The World of Home Cheesemaking
Just imagine serving beautiful, handcrafted all-natural cheeses to your friends and family. Our classes will walk you through the process, step-by-step, from sourcing the best milk, through de-mystifying the simple and magical transformation of milk into delectable cheese. Classes are fun and provide a variety of opportunities to really understand all aspects of cheesemaking.
What Cheeses should I start with?
BEGINNER-LEVEL CHEESES: These cheeses can be made with minimal special ingredients and equipment and are ready to eat quickly!
- Chevre/Fromage Blanc
- Cream Cheese
- Cottage Cheese
- Feta
- Quick Mozzarella/Burrata
- Ricotta
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL CHEESES: These cheeses take a little more in terms of equipment and ingredients, you may need an aging refrigerator, and you’ll have to wait a little longer till you eat them!
- Alpine/Swiss Cheeses
- Brie & Camembert
- Colby, Havarti, Gouda
- Guido’s Italian Hard Cheese
- Manchego/Hispanico/Iberico
- Queso Fresco
ADVANCED-LEVEL CHEESES: These cheeses use one or more specialized ingredients, take a little longer to make, and you’ll have to wait even longer before you can eat them!
- Blue Cheeses
- Cheddar Curds & Pressed Cheddar
- Drunken Goat Cheese
- Washed Rind/Stinky Cheeses
Where can I find the necessary ingredients?
We usually have all the ingredients you’ll need to make cheese available for purchase at our in-person classes. Outside of class, here are a few places you can get many of the ingredients:
Locally: Cheese Importers
Online: New England Cheesemaking Supply, Cheesesupply.com, Artisan Geek
Where can I get good milk for cheesemaking?
Don’t have a goat or a cow living in your backyard? Have no fear, you can still make cheese! While better, fresher milk will make better cheese, you CAN make cheese from milks found at your local grocery store, too. Just stay away from ultra-pasteurized varieties, and if possible, try to buy non-homogenized milk (this pertains only to cow milk since goat milk is naturally homogenized). If you do want to get farm fresh milk without having to raise the dairy animal yourself, you can join a milk CSA (check out www.rawmilkcolorado.org). Here are a few local milk suppliers that we know and trust:
Briar Gate Farm in Longmont (goat milk – sometimes available – this is our farm!)
Mountain Flower Farm in Boulder (goat milk)
Table Mountain Farm in Longmont (goat milk)
Ida’s Mini Milk Cows in Longmont (cow milk)
Will I need to buy a lot of expensive equipment?
No! Most of what you’ll need to make cheese you probably already have in your home kitchen. There are a few things you may need to purchase, especially if you want to make pressed, aged cheeses, but many of these things are inexpensive or easy to make. Here’s a list of most of what you’ll need:
- Stainless Steel Pots (1/2 gallon to 3-5 gallon with lids)
- Whisk and/or Skimmer Spoon
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons (we love the mini measuring spoons from NEC!)
- Cheese Thermometer
- Butter Muslin
- Etc.
For Pressed and Aged Cheeses:
- Cheese Press
- Forms
- Aging refrigerator (a dorm or wine fridge will work)
- Ripening Boxes (you can use an assortment of plastic storage containers to make these)
Can I make aged cheeses, too?
Definitely! See the above list of equipment that you’ll need. We recommend starting with fresh and easy cheeses to get the (cheese) ball rolling, but once you’ve perfected those, it’s not too hard to move on to making pressed and aged cheeses.
For more information about Home Cheesemaking visit our BLOG
For more answers to commonly asked questions, visit our FAQ page.
