Milk is incredibly versatile and can be processed into a range of dairy products like cheese, yoghurt, butter, and cream through various processing steps.

Milk is a versatile food that can be turned into many different dairy products, including cream, buttermilk, milk powder, yoghurt, cheese, and butter.  

In Australia, most raw milk collected from cows is pasteurised, meaning it is heat treated to kill off any unwanted microbes. From there, depending on whether milk stays as milk, or is made into another dairy product, it can undergo a range of processing steps to become the final dairy product.  

Let’s dig into some examples: Soft cheese undergoes less processing and ageing compared to hard, vintage cheeses. Blue cheeses have edible mould added to give them their distinctive veins and flavour. The process for making yoghurt, on the other hand, can vary depending on whether it’s pot-set or made using another method. 

Explore this helpful diagram that shows the basic steps for dairy processing.