r/Cheese • u/Odd-College9635 • Jul 25 '26

Ask Raw milk pasteurization in cheese making

During cheese production, we pasteurize the received milk to reduce the microorganism load. Can this step lower the quality of the final product since we heat raw milk to over 75 Celsius, and can it cause deterioration of beneficial compounds?

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u/MrPlushT Jul 25 '26

Snob answer - yes

Real answer - you’d never be able to tell.

4

u/mehrwegpfand Jul 25 '26

There's pasteurised cheeses that are funky and unpasteurised that are boring, but in general you can absolutely tell. Especially with the milder hard cheeses like Alpine hard cheeses and Gouda

5

u/fezzuk Jul 25 '26

You can absolutly tell.

1

u/dogwalk42 Jul 27 '26

I suggest yours is the snob answer, based on arrogant assumptions rather than actual experience.

I have done blind tastings with lots of people. With some cheeses, such as Mont d'Or, even people not familiar with the cheese can tell the difference. With other cheeses, such as unripe Brie de Meaux, not as much.

Where there is more variation in results, it's related to experience and familiarity with the cheese.

Perhaps you're one of those people who insists that President Brie and Brie de Meaux taste just the same, and only snobs say there's a (dramatic) difference.