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Curd Nerd Academy Now Open

14/02/2019 By Gavin Webber 4 Comments

Finally, I’ve done it! I made my first online cheese making course, the Curd Nerd Academy.

Recently I worked diligently on producing an online cheese making course so that I could share my cheese making skills globally and not just locally here in Melbourne, Australia. Local classes were just that, confined to my local area and people had to travel many kilometres to attend them. It also inhibited people outside my area from learning the necessary skills to make their own cheese at home.

So I am glad to announce that the Curd Nerd Academy Beginners cheese making course is now available to enrol in.

By the end of the course you will be able to make nine amazing cheeses in your own home and have a thorough the knowledge of the cheese making process.

Here is a video teaser that I created that has more information.

So for those of you who are interested, you can look at the full course curriculum at courses.littlegreenworkshops.com.au.

I hope to see you in the Curd Nerd Academy!

Filed Under: Workshops Tagged With: Workshops

Why I Am Passionate About Cheese Making at Home

12/12/2014 By Gavin Webber Leave a Comment

Why I am passionate about cheese making at home
Gavin Webber – Home Cheese Maker

This post is an extract from my cheese making ebook, Keep Calm & Make Cheese, and adapted from a blog post on www.littlegreenworkshops.com.au.

I have a confession to make.

My name is Gavin Webber, and I love making cheese.  I also love teaching people how to make their own cheese at home.

All right, maybe not so much of a confession, though you could class me as an amateur cheese maker, who is mad about making his own cheese at home. In fact, I like cheese making so much that I make at least 1kg (2.2lbs) of cheese of various forms, once a month, sometime more often.

Sounds a bit excessive, doesn’t it?  But once bitten by the cheese making bug, there is no looking back!

Now that I have whet your appetite, I bet you want to know how I started on this cheese-making journey and how I went from cheese consumer to cheese producer, and then cheese instructor.

All right then, here is my story.

The Dairy Farm

I grew up on a dairy farm where my family managed about 120 milking cows, a couple of bulls, and the odd sheep or two. We also kept chickens and ducks to provide us with fresh eggs. There were even a couple of pigs for meat.

Milk was always in abundance, as you would expect on a dairy farm, and as a child my brothers, sister, and I would drink fresh raw milk by the bucket full.

Dad would also extract cream from some of the milk so that my Mother could make butter, and drink the skimmed milk.

With all this abundant milk, the one thing you would naturally think that we would make would be cheese. Alas, this was not the case.

My parents did not make cheese of any form, not even yoghurt, and we grew up thinking that processed cheese, which came wrapped in tin foil, and packaged in a blue rectangular cardboard box was what cheese was supposed to taste like. You did not even need to refrigerate it. My Dad used to call it ‘soap suds’, but being uninformed kids, we did not know if cheese got any better than that rectangle block.

This was back in the 1960’s and ‘70’s and the Australian palate was a lot different from the multicultural flavours we have in our diet today. The country was still growing in population through immigration from mainly Mediterranean backgrounds. This influx of different cultures brought with it a change in diet from the bland meat and two veg, to an abundance of gastronomic delights that Australia is now renowned for worldwide.

My First Real Cheese

 One such multicultural experience introduced me to a milk product other than butter and ‘soap suds’. I was visiting a friend, whose parents were of Greek origin and they invited me to stay for lunch.  At the meal they served marinated Kalamata olives, fresh flat bread, preserved salami, and best of all, homemade Greek Yoghurt and freshly made Feta.

The memory is still vividly etched into my neural pathways, and I can still taste the sharpness of the Yoghurt and the saltiness of the Feta. It was a taste experience that I shall never forget.

To this day, I still do not know why my parents chose to forgo cheese making with all that lovely raw milk at hand. Maybe it was because they didn’t know how or because the knowledge was not passed down by the previous generation. Possibly the ingredients were difficult to come by. Whatever the reason, I was privileged to live such a wonderful childhood on the dairy farm.

