Tillamook Cheese Factory

 So got early this morning and went and had a shower. The facilities here are not very big but the showers were clean, the water pressure was good and the water was hot.  We don’t like showering in the trailer because it adds to the humidity and we also store a bunch of stuff in the shower and moving it every time is a pain. So far we have had good luck with the shower facilities.  We don’t have cable here so Len is a little bit lost because he can’t watch the news.

So we started off the day travelling North along the cape scenic route and stopped at McPhillips Beach. You get a great view of the back side of Cape Kiwanda and the haystack rock. 

We didn’t find any rocks at this beach so we decided to head into Tillamook to tour the cheese factory.  I have been to this cheese factory at least 7 times and I never get tired of it.  I love watching how the process the cheese from beginning to end. I could probably spend an entire day there watching everyone work.  I don’t know what it is about factories and watching the manufacturing process. 

This is the new entrance to the Creamery , they redid the front of the building in 2021. 

Here is a close up of one of the happy cows that greets you as you go in.

The concept for the creamery began in 1854. Tillamook farmers have butter and milk to sell but they can’t take it over the rough mountain passes to Portland. The fastest way is by boat, so they build the first official ship in Oregon, The Morning Sea to carry the dairy goods to market. This is the same boat that is on all of their labels. 

In 1894 renowned Canadian cheese maker Peter McIntosh brings his cheddar making expertise to Tillamook county where he becomes know as the “Cheese King of the Coast” , so there is a Canadian connection, maybe that is why it tastes so good.   In 1904 Tillamook county wins it’s first cheese award at the St Louis Worlds Fair.  This is the first of hundred awards. In 1947 they started making and selling ice cream locally, later expanding into other states. 

When they first started making the cheese, it was mainly done by hand. The cheese makers start with 1.6 million pounds of milk for the day. They make cultured milk, that ripens to produce lactic acid, then they add a small amount of rennet, an enzyme to make the milk coagulate, kick starting the curds. Then they add Anna to, a natural colouring from the seeds of the Achilles tree that gives the cheddars it consistent yellow colour.  They also add salt that provides flavour and aids in drain the whey and regulates the lactic acid. The milk gets pumped into large vats where the cheese makers used to use wire knives to cut the curds and release the whey, then the curds were separated from the whey and poured into rings moles pressed and then taken to the ripening room to rest until ready to be packaged. 

 Today the vats are all automated and it is all done under cover.  

It takes 10 pounds of milt to make 1 pound of cheese. There are 8 vats that get filled from the bottom, it takes 70 minutes for the curds to set and then 40 minutes later the curds are on their way to the cheddar press. Each vat makes 3 to 4 batches a day.  The cheddar gets separated from the whey before being pushed into blocks, vacuumed sealed and sent to the aging area. 

The whey that is separated  is turned into whey powder which is used in baby formula, protein bars and whey powder. They process over 1,350,000 pounds of whey into 2000 pounds of powder. 

Once the cheese is pressed and sealed into 40 lb blocks, it is put in boxes and then taking to the cold storage warehouse where is can age anywhere from 60 days to 5 years depending on the kind of cheese.

Once it is aged, it comes back to the processing side of the factory, where a robot removes it from its box and it starts it journey to make smaller blocks. 

This is machine has a large sheet knives that cuts the big block sideways once into long blocks and then from end to end into smaller blocks.  All the edges get cut off and they go into these white bins. They get hauled away to a shredding room to make the shredded cheese.  Nothing goes to waste. Any blocks that also do not make the grade getting added to the shredding pile. 

They change the knives out depending on what size of block that they are doing. 

Once cut into blocks the cheese gets placed on a conveyor belt where it is weighed. You can see that the blocks will be kicked out if they are too heavy or too light. They actually cut cheese or add a slice to the block to make sure it is correct.

After the blocks make the right weight they are sent to the bagging and sealing area.  They are put in bags,  vacuumed sealed by the blue octopus and then steam seals down the edges.  They are inspected again to make sure they make weight and they are sealed properly.  

They have two processing lines that seem to run 24/7/.  This plant seems to supply to the western states.  Tillamook has a super dairy farm in Boardman Oregon and there is a large factory there as well that supply the rest of the country. I think that this factory does a bunch of their specialty cheeses, done in smaller batches.  The larger stuff that sells in the big grocery stores and Costco is done at the factory in Boardman.

Once you are done the tour they have individually wrapped samples and then it is downstairs to the gift shop and restaurant.  We found some new smoked cheese that we haven’t tried and of course we had to have some ice cream.  It was so good and creamy. They have a sampler tray that you can get. Three kinds to try in a little tray.  Much easier to eat than having it in a cone.  Much easier to share as well.

This is the longest post I have done, but I wanted to give everyone the full experience. If you are ever in this area, it is definitely on the must tour list.