All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S04E09.Cheese.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

We are a nation
of cheese lovers.

Working our way through nearly
2,000 tons of it every day.

And it all starts
off with milk.

It takes 700 tankers like
this to feed our daily habit.

With around 2,000
types to choose from,

everyone has their favorite.

I love a bit of
the squeezy stuff.

We're in the right place,
then, because this factory

makes processed cheese.

[music playing]

I'm Gregg Wallace.

That's a massive
fondue, isn't it?

It is.

GREGG WALLACE: Big cheesy smell.

I'm learning the fondues and
don'ts of this ultra-modern

and deeply traditional food.

Blessed be the cheesemakers.

Blessed be the chessemakers.

I'm Cherry Healey,
and I'll be sniffing

out the secrets of smelly
cheese and finding out how

to perfect--

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

- -my favorite comfort food.

You've taken a household
staple to a new level.

GREGG WALLACE: Historian
Ruth Goodman helps

uncover the 100-year-old recipe

Oh, that's horrible.

GREGG WALLACE: --for the first
convenience cheese product.

Over the next 24
hours, this factory

will squeeze out over 115,000
tubes of processed cheese.

That should brie good.

Welcome to "Inside
the Factory."

[music playing]

This is the Primula
Cheese Factory

in Gateshead near Newcastle.

This three-acre site
produces over 3,000 tons

of spreadable cheese
products every year.

As well as creamy spreaders
and liquid dippers,

they make seven different
flavors of their

best-selling spreadable cheese.

And this time, we're
following production

of their hot jalapeno
chili variety.

But before we put the squeeze
into our cheese, first,

we have to make cheddar.

This hard cheese is our
most important ingredient,

and it's made 178 miles
southwest on the llyn Peninsula

in North Wales.

Wow, what a location
for a factory.

It's so pretty.

South Caernarfon Creameries make
36 tons of traditional cheddar

every day.

The dairy is owned
cooperatively by the farmers

who supply it with milk.

Their tankers come in to the
intake area 20 times a day.

Mark Edwards is in
charge of production.

- Mark.
- How are you?

Pleased to meet you.

Gregg Wallace.

You are the top man, right?

- The grand fromage.
- Yes.

Excuse me.
MARK: Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE:
Obvious questions.

How much milk is on there?

MARK: There's about
28,000 liters on there.

How many in one of your silos?

MARK: About 100,000 liters.

Whoa.

How many will you go
through in a-- in a day?

We'll go through
about four silos a day.

GREGG WALLACE: That's enough
milk to fill 5,000 baths.

Are they all from the
same breed of cow?

Yes, friesians.

Are ya?

Put a jumper on.

Milk is nearly 90% water.

The rest is natural
sugar, known as lactose,

plus fat and protein.

The driver will take
a sample, and we'll

test it for the quality,
fat, and protein.

If we've got high
levels, that will

get us a good yield of cheese.

Well, it looks like that
one's passed, doesn't it?

That's right.
That's ready to go.

Now we're ready to
dip into our silos.

GREGG WALLACE: Our squeezy
cheese production line begins.

The milk pours along
this 600-meter pipe

and into the creamery's
629-square meter cheesemaking

room.

The first job is to pasteurize
the milk by blasting

it with heat for 25 seconds.

This destroys any unwanted
bacteria, the kind

that might cause infection.

Right, Gregg.

There's our pasteurized
milk going into our vat.

And it's gushing in as well.

MARK: Now we need to add our
starter culture to the milk.

GREGG WALLACE: Starter
culture is a mix of specially

selected good bacteria.

Tip that in now.

Oh.

Yeah.

It's in little balls.

These frozen cultures begin
the cheesemaking process

by feeding on the
lactose in the milk

and changing it to lactic acid.

They also create the building
blocks for taste and texture.

Mate, this little
sachet cannot be

making a difference to a
swimming pool full of milk.

It certainly is.

GREGG WALLACE: The exact mix
of bacteria is top secret.

So what cheddar are we making
for our squeezy cheese?

We're making a mature cheddar.

So if I wanted a mild
cheddar, would I need

a different type of culture?

A different culture, yes.

It would give you
a different flavor.

Now what?

Our vat's nearly full of milk.

Now we need to add our
rennet to our milk.

Right.

Can I?

Yeah.

Right.

Go in there.

GREGG WALLACE: What is rennet?

It's a natural enzyme and
reacts with the milk proteins

to set them.

So the culture
raises the acidity.

Yes.

The rennet is then
acted on that acidity.

That's right.

And between the
culture and the rennet,

it's gonna turn the milk
into something solid.

That's right.

So we press this button
here, add rennet.

And that's it.

That's now dispersing all
the rennet into the vat.

We've got to wait now 40
minutes for that to set.

Right.

We've got to put the kettle on.

MARK: Yeah.

Got any milk?

Almost two hours after
the fresh milk arrived,

it looks completely different.

There you can see.

So what's happening there,
all the milk proteins

now are joining together
like a big jelly.

It actually looks
like it's going off.

No, that's why--

Let me smell.

Yeah, if that was in my fridge,
that's going in the bin.

The protein and fat are clumping
into what's known as curds

and are starting to separate
from the watery part

of the milk called the whey.

That is definitely
thickening up.

Am I gonna meet an
enormous spider?

No, I don't think so.

We're not allowed them in here.

GREGG WALLACE: I'm no
Little Miss Muffet.

And to me, it's not looking
too promising just yet.

It actually looks like
yogurt, doesn't it?

Yes, it does, yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: Serrated blades
cut up the thickening curds,

helping to separate
them from the whey.

An hour later, and
it's all poured

into what looks like
a bath tub for someone

with very long legs.

There are four of them,
each 12 meters long.

MARK: You can see now.

Here's our curds solid.

You know that
rubbery scrambled

egg you get on an airplane?

MARK: That's just
one side like that.

GREGG WALLACE:
That is it, innit?

It's sweet.

Quite sweet, yeah.

Ooh, that's really nice.

So what you want is all the
liquid gone and just the curds?

That's right.

No whey.

No-- no whey.

GREGG WALLACE: Three hours
into making our cheddar,

and we've drained off
a staggering 12,000

liters of whey.

It used to be thrown away.

But these days, it's turned
into a powdered supplement

popular with bodybuilders.

The object of the game
now is to get the remainder

of this liquid out here.

So what we need to do
now is stir these curds,

and the whey will
continue to drain off.

We need to press these
buttons here, the two green,

and that'll stir the curds.

GREGG WALLACE: The more
whey that's removed,

the firmer the
cheese will end up,

and our cheddar
needs to be solid.

Now we need to add
salt to our cheese.

There's the salt, and we need
to spread evenly all the way up,

following those stirrers.

All right.

What is the salt doing, apart
from obviously adding flavor?

It's slowing the
activity of those cultures

that we put in earlier on.

It's also driving out any more
moisture that's in the curds.

Right, OK.

So it's drying it.

It's adding to the flavor.

It's stopping the
cultures developing.

And is it helping to
preserve it as well?

And it's obviously
a preservative, yes.

So it will stop the
cheese from spoiling.

You're a fully fledged
cheesemaker now, Gregg.

Blessed be the cheesemakers.

Blessed be the cheesemakers.

GREGG WALLACE: After 10
more minutes of stirring,

we've removed almost 60% of the
milk's original water content.

Our curds are now fully
formed and ready to be shaped.

They travel to
the pressing area,

where they're blown 10
meters up to the top

of these metal columns.

These are our cheddar towers.

The cheese is filled
right to the top.

The pressure of the
cheese then forms a block.

So there's no weight up in
those towers pushing them.

The weight is
simply more cheese.

MARK: Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: The
chimneys are kept

constantly topped up with one
and a half tons of cheddar.

It's the equivalent of two
dairy cows lying on top

and squashing it down.

And the only technology is
an enormous metal chimney.

MARK: It's a metal chimney
with a blade at the bottom

that puts the blocks up.

GREGG WALLACE: Amazing.

Years ago, we used to
put our cheese into molds

and press them by hand, and
it'd take about 24 hours

to create a block of cheese.

Now this modern technique
that we've got here now,

you'll get a block
within 45 minutes.

This spongy thing will
turn into a block of cheddar?

Nice hard block
of cheddar cheese.

And how long does that take?

Between three
months and 12 months.

Between three
months and a year?

MARK: Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE:
Maturing the cheese

gives the bacteria inside
time to develop the flavor.

The longer it rests, the
stronger it'll taste.

It's taken five
hours and 10 minutes

to make nearly 2,400
kilos of cheddar.

Now it's vacuum packed
and sent to the chiller.

All cheeses start the same
way, as milk and bacteria.

But they can end up
looking, tasting,

and smelling very different.

Cherry is checking out
the microbiology behind

this mind-boggling variety.

Choosing my favorite
cheese is like choosing

my favorite child.

But how come there are
so many types of cheese?

And where does that
smell come from?

I've come to Somerset to learn
from award-winning cheesemaker

Roger Longman.

- Hi, Roger.
- Hi.

Good to see you again.

So what are you making?

So this is gonna
become a brie.

I love cheese.

- So this is like Disneyland--
- This is the right place to be.

- -for me.

The right place to be.

CHERRY HEALEY: Soft, squishy
brie packs a smelly punch.

But at the extreme end
of the cheeseometer--

Holy moly.

- -is this goat's cheese.

Wow.

That is a very intense
smell, to be polite.

So this is a
washed-rind cheese.

We wash the cheese every
single day to grow a rind on it

that is made from bacteria.

So the offensive smell
is caused by the bacteria.

It's given off
by the bacteria.

CHERRY HEALEY: The smell
is only one of the things

the bacteria are producing.

They're also altering the taste
and texture of the cheese.

Now, I never thought
I would say this,

but can I help you
wash your cheeses?

ROGER: You can absolutely help
while I wash my cheeses, yes.

This is so weird.

The bacteria we're
encouraging to grow

are already in the
air, which makes

them unique to this location.

ROGER: 10 miles down
the road there'll

be a different
bacteria, which will

create perhaps a different color
and also a different flavor.

I can only make this particular
cheese, this particular taste,

here.

CHERRY HEALEY: That's
smell explained.

Ooh.

Yes, a cheese board.

Now there's another
mystery I want to solve.

Why are there holes
in Swiss cheese?

Again, that's
caused by bacteria.

What we get in Swiss cheese,
you get little spores

of hay dust in the milk.

It's perfectly safe.

There's no harm from
it, and that just

happens to be the
perfect breeding ground

for the bacteria to grow on.

The bacteria is eating
some of the cheese,

and it's producing
carbon dioxide.

There's big holes.

Yeah, yeah.

They do cause this
sort of pocket of air,

but it can't escape
out of the cheese.

So it just keeps
growing, and then you

end up with this bubble
inside the cheese.

It's pretty amazing.

That's actually incredible.

So far, bacteria
seem to be the answer

to all my cheesy questions.

What is the blue in Stilton?

So the blue is--
it's not a bacteria.

It's not?

It's a mold, but we do add
it with the starter cultures

at the start when
we make the cheese.

CHERRY HEALEY: Mold is
a microscopic fungus.

On bread that's gone
off, it can be harmful,

but most cheese molds don't
produce the same toxins.

But it's perfectly
safe for people to eat

and has a tremendous flavor.

Not made in Somerset,
unfortunately.

We're not allowed
to make Stilton,

but it's one of the best
blue cheeses around.

CHERRY HEALEY: Like
champagne and Parma ham,

Stilton has protected
status of origin.

So this is Stilton as well.

How come they look so
completely different?

Where's the mold?

OK.

This is a young Stilton before
it's developed the blue mold.

You'll see very
fine cracks in it,

and that's where the blue mold
will grow at a later stage.

So the spores are
already in there.

They just haven't grown yet.

Why haven't they grown?

ROGER: They can't breathe.

So they need oxygen.
So there's no oxygen

in that cheese at the moment.

So the mold can't
grow on the inside.

So how do you
get the oxygen in?

So we get the oxygen in by
using a stainless-steel needle.

CHERRY HEALEY: It's
a technique developed

at least 200 years ago.

ROGER: And we just basically
push it in the cheese

at an angle, all the way in.

CHERRY HEALEY: There she blows.

So that is like
opening the windows.

ROGER: That is
opening the window.

So that the lovely spores
can have enough fuel--

Absolutely.

- -to start growing.

Yeah.

CHERRY HEALEY: When it's
about four weeks old,

a Stilton is pierced around 100
times, which allows the mold

spores to spread,
creating its blue veins

and distinctive tang.

It is very artistic.

It's probably like a snowflake.

You could cut it,
and every time, it

would be a different pattern.

CHERRY HEALEY: It's beautiful.

So there we have it.

The huge variety of
cheeses that we enjoy

are all thanks to
mold and bacteria.

They are the unlikely
heroes of the cheese board.

GREGG WALLACE: Thanks to
our bacteria and three

months of maturing, the cheddar
for our processed cheese

is ready.

And a new delivery
is made every week

to the factory in Gateshead.

The company, run by a
charity, has been making

cheesy products since
1924, and they all

start in the preparation room.

There's 200 kilos of cheddar
waiting for me and New Product

Officer Sharon Cunningham
to begin turning

it into spreadable cheese.

Here?

Yeah, just there.

Right.

How do you get that into
a little squeezy tube?

SHARON: Now, we're
gonna cut it in half.

GREGG WALLACE: Like this?

SHARON: Yeah, yeah.

Crying out loud.

The cheddar is in
20 kilo blocks,

and we need to chop them up so
the factory's machines can cope

with this very dense cheese.

Do you know what?

It's better if you wiggle it.

GREGG WALLACE: I need enough
cheddar for 5,400 tubes.

How many of those have
I got to cut in half?

You've got to cut 196
kilograms, so there's about--

well, you've cut that one.

About another nine of them.

Yeah.

Can you phone me
wife and tell her

I'm gonna be late for dinner?

Right, OK.

On the scale?

SHARON: Yes.

You're getting the hang
of that now, Gregg.

That is physically really,
like, quite demanding.

It takes me 20 minutes
of solid slicing.

Ah.

That'll do.

I've never been
so relieved to see

the back of a piece of cheese.

But it's not the only
kind we're using.

We've also got 144
kilos of Gouda.

Together, they'll make up 42% of
our finished spreadable cheese.

Why do you add Gouda?

SHARON: Because Gouda
is a milder flavor.

Very mild.

- Compare it to that.
- Oh, now.

Give us a bit.

Crying out loud.

Just done 20, 30 kilo
of cheddar for you.

And what do I get?

What wouldn't fill the
stomach of an average mouse.

That is a lovely,
strong, mature cheddar.

- Yes.
- But that's too strong for you?

Yes.

So you put the Gouda in to
make it milder, basically.

- SHARON: Yeah.
- Right.

How much Gouda?

I'm frightened to ask.

SHARON: 144 it'll be.

GREGG WALLACE:
Thankfully, the Gouda is

soft enough to go in as it is.

We still need 15 kilos.

Go on.

Put that on.

That's a total of 340
kilos of solid cheese

that will go into
our squeezy tubes.

Yes!

SHARON: Yay.

GREGG WALLACE: I've
gone right off cheese.

I can imagine.

GREGG WALLACE: Cheddar was
first sold as a convenience food

a whole century ago.

Ruth is finding out how
it all began with food

historian Polly Russell.

Polly.

Hello.

- Great to see you again.
- You, too.

You, too.

So when and where do
we see the beginning

of processed cheese?

Well, we have to
go back 100 years.

I'm gonna go back to
Chicago, and it starts

with a man whose name
will be familiar to you,

James Lewis Kraft.

- Oh.
- Familiar?

Oh.

Yes, it is.

And he was the son of a
German immigrant farmer,

and he was delivering cheese
to Chicago on the back

of horse-drawn cars.

He wanted to find
a way to produce

cheese that would
not deteriorate,

that would remain
totally stable.

Before modern refrigeration,
cheese went off quickly

in the hot Chicago summers.

But Kraft found a
way to stabilize it,

giving it a much
longer shelf life.

And I have a pattern
here from 1960.

Yeah, the improved process
of sterilizing cheese.

By sterilizing the cheese,
it is not going to deteriorate,

and that's what
this patent is for.

OK.

I'll beat you.

RUTH: We're recreating the
very first process cheddar by

following the original patent.

It doesn't actually specify
what sort of cheddar to use.

We're using a sort of quite
mature farmhouse cheddar.

There are no other ingredients.

The patent simply requires
the cheese to be heated.

A temperature of 175
degrees Fahrenheit,

maintained for a period
of 10 or 15 minutes,

is ample to ensure
thorough sterilization.

RUTH: Processing complete.

We pour it into a
container to set.

So that's it.

We've got some sterile
processed cheese.

Once cool, it's
ready for sampling.

Oh.

Oh my.

That's horrible.

That's just vile.

It's the texture thing.

It's like butter and chalk
mixed together, isn't it?

Yeah.

RUTH: It's hard to imagine that
this is what the inventor had

in mind, and it tastes nothing
like today's processed cheese.

So this time, we're adding an
ingredient that isn't mentioned

in the patent, but
that's essential when

combining fats with liquids.

We're gonna use an emulsifier.

