Cheesemaker Carrie Rimes hopes to bring a new quality and consistency to soft cheeses by combining traditional cheesemaking techniques with the addition of biochar.

Biochar acts as a buffer, helping to control pH and bacterial activity. Therefore, it could help produce the difficult-to-make soft cheese ‘Brefi Bach’.

Rimes’ aim is to improve the stability of the production process, reduce waste and improve the consistency of the finished product.

With the help of the Three C Labs team, initial trials have just begun to introduce biochar into the cheese-making process. To see if and how biochar affects the product, the amount and type of biochar will be varied.

If the initial trials are successful, further research will be carried out to identify a food-grade biochar.

To find out more about Cosyn Cymru, please visit their website at http://www.cosyn.cymru/en/home/