A forming machine for making pasta filata cheese sticks, comprising a motorized cylindrical drum with a horizontal axis, which has a series of mutually parallel grooves, a body provided with a concave surface with a profile shaped like a cylindrical sector that has the same diameter as the drum and is arranged adjacent thereto, the body having an elongated slit that leads onto the concave surface and is adapted to receive pasta filata under pressure; the grooves have a profile that is elongated along the longitudinal dimension of the drum and the slit is extended obliquely with respect to them.

Disclosed is a method for the manufacturing of pasta filata cheese, wherein skim milk is first supplied to a transport system having a plurality of separate transport containers, wherein curd is produced from the skim milk in the region of a first process section of the transport system, by the addition of acidification cultures; wherein the curd produced is coagulated in the region of a second process section, wherein the coagulated curd is exposed to an acidification process for an acidification period in the region of a third process section; and wherein the acidified curd is removed from the transport system in an outgoing section at the end of the acidification period and is supplied to a subsequent process step in which the acidified curd is divided into portions. The curd remains in the transport system up to the removal of the curd after the end of the acidification process.