Now, I suspect that Kraft used
an emulsifier back in 1916

because they were around then.

[music playing]

Completely different.

And that's just that little
bit of emulsifier and nothing

- else.
- Yeah.

It's really bound everything
together, hasn't it?

This silky processed
cheese was sold in blocks

and made its creator
extremely rich.

By 1930, it's estimated that 40%
of all cheese sold in America

was produced in Kraft factories.

We're talking about
processed cheese,

but I tend to think of it,
you know, like, presliced.

Yes.

Norman Kraft, brother
of James, in 1935,

wanted to work out a way
to make processed cheese

even more convenient
for the consumer

and produced sliced cheese.

So what Norman worked out was
that if you put the molten

cheese on a cold
stainless steel top

and then rolled it with a cold
stainless steel rolling pin,

it would remain pliable
enough to get it into slices.

My goodness.

Look at that.

So that is your processed
cheese slice, isn't it?

That's your
processed cheese slice.

Yep.

And that first becomes
available in 1950.

Have we improved it?

It's much easier to eat.

The sharpness is gone, but so
is all that horrible texture.

Mm-hmm.

This is what you expect
from modern processed cheese.

RUTH: It took the US by
storm, its convenience

making it an instant
fast-food hit

and giving us those American
classics, grilled cheese

and cheeseburgers.

GREGG WALLACE: In
Gateshead, we're

ready to process our blend
of hard cheddar and Gouda.

Cooking it up will give it a
long life, but how on Earth

are we going to make
it soft and spreadable?

OK, where do we start?

Right.

Dose the water.

- Do you want to do it?
- Just put that down?

Yeah.

And then you press that one.

GREGG WALLACE: It needs
177 liters of water.

Right.

What goes in now?

The liquid cheese.

Liquid cheese?

Yeah.

But that's what we're
supposed to be doing,

turning this hard
cheese to liquid cheese.

What we're pumping in is cheese
made using different production

methods which keep it soft.

The liquid base is
essential for making

and keeping our cheese squeezy.

What goes in next?

Milk powder.

It'll make it a
little bit sweeter.

Wah.

Now, what goes in?

We put in the whey powder.

In there?

Yep.

GREGG WALLACE:
The whey will make

our base thicker and creamier.

It's a bit hubble-bubble.

Next, it's those
all-important emulsifiers--

- Stick it in?
- Yep.

GREGG WALLACE: --that
will stop the fats

and liquids separating.

And starch will thicken the mix
like adding cornflour to gravy.

But there's still
something crucial missing.

Can I put the cheese in now?

No, we have to
whizz it up first.

Come on, then.
Lid down?

Yep, lid down.

Is it gonna take off?

After nearly nine hours
of active production,

at last, we're ready for
the star of the show--

So can I put the cheese in?

Yep.

GREGG WALLACE: --and
that big punch of flavor.

Right now, that's
all liquid, right?

Yeah, it is.

That's like throwing a lump
of cheddar into a milkshake.

Yeah.

So what do we do
now, stir it around?

Yeah, yeah.

We need to mix it up.

Agitator.

- Heating.
- Heat.

Yes?

Yep.

Put it on auto.

On auto.

It's a bit space age for
a bit of cheese, innit?

Inside, a 12-inch steel
blade strong enough

to cut through the cheddar.

And the giant blender
doubles as an oven,

melting the cheese
at 95-degrees Celsius

and spreading it
through the migs.

on toast, but are you
making it correctly?

Cherry has been getting
the recipe for success.

CHERRY HEALEY: I'm heading
to the University of Redding

to meet food experimenter
Dr. Stuart Farrimond.

Hey, Dr. Stu.

Hey, Cherry.

Good to see you.

So are there any golden rules?

There is some serious
science behind how to make

the perfect cheese on toast.

Let's start with the base,
the foundation, the vehicle

for the cheese, the bread.

Now, I don't know if
you've noticed this,

but when you toast brown, it
never comes out quite as good

as white bread.

And there's good
reasons for that.

The brown bread contains a
substance called ferulic acid.

That stops this wonderful
browning reaction

that goes on on the top.

So I prefer brown
bread because I

think it has more flavor.
STUART: Mm-hmm.

And I know it's
got more fiber.

But you're saying that
for cheese on toast,

white is preferable.

If we just think
about taste and flavor,

then you should go for white.

CHERRY HEALEY: And Dr.
Stu recommends presliced.

