Neufchâtel and cream cheese

When made upon a small scale the cost of the various items of making these kinds of cheese for market purposes is difficult to ascertain. The cost of manufacturing them on a farm scale would probably be quite different from the cost of manufacturing them on a factory scale. The figures given are based upon the use of 200 pounds of 4 per cent milk, valued at $2.40 a hundredweight, which is made into cheese twice weekly with equipment costing about $25. The cost of the equipment depends, of course, upon that already available and that which may readily be improvised. Under average conditions the approximate cost of the various items of expense involved in making the three kinds of cheese is enumerated as follows:

COST OF MAKING CREAM CHEESE.

With 200 pounds of 4 per cent milk a dairyman should be able to make 24 pounds of cream cheese, and with the skim milk 12 pounds of cottage cheese in addition. At present cream cheese is marketed in 3-ounce packages. Figuring conservatively, the yield from 200 pounds of milk, then, would be about 120 packages of cream cheese and 12 pounds of cottage cheese. Assigning a value of 6 cents a pound for the latter, and subtracting the amount received for it, the cost of the milk used for cream cheese would be reduced from $4.80 to $4.08. The cost of milk for each package of cream cheese, then, would be $0.034.

The cost of special equipment necessary for handling the cheese may be proportioned as follows:

A good food chopper should last 10 years, a drain rack 5 years, and a shotgun can about 3 years. Figuring a yearly depreciation of about 20 per cent, the depreciation charges would be $5. The interest at 6 per cent on the investment would be $1.50, and the interest and depreciation charges per cheese would be 1/12000 of $6.50, or $0.00054.

The labor would require half an hour to pasteurize the milk, about 1½ hours to make the cheese, and another half hour to mold it, or about 2½ hours, actual time for the various operations. However, while in pressing it would require but a few minutes to handle the cheese, the entire pressing operations would extend over several hours. It is assumed, therefore, that the time not used in working with the cheese could be utilized in some other manner. The total labor charge would be 50 cents, figuring labor at 20 cents an hour. The labor charges would then be 1/120 × 50, or $0.00416 for each cheese.

Figuring the cost of pasteurization and separation as 1 cent a gallon, the charge for each cheese would be $0.00192. It would require about 50 pounds of ice for the 24 pounds of cheese, which would make the ice cost about $0.00016. Figuring the rennet at $10 a gallon and the salt at 1 cent a pound, the charge would be $0.00005, and $0.004 for tin foil at 90 cents a pound:

COST OF MAKING PIMIENTO-CREAM CHEESE.

Pimiento-cream cheese is made practically the same as cream cheese, with the single exception that pimiento peppers are added. The cheese is usually marketed in 4-ounce glass jars, which may be obtained in gross lots for about 2 cents each. Pimiento peppers cost about 40 cents a pound and are added to the cheese at the rate of 1 pound to from 10 to 20 pounds of curd, as some people prefer a higher proportion of the peppers. The figures given are on the basis of 1 pound of peppers to 12 pounds of cheese. The labor charge will be somewhat greater for pimiento cheese than for cream cheese; the labor charges are figured at 3½ hours instead of 2½, as in the case of cream cheese. There would then be a yield of 26 pounds of cheese, costing $4.08. When pimiento cheese is produced under the conditions outlined the cost for each jar may be summarized as follows:

COST OF MAKING NEUFCHÂTEL CHEESE.

Figuring a yield of 15 pounds of cheese per 100 pounds of milk and each package weighing 2½ ounces, the cost of making one Neufchâtel cheese may be summarized as follows: