CB-1000 Cheese Making Vat with Mechanical Stirrer for Milk Cheese Production
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The CV-1000 cheese-making vat with a mechanical stirrer is designed to heat and curdle milk during cheese production, forming a curd mass that is then mechanically processed by the stirrer's cutting blades.
What is the CV-1000 cheese-making vat?
The CV-1000 cheese-making vat is a rectangular vessel with semi-cylindrical end walls, fabricated from Kh18N10T stainless steel sheet (figure 1). It serves as the central piece of equipment for warming milk, curdling it, and processing the resulting curd before the cheese mass is transferred to moulds.
How is the vat constructed?
The working vat sits inside a steel casing that is sheathed in plywood and faced with thin sheet steel. The gap between the working vat and the outer casing acts as a steam-and-water jacket, allowing the milk to be heated indirectly.
The casing is fitted with branch pipes, taps, and valves for feeding water and steam into the jacket and for draining off the surplus water that forms as the steam condenses. Whey is discharged through a specially designed gate valve, making it easy to separate the liquid from the curd at the right stage of the process.
How does the mechanical stirrer work?
A carriage carrying the drive mechanism of a lyre-shaped stirrer is mounted on a load-bearing frame made of rolled steel. The drive shown in figure 2 gives the stirrer a reciprocating motion while simultaneously rotating it about its own axis, so the blades both move through the milk and turn to cut the curd.
Safety is built into the design: all rotating parts of the stirrer drive are enclosed in a protective mechanical casing, and both the vat and the electric motor are earthed to guard the operator against electric shock.
Figure 2 — Kinematic diagram of the cheese-making vat: 1 — AO-31-4 electric motor; 2 — sprocket (z=15, D₀=91.4 mm, t=19.05 mm); 3 — sprocket (z=23, D₀=135.4 mm, t=19.05 mm); 4 — sprocket (z=15, D₀=91.4 mm, t=19.05 mm); 5 — sprocket (z=16, D₀=65 mm, t=12.7 mm); 6 — sprocket (z=64, D₀=260.5 mm, t=12.77 mm); 7 — sprocket (z=15, D₀=16.1 mm, t=12.1 mm); 8 — sprocket (z=16, D₀=65 mm, t=12.7 mm); 9 — sprocket (z=50, D₀=215 mm, t=12.7 mm); 10 — sprocket (z=64, D₀=260.5 mm, t=12.7 mm).
The transmission also uses chains and a belt: I — bush-roller chain (t=19.05 mm), II — bush-roller chain (t=12.7 mm), III — bush-roller chain (t=12.7 mm), and IV — a V-belt variator. The vat is set up on the level floor of a production area on adjustable-height feet, so it can be brought to a true horizontal position. It is then filled with the milk intended for cheese production, and the milk is curdled with rennet.
How is cheese made in the vat, step by step?
Cheese production in the CV-1000 follows a clear sequence from filling the vat to cleaning it at the end of the shift:
- Fill the vat with milk intended for cheese-making and curdle it using rennet.
- At the end of curdling, cut the resulting curd with the stirrer blades.
- Once the curd mass has settled, draw off part of the whey.
- Mat the curd mass and cut the slab into pieces, then place them into cheese moulds.
In an alternative technology, the curd mass is pumped together with the whey into a forming apparatus, where the matting and slab cutting are carried out. This approach is more progressive because it increases the turnover of the vat, freeing it sooner for the next batch.
How is the vat cleaned after use?
At the end of the work shift the vat and all working tools must be thoroughly washed, cleaned, and dried. Proper cleaning prevents milk residues and curd from building up, protects the stainless-steel surfaces, and keeps the equipment hygienic for the next production run.
For more equipment and production explainers, browse the Agriculture section, and see related practical guides on how to open XLSX and XLS files when working with production spreadsheets.
