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:
1 food chopper $8.50
6 shotgun cans 5.10
6 drain racks 4.50
2 molding attachments 2.00
1 carrier 1.25
1 thermometer .60
1 hopper .50
1 cheese cutter .50
6 yards of cloth for draining .75
1 pail .85
1 agitator or stirrer. .25
2 spoons, long-handled .20
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25.00
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:
Milk $0.03400
Interest and depreciation .00054
Labor .00416
Pasteurization and separation .00192
Ice .00016
Salt and rennet .00005
Tin-foil wrapping paper .00400
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Per cheese 0.04483