Frequently Asked Questions

What's different about Pinehedge Farms Yogourt?
We were the first certified organic yogourt maker in Ontario. Virtually everything involved in the making of yogourt is done on our own farm. We grow our own feed, use milk from our own cows, and make and bottle the yogourt.

What is organic farming?
Organic farming is a conscientious soil-building program designed to enhanced and encourage optimum soil health. The organic farmer cultivates this soil without the use of chemically formulated fertilizers. This enables the naturally-occuring nutrients in the soil - and not the fertilizer - to pass into crops. As a result, you have the most natural and healthy food products you can buy, completely free of any chemical inputs.

Why does the cream rise to the top?
Because we do not homogenize our milk. In its natural state, milk contains different size fat globules. The process of homogenization makes these globules all the same size, resulting in absorption of all the fat molecules, whether our bodies need them or not.

Why use glass jars?
We believe in the genuine integrity of glass to promote the true taste of our yogourt. And by using glass containers, of course, we reduce waste by reusing the jars and recycling the lids.

How is organic Yogourt/Kefir actually produced?
The whole process actually begins with milking the cows and lasts a full day. It occurs twice a week and is more easily explained in a diagram. The following chart traces the path of the milk as it gets processed into yogourt or kefir.

1. MILKING: During the summer, our cows remain in pasture, except when we milk them twice a day (a total of about four hours). This ensures wholesome milk production.
2. STORAGE: A 2500 litre tank holds the milk for shipment or for yogourt. When the time comes to make yogourt or kefir, the milk is pumped across to the processing plant via overhead pipeline.
3. PASTEURIZATION: At the processing plant, the incoming milk fills a giant vat and is heated to pasteurization temperature. The culture is added after some cooling and fermentation begins.
4. FILLING: We use glass jars and plastic tubs to store our product. The filling machine is positioned over the containers and set to place a certain amount of the cultured milk into each one.
5. INCUBATION: After the bottles are filled and laid in the trays, they are quickly brought to the incubator, a sealed room with a constant temperature needed for the culture to ferment.
6. REFRIGERATION: After fermentation is complete, the yogourt leaves the incubator and is put in cold storage. This ensures stabilization of the culture. It is kept here, then packaged and stored until shipment.
7. PACKAGING: When the cultures have stabilized after the cooling, we pack the jars and plastic tubs into boxes to await distribution.

Here's what some of our customers have said about our products.

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This website copyright © 1998-99 Pinehedge Farms, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All original graphics copyright © Chris Cull 1998.

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