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Pump helps to quadruple cheese output

07 February 2022

Find out how the move from a centrifugal pump to a sinusoidal pump has helped a cheese producer increase yields and improve its finished products. 

When Padstow Cheese, a small cheese producer in Cornwall, could no longer keep up with demand, and so, in 2019, it invested in a new facility and upgraded in its dairy equipment, including a new pump solution. 

Thanks to this investment, Padstow Cheese has succeeded in increasing the quality of its products, grown its yield and shortened processing times by up to two hours a day.

“We went from a 600l vat operation, to 2,000l, and began producing cheese more days a week, essentially quadrupling our output,” said Lawrence Reynolds, owner of Padstow Cheese.

“To produce our cheese we originally had an off-the-shelf centrifugal pump with two speeds – on and off,” continued Reynolds. “Due to its lack of control and aggressive nature, the centrifugal pump created a lot of foam and air bubbles, which is detrimental to product quality. In addition, the pump would damage the curd with its ‘chopping’ action.”

The company’s process took a major step forward with the introduction of a prepress, and it was decided that a better pump would be a perfect complement to this new equipment.

“We needed a better pump, not just to pump the milk into the curdling tank, but also to transfer the curd from the vat to the prepress,” said Reynolds. To help Padstow Cheese confirm the capabilities of its proposed investment, WMFTG supplied a loan pump in October 2020: a MasoSine Certa 200 complete with samples of 2” diameter Aflex FaBLINE hose.

“Within a month we knew that the Certa 200 was perfect for our needs, so we placed an order,” said Reynolds. “The product transfer is gentle, while we also get far less aeration. In addition, by pumping through the hose we can spread the curd evenly as it fills up the prepress.”

Notably, the Certa 200 and FaBLINE hoses have combined to improve the ‘eyes’ of the cheese. Rather than air, eyes in the cheese now form by CO2 created by starter culture bacteria that is purpose-introduced. As the cheese ages and ripens, the CO2 forms small bubbles that spread through the cheese and would escape but for the rind. This rind is tough enough that it traps the bubbles inside the cheese and creates eyes. Today, better eye size and improved texture is opening up new markets and attracting new customers.

By introducing a Certa pump, the company has also decreased the amount of fines in its cheeses, in turn increasing yield. By the very nature of their operation, certain pump types will break curd into fines. The generation of cheese fines is in direct relation to production loss, which means plants produce less cheese from a certain quantity of milk.

“We haven’t calculated it accurately, but I estimate that our yield is up by at around 8-10%,” said Reynolds. “In addition, wastage is down and process speed has increased because the Certa is more efficient at transferring both milk and curd. The pump, in combination with FaBLINE hoses, is saving 90 minutes a day in production time.

“The pump is so easy to clean, unlike our previous centrifugal pump, which was a nightmare,” he said. “In addition, the smooth construction of Aflex FaBLINE hoses means we can flush the cleaning products through and rinse out very easily.”


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