Cheesemaking Class

Well, after two full weeks, I figure it is about time to get caught up here. Last week from Monday to Thursday was the first Kentucky Cheese School. The first day was classroom training, but Tues. through Thurs. we moved into the hands on portion. Dr. Steve Zeng, from Langston University in OK was our guide through the three days of extensive training.

http://www.luresext.edu/GOATS/goat_szeng.htm

The hands on took place at the farm and creamery of Bleugrass Chevre in Lexington. I drove down every day, that was a long drive - even longer than my usual daily drive to work! The farm was beautiful, Susan, the owner, has dairy goats and does all milking and processing there on the farm. Many thanks to her for all the wonderful lunches and great conversation...I might just have to get a couple goats now - her kids are so cute! In addition to many slide presentations, we made a lot of cheeses, including: cheddar, colby, brie, camembert, chevre, cream cheese and parmesan. Here are some of the pictures from the last day of class.

Colby cheese curds

Pressing the Colby curds

Display of all the cheeses we made and tasting.

I am so excited to get my hands on some fresh milk and work on practicing at home. Of course, I need to order a press and some cultures and rennet - I want to try a Camembert (which I love), that's pretty easy, and a parmesan, but that one will be a long time before tasting as it ages for a long time. So many things to do - so little time.