The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin

Kurt Heitmann and Ken DeMaa

95 Kurt Heitmann and Ken DeMaa Saputo Cheese USA (formerly Alto Dairy Cooperative), Waupun, Wisconsin http://www.saputousafoodservice.com/alto_site4.html QW Masters of cheddar and mozzarella (Heitmann and DeMaa), colby and monterey jack (Heitmann) It just fascinated me, watching how the vats would set and coagulate. It was kind of neat, you know! —kurt heitmann Ken DeMaa, at the Saputo Cheese USA (formerly Alto) plant in Waupun. like many—or, really, most—of those who have risen to the top of the Wisconsin cheese industry, Kurt Heitmann worked his way up with a soapy rag and ample amounts of elbow grease. He got his cheesemaker’s license in 1976. “When I Wrst came [to Alto—now owned by Saputo Cheese USA Inc.], I started in the plant doing cleanup. Cleanup was always at night, so I was always in scrubbing, making sure things were clean, taking equipment apart. My job actually was CIP [clean-in-place], so I used to wash the outside of equipment, taking care of milk separators, tearing them apart to make sure they were all clean.” Curiosity took hold, and Heitmann stuck with the job. He worked his way through the plant, jumping from job to job, eventually learning how to make the bacterial starter that is key to determining the Wnal characteristics of most cheeses. Heitmann uses his now encyclopedic knowledge of cheesemaking to help run what is currently the biggest cheese plant east of the Mississippi. The Waupun plant goes through about 4.0 million pounds of milk a day, split up between the two subplants; the smaller plant runs about 1.6 million, and the larger handles the rest. Even in the seventies, the Alto Waupun plant was running a million pounds of milk, meaning that consistency was key. And key to consistency is understanding the life cycles, habits, pet peeves, and mischievous whims of the bacterial starter culture that gives cheese its characteristic Xavors and physical characteristics. “When I started making the starter, I began to learn about bacteria,” he recalls. “That part still fascinates me to this day. Every bacteria is di¤erent, has its own characteristics, and I treat each one di¤erently. If I put one in milk and Wve or ten minutes earlier than normal it starts eating the lactose, I’ll map that all out for the guys. Sometimes we all have a bad day. Sometimes it wasn’t the bacteria’s problem.” 96 Masters of Southeastern Wisconsin The inside of a large vat of milk at Saputo’s Waupun plant. When Heitmann talks about his starter a note of real a¤ection creeps into his voice. “Every bacteria has its own personality,” he says. “They’re living organisms. I always tell guys in the plant when I give them cheesemaking classes: ‘It’s like a pet dog.’” Part of the responsibility for owning a pet is keeping it healthy. As strange as it may sound, a bacteria can get “sick” when it is overwhelmed by a kind of virus known as bacteriophage— the name is derived from bacteria and the Greek phagein (to eat). “Phage is a virus that attacks the bacteria— with phage, it’ll get ahold of a bacteria and inject its DNA into it, so when that bacteria splits instead of making more bacteria it makes phage,” Heitmann says. “Instead of one bacteria splitting and making two bacteria, when it splits it might make thirty or a hundred more phage. If you don’t have a lot of bacteria there, it’s going to kill everything and you’ll have a dead vat—you won’t have any bacteria alive.” If Heitmann charts the course for the plant, fellow master cheesemaker Ken DeMaa drives the car. “[Kurt’s] considered the brains behind it,” DeMaa says. “And we have a very good working relationship. He’s on that end of it, and I’m on the Xoor end of things, executing it. I try to work every day with my people: ‘This is why we Masters of Southeastern Wisconsin 97 Kurt Heitmann grading cheddar. do what we do.’ To them it’s just a routine thing, but there’s a reason behind every step that we take, and I try to pass that on to the people that are on the Xoor.” As a Xoor supervisor, DeMaa is focused on the end product: the cheese turned out and shipped o¤ by...