So you might think, let's go
for the chunky, extra thick--

Yeah, let's get
the chunky one.

- -getting more bread in there.

Yeah.

But most of the flavor is
coming from this browning

reaction on the outside.

And so medium works out to
be a really good compromise.

So the next big debate,
butter or no butter?

- Butter.
- Really?

Not if you're thinking
about your health,

but the flavors that come
from that browning reaction

blend very well with fat, which
is why if you have a dry piece

of toast, you don't
get the flavor

from it because you haven't got
the fat there to release it.

And do we need to
spread it carefully?

STUART: You need to get
it right to the very edges

because this is going
to let the very edge,

which isn't going to have cheese
on it, have some flavor to it.

And also, it'll help
prevent it from burning

when it's under the grill.

CHERRY HEALEY: Next
up, the cheese.

I've got mild, medium,
and extra mature cheddar.

So which one is
the cheese of dreams?

The best melting cheese is
either the mild or the medium.

I would have thought you'd go
for the extra mature cheddar.

The longer that a
cheese is aged for,

the proteins that
hold it together,

they become so tightly
intertwined with one another

that they can't soften
quickly enough when

you put it under the grill.

So it's important that you
have a fairly young cheese

if you want it to melt well.

CHERRY HEALEY: I always
slice, but Dr. Stu insists on

grating and careful measuring.

50 grams of cheese
is the optimum amount.

So I've probably
got about 200 grams.

The accuracy doesn't stop there.

Now, you would have
thought you should have it

really close--

Yes.

- -to cook it well.

But the surprising
thing is, is that if you

double the distance, the
heat only drops by a third.

So at this distance, you get a
nice, even spread of the heat.

CHERRY HEALEY: That's a
scientific 18 centimeters.

You want a medium temperature,
about 130 degrees C,

because that's the temperature
at which the browning

reactions will start.

CHERRY HEALEY: Science
aside, cheese on toast

is a beautiful thing.

STUART: Look at that.

CHERRY HEALEY: Look at that.

But my slapdash approach
won't win any beauty prizes.

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear me.

So mine is bad.

Are there are any condiments
that you can use to really

take it to another level?

I like Worcester sauce.

I'd say put it on at the
end, and that heightens

the flavor of the cheese and all
the flavors that are in there.

CHERRY HEALEY: We're
going to try mine first.

I mean, it's not bad.

It's not bad.

It's cheese, and it's toast.

How bad can it be?

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

But quite hard to eat.

It's like eating
through a leather sole.

Mm-hmm.

Let's try my cheese special.

Oh, it looks really nice.

- It looks better.
- Ready?

Cheers.

OK.

Mm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

I mean, it's just
the yummiest thing.

It's lovely and flavorful.

Mm.

So I can safely say that
you've taken a household

staple to a new level.

I've given it the
science treatment.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: At the
factory, our 788 kilos

of processed cheese
mix has been cooking

and blending for 35 minutes.

Big cheesy smell.

Fabulous.

Right.

What's next?

Put the jalapenos in.

GREGG WALLACE: The extra
flavor for our batch--

Chilies away!

- -is a whopping 22 kilos of
red and green chili peppers.

I'm guessing the
green one's bitter.

Yeah.

And the red one is sweeter.

Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: One last mix
and five minutes steaming

to cook the frozen jalapenos.

Have we got cheese?

We have got cheese, yeah.

Come on.

Are you gonna have a look?

GREGG WALLACE: And our
spreadable cheese is ready.

Wow.

I don't mind telling you.

That aroma is lovely.

That's a massive
fondue, isn't it?

It is.

So are we ready to
pull this out or--

No, we need to
take a sample first.

That is red hot.

It is.

Shall we?

Yep.

Cheese!

We got cheese.

Before we can use
our hot jalapeno mix,

it has to pass Sharon's
quality checks.

I just can't imagine what
tests you have to do on cheese.

What do you have to test it for?

We're looking at the
consistency of it, so--

It's runny.

It is, yeah.

But if it was a lot runnier
than that, we'd be worried.

Obviously, we need to taste it.

- Taste it?
- Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I'm your man.

I get the tang from the cheddar.

And I get the heat
from the chili.

Is that what you want?

Definitely.

OK.

So we'll have to put this
sample in that machine.

What's it, taking an X-ray?

Not an X-ray as such.

It's like a fingerprint.

So it'll shine light
into the cheese

and reflect it back to tell
you what the fat and moisture

and the salt content of it is.

