Cheese-Making Process

The cows are milked twice a day, at about 5:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. It's all done by machine but we tried it by hand.


This milk jug holds the milk of approximately two cows. The milk is all poured into the big copper kettle.



The cheese-making process begins after the evening and morning milk have both been collected. Walter built a fire when we sat down for breakfast and slowly heated the milk. A stirring device was also put on the kettle to keep the milk churning. It slowly seperates into curds and whey. When the cheese curds are squeaky when chewed then they are ready.



Walter wrapped a cheesecloth around a thin, flexible metal rod and with two corners of the cloth held in his teeth, he rounded the rod against the walls of the cauldron and dipped the whole cloth in and scopped out the cheese.


The cheesecloth is then twisted round and all the excess milk is wrung out.



This is then pressed into molds, forcing the last of the milk out. The molds can be tightened and over the course of the day the cheese is flipped over several times. 30 cows produce approximately 4 big rounds of cheee and several smaller ones.


The previous day's cheese is printed with the date and driven over to the store houses. This cheese is then washed with a salty mixture approximately every other day. It sits in the store house ageing for a year or two.

We certainly ate a lot of this delicious cheese, as well as every variation of milk, cream, soured cheeses and milks.