Mechanised brining and spiking of blue-moulded cheeses - in moulds perforated for brine circulation and location of spiking needles

摘要

The brining and spiking are carried out in succession while the cheese is retained in a mould which allows brine to circulate around the cheese and has holes in the base which correspond with the positions of spiking needles. For adequate brining, the mould pref. has a perforated side wall and an internal dia. slightly bigger than the dia. of the cheese. The mould pref. has on its base a set of coned supporting feet which can be used to locate the mould in a spiking jig. Pref. cheeses are tipped from a multi-cavity forming mould into a multi-cavity spiking mould. The spiking mould is immersed in brine, removed and transferred to a spiking jig. Needles are driven vertically into the cheese both top and bottom.