Who are we?
The Agrovaldes artisan dairy was born as a section of the AGROVALDES SCAL Agricultural Cooperative, which produces compound feed for its livestock partners.
With the purpose of giving added value to the milk of its members, the idea of building an artisan cheese factory arises.
The cattle ranches from which the milk for the elaboration of our cheeses comes are located in the mountains of Asturias (Spain), taking advantage of the rich existing pastures for the feeding of the cattle of the cooperative.
Rebollín is the brand used to market the cooperative's products. The offer starts with the traditional Afuega'l Pitu, protected by the seal of guarantee of the regulatory council of the PDO Afuega'l Pitu (Protected Designation of Origin) and by the quality brand Alimentos del Paraíso Natural.
Elaboration process
The elaboration process consists of the following phases: reception of the milk, pasteurization, coagulation, draining of the whey, moulding, salting and maturing".
Firstly we carry out the reception of the milk, pouring it into a cold tank. Then it has to be pasteurized at 75 °C for 15 seconds. Once pasteurized, we add lactic ferments for the lactic coagulation of the milk at a temperature between 22 and 32 °C. The coagulation time is 15-20 hours.
After this period we have to mold the curd in micro-perforated molds where the cheese will have to drain between 15 and 20 hours. We will carry out the salting on the surface. In the case of Afuega'l pitu Roxu, once we have drained the curd, we will knead it with paprika and mold it again. During the maturation of the cheeses, we will turn them over to facilitate the process. Once the cheese has matured, it is vacuum packed and placed in its characteristic pyramid-shaped box.