GREGG WALLACE: Our
blend aces the tests.

Is that it?
That's done?

That's it.

That cheese is ready
to go into tubes?

- It is.
- Sharon.

- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.

- Thank you, Gregg.
- Thanks for your patience.

And you, yes.

GREGG WALLACE: Our
hot chili cheese

travels 30 meters and into one
of these 1,500-liter tanks.

The factory makes up to
four flavors at a time.

So in here, there's also
salmon, prawn, and ham.

Rob Thorogood is the
production manager.

Rob.

Hiya.

Gregg.

I need to get cheese from
there into the squeezy tubes.

Right.

Gregg, your cheese currently
is in holding tank one.

We need to get it
into filler one.

And you do it
with these hoses?

With these hoses.

GREGG WALLACE: In this
factory, there are four filling

stations, and it's
vital that my mixture

is sent to the right one.

So just like an old
telephone exchange.

It is.

So this one here,
that is clearly pumping.

And actually, that is red hot.

What are the challenges
with moving cheese?

One, to keep it hot
so it stays liquid

and to keep it
moving, continuously

moving all the time.

But if this doesn't stay
hot, it will start to go thick.

It will.

No one wants pipes full
of solid cheese, right?

Definitely not.

GREGG WALLACE: How long have
you got to move it through?

You've got about an
hour to keep it moving.

Right.

That, unscrew it?

Unscrew it.

And then tighten it
with the big spanner.

You push the green button.

Your cheese is now
on its way over.

Yeah, OK.

That's moving.

Gallons of red
hot liquid cheese.

It's quite scary.

It is.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: My hot and
squeezy jalapeno mix has

reached its filling station.

Right.
What's this?

These are the tubes.

Ah.

We're going to
fill 5,400 of them

with our 810 kilos
of processed cheese.

So Gregg, this is what
you call the finger picker.

A finger picker.

It picks 16
tubes up at a time.

GREGG WALLACE: The machine
is lifting them straight

from their delivery box.

Two rubber disks go inside,
captures it, flips it over,

and then it gets pulled up
by what you call a ring.

Oh, I can see.

It's like a big fork.

The tubes are spun
into the right position

with pinpoint accuracy.

And those two blue lights--

it's more lights-- is
looking for this blue mark

all the time.

That will align them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

If it wasn't the right
way around, were it bent,

it might bend down the
middle of the info.

And you want it
to seal like that?

Like that, every time.

Yeah.

Every time.

Clever, clever.

The empty tubes are in place.

And above the machine is
our vats of jalapeno cheese,

bubbling away at
85 degrees Celsius.

So the cheese is up
there in that hopper.

How is it getting
into those tubes?

What look like
steel udders, inside

there is a metal spindle.

The cheese comes
down, starts filling.

And as it starts to put the
hot cheese in, it comes away.

Yep.

GREGG WALLACE: So it's
got the right amount.

150 grams goes into
each tube, leaving

enough space to seal it in.

Now, there's a
400-degree blast of air.

It's so hot, it melts the
ends of the tubes together.

And finally, the machine
neatly trims off the edges.

State of the art engineering
so that we can squirt

some cheese out of a tube.

Yep.

GREGG WALLACE: It's
taken 45 minutes

to fill my batch of tubes.

Now, they're weighed and
X-rayed to make sure there's

nothing inside but our mix.

Now, what happens to
our tubes of cheese?

Now, the tubes go
into the blast chiller,

ready for packing
for the customers.

Surprisingly, the rather
refined cheese cracker

started life as this, the
hardtack ship's biscuit.

Made for sailors to eat
on long sea voyages,

they were thick and tough.

That is rock hard.

In 1831, a factory
baking ship's biscuits

was established here in Carlisle
by Jonathan Dodgson-Carr.

Mr. Carr went on to develop a
thinner ship's biscuit that was

much more delicate, and fit
for the captain's table,

and advertised to be
eaten with cheese.

These table-water biscuits
were an instant hit

and have been made
here ever since.

Hi, Tony.
Lovely to meet you.

Hi, Cherry.

Nice to meet you.

So what's happening right now?

We're just about
to set a mix up.

CHERRY HEALEY: Tony Kidd makes
7 million crackers every day.

It's a deceptively
simple recipe, 600 kilos

of flour mixed with
155 liters of water,

plus a little oil and salt.

Oh, wow.

Look at that.

God, it is so crumbly.

