Our cheese making courses will introduce you to making cheese at home.  Cheese making is a fantastic artisan skill which has been practised for thousands of years.  Many of us love cheese but how many of us understand the science and skill of small scale cheese making production?  These one day introduction to cheese making courses are a fun way of picking up some cheese making skills and making cheese in a friendly group environment.

What is cheese?

Cheese is made from the milk of mammals and is produced through a process which involves the separating out of the milk proteins and fats from the substarate to form the curd.  The agent that is used to separate the proteins out is rennet which is produced naturally in the gut.  The curds are then separated out from the whey and drained to form what we know and love as cheese.  This process can be very quick (just a few hours and involves gravity) or it can take days in the case of hard cheeses and will involve a cheese press to drive out more of the moisture.

Our cheese-making courses

Cheese is the ultimate artisan food; wholesome, tasty and totally irresistible. On this one day cheese making course you will learn how to make three different cheeses from scratch under the expert tuition of Phil Heler. Phil learnt his skills at Reaseheath College and as well as working in the family cheese making business in Cheshire he has also worked as a cheese maker in New Zealand.

Things we explore on our cheese-making courses

• How important temperature is for cheesemaking
• Why you need rennet and starter culture
• Why moulds such as penicillium candidum are used in some cheeses and how these affect the appearance and taste
• How the curds and whey form
• How the size you cut your curds will affect the texture of your cheese
• Which cheese moulds to choose and how to turn your cheese and then store and mature it

What we make on our cheese-making courses:

• Lemon cheese -  a simple cheese which is very versatile and can be used in canapes or made in to a roulade with a host of additions such as fresh herbs, smoked salmon, chutney, edible flowers
• Mozzarella - a fresh cheese which can be used in salads with basil and tomatoes or melted on pizza
• Camembert style cheese - a fabulous camembert which you can enjoy with crackers and grapes or bake it in the oven and serve with crusty bread