Here is a group picture of the course, and their instructor in his nice stripy apron.
I set everything up ready to go so that we would have no delays. I had 2 hours to get through 8 batches of cheese. We were using Biodynamic milk, so I was excited to see what difference this wonderful milk would make.
First of all, a little about hygene, and the principles of cheese making.
Then the first group of four got stuck into making their cheese. The stove was on the small side, but we coped okay. I think they are adding diluted citric acid at this stage.
At this stage, everyone had added their rennet, and turned off the heat for about 5 minutes to let the milk set.
Showing everyone what a clean break was, and how to do it themselves.
Stiring the curds, and bringing the temperature up to 40C.
Draining the curds from the whey.
The biodynamic milk formed a wonderful curd, and was very easy to handle for the students.
Here we are going through the microwave process. I think this is the second zap at 35 seconds.
Iced water ready to cool down the hot mozzarella.
Cooling down some boccocini. After all, they are just small mozzarella balls!
Finally, the finished product after the salt was added. The cheese was great, and I managed to get everyone through in just over 2 hours. The class sampled their cheese, and loved it! I think we now have 8 new cheesemakers in town!
A big thanks goes out to Madeleine for approaching me and inviting me to teach the class. I would love to teach another of this size.
Hi Gavin, your cheesemaking course looks like loads of fun! I was wondering if you would be interested in teaching a similar sized group in the near future?
I'm in a veggie gardening group and there are several of us who are keen to learn the cheesemaking ways. Please email me at: slowlivingessentials@hotmail.com if you're interested – I have a few questions. Sorry to post my email here, I'm not trying to be 'spammy', I couldn't seem to find an email address for you? Thanks! Christine (Macedon Ranges)