The mix is sent
downstairs, where Tony

is going to show me the
secret of transforming

it into a crispy cracker.

TONY: It then goes
through a set of rollers.

CHERRY HEALEY: Oh, look
how-- can I touch it?

Yeah, yeah.

So when it comes out of
that set of rollers--

CHERRY HEALEY: Wow.

TONY: --that's about three
and a half centimeters.

I mean, it's like
a paving stone.

It's so heavy and dense.

Yeah.

But yeah, it's really,
really bound together tightly.

This dense, heavy
dough is thinned down

through a series of
rollers to just four

and a half millimeters.

So what on Earth
is going on here?

So it just goes through
our lamination process.

What is a lamination process?

To me, lamination
is when you put

a plastic sheet over something.

TONY: Basically, the
lamination puts layers in it.

So it's a layering process.

It's a layering process.

So you've now got
six sheets of dough.

Why have you done that?

We'll see further
down the process.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
layers are flattened

and rerolled until the sheet
is just 1.5 millimeter thick.

Oh, here we go.

And then finally--

All right.

- -we have our final sheet.

Oh, that is-- it
looks like material.

It's so thin.

It looks like a kind
of cotton sheet.

Yeah.

So is it now
ready to be cut out?

It is, yes.

CHERRY HEALEY: The dough
speeds under a cutting

roller, which punches out more
than 5,000 crackers a minute.

Oh, look.

Here we are.

Oh, these are amazing.

- God, they're so thin.
- Yeah.

- Can I pick one up?
- Yeah, you can pick one up.

Ooh.

It is quite thin.

It's incredibly thin.

I mean, look at that.

That is paper thin, nearly.

Yeah.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
delicate disks head

into a 150-foot oven, heated to
an intense 370-degrees Celsius,

emerging two and a half minutes
later as hot crisp crackers.

Hooray.

Look at these.

Oh my gosh.

Here they are.

Can we take one off the line?

They are very warm.

You've got-- you've
got to move fast.

- Wow.
- They are very warm.

Can I try it?

Yeah, you can try it, yeah.

Mm.

It's really flaky.

Is that because of that
lamination process?

It is, yeah.

Yeah, that's--
that's the six layers

of flakiness that it gives
you, that lamination process.

And that's why you
get that lovely crunch.

Yeah, the bite.

CHERRY HEALEY: Over 150 years
of biscuit-making tradition--

Coming to a cheese
board near you.

And to think, it all started
from a rock hard ship's

biscuit.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE: In Gateshead, my
5,400 tubes of jalapeno cheese

has arrived in packaging.

- That's cold now.
- Oh, definitely.

Last time I touched
it, it was red hot.

Now, it's really cold.

Below 5 degrees.

GREGG WALLACE: The
tubes have been

blast chilled at -15 degrees C.

Now, they're cold.

What happens to them?

So now they get
put into trays of 12.

And this is our robot.

I know it's weird, but it
seems to me like the machine

is really pleased with itself.

It's lovely.

It's stacking them up like
soldiers on parade there.

- It is.
- Isn't it?

It's fantastic.

We all need a machine like
this to organize our homes,

don't we?

That's how I would
like my sock drawer.

Mate, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's 11 hours and 56 minutes
since production began

with milk, and now my tubes
are being loaded, 15 at a time,

into 450 boxes.

They travel into a massive
800-square meter chiller,

and from there, orders are
collected for distribution.

Today, Managing
Director Paul Looney is

sending them off to the shops.

Oi.

How are you, Gregg?

You're the big boss.

Cheese ready to go?

Absolutely.

So as accurately as you
can, how many actual tubes

leave your factory every day?

Every day, Gregg, we'll
ship about 115,000 tubes.

Seven days a week?

Seven days a week,
across the whole country.

We can't be eating that many.

Trust me.

You are.

This is our last
pallet, isn't it?

Yeah, it's looking
like he's ready to go.

- Should we let him load?
- Yep.

Take it away, Alan.

GREGG WALLACE: From here, it's
distributed to supermarkets

all over the UK.

It also has fans as far afield
as Malta, Greece, and Korea.

What a journey for
a piece of cheese,

from a creamery in North Wales
to a factory in Gateshead.

We started off with
enormous blocks of cheddar

that I had to cut in half,
and then add Gouda, then

a lot of other
ingredients, then cook

it all up, all so that it would
fit inside a squeezy tube.

Amazing.

[music playing]