The Chunkin' Process
Three stages. One hundred and fifty-eight years. The same order every time.
Stage 1
The Rest
First, the milk is given time. We do not hurry this step, and we have never found a reason to try. Milk that is rushed is milk that gives up its chunks reluctantly; milk that is allowed to rest, in its own vessel, in a still and quiet place, gives them freely. The Rest lasts as long as the milk wants it to last. Two days for a Petite. Nine weeks for a Patriarch. No one has ever complained that a Whitford pour was rushed.
Stage 2
The Settle
In the second stage, the character begins. The milk, having rested, now settles — which is to say, the chunks announce themselves. We do not stir. We do not shake. We do not lift the lid to check on them. We simply allow The Settle to proceed without us. This is the stage the Whitfords have, for one hundred and fifty-eight years, refused to explain to outsiders. It is a private time between the milk and the hollow.
Stage 3
The Gather
In the third and final stage, the chunks are gathered. This is done by hand, in the early morning, before the light is strong. Jeb grades them as they come. The Petite and Artisan are jarred first; the Hearty and Monumental wait their turn; the Patriarch Reserve is only drawn when Otis says it is time. Each jar is stoppered with waxed cork, labeled by hand, and set on the shelf beside its kin. Then we close the shed, and we begin again.
“The milk settles when it settles. We do not rush the chunks. We have not rushed them since 1867.”
— Bill Whitford