet and cultures are added in the cheese vat and the milk sets into a curd.
- Cutting and cooking: the curd is cut to the grain size for the cheese type, stirred and gently cooked so whey separates.
- Moulding and pressing: curd is filled into moulds and pressed to the target moisture and shape.
- Brining: pressed cheese is salted in brine, which sets flavour and rind and controls moisture.
- Ripening: cheese matures in a controlled room for the period your recipe requires before packing.
Which machines are in the line?
Each machine below is a listed product on this site. The capacity shown is the listed capacity on that product page — open the link to see the full specification.
| Machine | Listed capacity |
|---|---|
| Complete Cheese Production Line | 1–10 T/H |
| Cow and Goat Milk Cheese Production Line | 50–500 kg/h |
| Jacketed Cheese Vat 300–2000 L | 300–2000 L |
| Mozzarella Cooker Stretcher | 1–20 T/H |
| Mozzarella Cheese Cooker and Scalding Machine | 1–20 T/H |
| Small Cheese Press & Mould Machine | 300–3,000 L |
How is capacity confirmed?
Capacity is confirmed against your recipe and site. The complete cheese production line is listed at 1–10 T/H and the cow and goat milk cheese production line at 50–500 kg/h; vats are listed by volume, from 300–2000 L for the jacketed vat. Plan milk supply from the cheese yield: about 10 litres of milk per kilogram of hard or semi-hard cheese is the practical planning figure, so a tonne of cheese a day needs around 10,000 litres of cheese milk plus whey handling.
Frequently asked questions
Can the line handle cow and goat milk?
Yes. The cow and goat milk cheese production line is listed at 50–500 kg/h and is built for both milks, with the vat and pressing steps adjusted to the curd each milk gives.
What is needed for mozzarella?
A cooker-stretcher. Both the mozzarella cooker stretcher and the cooker and scalding machine are listed at 1–20 T/H, and they sit after the vat and before moulding and brining.
How is whey handled?
Whey is drained at the vat and press. Tell us whether you drain, collect or process it, and we include the tanks and piping in the layout so it never blocks the line.
What is the lead time and warranty?
Lead time is about 3 months from order, FOB Shanghai port, with a 12-month warranty. Our engineers commission the line on site and train your operators.