Traditional Dairy Processing
Technical Diploma · 34 credit hours · 3 semesters · Division of Food, Fermentation and Culinary Production
Butter, cultured cream, and soft cheese production using mechanical and traditional agitation methods. Includes dash, barrel, and paddle churn operation for the heritage and demonstration market.
Graduates are employed by creameries, living history sites, and agritourism operations. Instruction uses the College's three heritage churns, which are maintained by program faculty. The barrel churn dates to 1953 and requires a manual tension adjustment at thirty-minute intervals during operation; this step is covered in DAI 112 and is part of the practical assessment.
Curriculum
| Course | Title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAI 110 | Dairy Processing Fundamentals | 4 | 1 |
| FER 110 | Sanitation and Food Safety | 3 | 1 |
| MAT 104 | Applied Mathematics | 3 | 1 |
| ENG 121 | Composition I | 3 | 1 |
| DAI 150 | Churn Operation and Butter Production | 4 | 2 |
| DAI 160 | Cultured Products | 4 | 2 |
| DAI 170 | Soft Cheese Production | 3 | 2 |
| DAI 210 | Heritage and Demonstration Operations | 4 | 3 |
| DAI 220 | Plant Records and Licensing | 3 | 3 |
| DAI 280 | Production Practicum | 3 | 3 |
Graduates
The three churns are old and the program keeps them running, which is the point. My job is at a place that also keeps old things running. I learned the barrel churn on the College’s and it was the same motion.
Opal Renfro, ’24 — Creamery hand, living history site
Facilities and instruction
Instruction is delivered in the facilities of the Division of Food, Fermentation and Culinary Production. Additional photographs are collected at Campus photographs.
programs/traditional-dairy-processing · Bellweather College of Applied Technology