Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#1

Post by speckx » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:35 PM UTC

Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?
cheeseprofessor.com

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#2

Post by JoeAltmaier » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:52 PM UTC

Will an AI be able to do this too? Probably.

Hey! I don't think it's a good idea. But if it's cheap and effective, guess how long it will take?

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#3

Post by dfxm12 » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:52 PM UTC

Just like people sometimes question the human element in judging sports, I wonder if there are cheesemakers who think these guys are simply against them or favorable to their neighbors.

One thing I've also wondered about this process. When I buy Parmigiano Reggiano, it's just sold as "Parmigiano Reggiano". There's no discernable branding beyond that (compared to the Pecorino Romano I buy, which has "Locatelli" plastered all over it). Is this true all over? Do any HNers seek out Parmigiano Reggiano from their favorite dairy?

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#4

Post by SamBam » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:55 PM UTC

I am glad that this continues to be done by hand, and expect, based on Italian attitudes towards food and tradition, that it will continue being done by hand for another hundred years.

It is interesting how important it seems to us that jobs like this remain done in the traditional way. For all their expertise, I am sure a technical solution would also easily be able to detect what they are looking for: voids within the cheese, or lack of uniform density. This does not seem to be a case where the human expertise and artistry is actually important to the final product, besides the feeling of tradition.

Perhaps the best argument for keeping traditional jobs like this is that, even if that exact job could be done by machine, replacing these humans with machines would be the start of a short process that would end up with indistrially-produced bad cheese.

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#5

Post by lores » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:58 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #3

Just like people sometimes question the human element in judging sports, I wonder if there are cheesemakers who think these guys are simply against them or favorable to their neighbors. One thing I've also wondered about this process. When I buy Parmigiano Reggiano, it's just sold as "Parmigiano Reggiano". There's no discernable branding beyond that (compared to the Pecorino Romano I buy, which has "Locatelli" plaste…

From what I understand, all parmigiano is sold through a consortium/coop. The only dairy identifying mark is three digits stencilled onto the rind.

https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/product-guide-seals-and-m...

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#6

Post by dr_dshiv » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:58 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#7

Post by BobaFloutist » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:58 PM UTC

SamBam wrote: post #4

I am glad that this continues to be done by hand, and expect, based on Italian attitudes towards food and tradition, that it will continue being done by hand for another hundred years. It is interesting how important it seems to us that jobs like this remain done in the traditional way. For all their expertise, I am sure a technical solution would also easily be able to detect what they are looking for: voids within…

The problem is it's actually a super fun thought experiment/engineering problem to try to figure out how to do this technologically, but any such attempt would (rightly) be taken as an attack on this profession because even if it was a silly blog post about overthinking a silly problem, silly blogposts are potentially upstream of (maybe even someone else) a commercial implementation that eventually destroys a profession.

It sucks.

Re: Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?

#8

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe » Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 3:59 PM UTC

The website makes me think they want lots of money. It's as if they are saying leave the cheese to the experts. As a hacker I wonder how much of that is true.