Who doesn't melt at the thought of home made cheese?
 
But making good cheese isn't as easy as you think. I can't count the number of wheels I fed to the dogs because they were a disaster.
 
I make consistently delicious cheese now because I've learned from so many mistakes! You can save yourself a lot of wasted time and milk by letting me teach you what to do, and what not to do, in cheese making.
 
In this class you will make alpine tomme cheese. Almost all of the principles you will learn from making alpine tomme can apply to other hard cheeses, like cheddar or Swiss. In my opinion, this style of cheese making is easier than  other hard cheeses.
 
This class is for serious home cheese makers. It takes 4 hours. During the time that we aren't actively cheesing, we will discuss factors that affect cheese making such as milk type, rennet, starter, acidity, salt, cheese presses, and aging.
 
You may bring gently pasteurized, nonhomogenized milk, or you may purchase raw milk from me for $15/gallon.
 
If you have a cheese press, you are encouraged to bring it. If you use my cheese press, you will need to come back the next day to pick up your wheel of cheese after it has pressed overnight.
 
You will take your cheese home to age it. If you have a basement that is cooler than the rest of the house, it's easy to create an aging place for your cheese. Another option that many people use is a second refrigerator that is kept warmer than a typical fridge, around 55F. Also, you can vacumm seal your cheese and age it in your regular cold refrigerator where it will age a bit slower, but still be delicious.
 
There are no pre-set dates for this class. If you are interested in learning to make aged cheese, please contact me so that we can find a time that works for both of us, then you can purchase this class.