Making My Own

Fast forward to February 2009 which was a momentous month. It was the month that I made my very first cheese.

But why was it momentous?

Well, from the day that I first tasted those Greek dairy products, I had always wondered how they made cheese at home. Most cheeses I knew about were made under hygienic conditions in a factory.

Now was my chance. Our local community centre was hosting a cheese making course, and to cut a long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed the five-hour course. I made some Feta and then purchased a cheese making kit afterwards so that I could make my very own cheese at home.passionate about cheese making - Feta in brine

Finally, my wish came true and I created a delicious feta like the one I remembered all those years ago.

Since that very first cheese, I have gone on to make many more different types including the following;

Feta, Wensleydale, Farmhouse Cheddar, Emmental, Stilton, Camembert, Parmesan, Ricotta, Romano, Pepper Jack, Monterey Jack, Ossau-Iraty with green peppercorns, Caerphilly and Mozzarella, to name a few, all of which are covered in my cheese making book “Keep Calm & Make Cheese“, among others.

Passionate about Cheese Making

I am so passionate about making cheese at home that I try to seek out the freshest milk so that I can make the best cheese possible.

I also teach regular cheese making courses at the very same community house that I first learnt the process. In fact, it was my cheese making addiction that was the spark for this business, which expanded into our online shop.

I field questions during every episode for the curd nerds that take the time to email or record a voice message.  I love helping others on the path to make their own cheese at home.

After the success of Little Green Cheese, Kim and I struggled to find quality cheese making kits to recommend during our classes.  So this gave us the idea to source the best in Australia and to stock them here in our shop and after our workshops.  You can check out our entire range of cheese making kits, equipment, and ingredients on the workshops site that will set you on the right path.

So there you have it.  This is my cheese making, curd nerdy story of why I am passionate about making cheese at home.  I make the cheese and the entire family devours it quick smart!

Do you have any cheese making stories of how you got started making cheese?  I would love to hear from you via comment.

Until next time curd nerds!

Filed Under: Workshops Tagged With: eBook, Feta, Gavin, Workshops

Expanded Range of Cheese Making Kits

09/11/2014 By Gavin Webber 2 Comments

Cheese making at home, and teaching cheese making courses are but a couple of my many talents.

You see my day job is in the IT Industry, and over the last two months, I have been hard at work during my spare time putting together an e-commerce website for my darling wife Kim.

She has always wanted a store of her own, so I thought to myself, here is an opportunity to make her dreams come true, and to use my IT skills as well.

So I did.  And the result is a brand new Little Green Workshops web site, with full e-commerce capabilities.

And guess what Curd Nerds?  The very first thing I did was to move the cheese making kits that I previously sold on here to the new site and then I expanded the range of items for sale.  Exciting stuff.

I have an expanded range of cheese making kits, a variety of equipment, and a small range of cultures, moulds, and other ingredients.  I’ve even produced a paperback version of Keep Calm and Make Cheese, converting it from eBook into a thermally bound book.

Kim took all the product pictures for the site.  Here are a few of the products that she photographed to whet your appetite!

Camembert Kit
Mini Measuring Spoons
Keep Calm and Make Cheese bound edition two
Feta Kit

These kits contain the same ingredients and equipment that you may have seen me using here on the Little Green Cheese, and in my YouTube video tutorials.  Yes folks, I believe that you shouldn’t recommend or sell something if you haven’t tried it yourself and know it intimately.

So there you have it.  If you are interested starting cheese making as a hobby, then what better place to get your gear than right here.  Click through to the store to check out my expanded range of cheese making kits, equipment, and ingredients.

Anyway, now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I will get the podcast up and running again.  I apologize for the extended break.  There will be more curd nerdy fun happening soon.

Who would have thought that when I started this blog, that I would have our very own shop?  I certainly didn’t.

Until next time curd nerds, Keep Calm and Make Cheese!

Filed Under: Hardware Tagged With: eBook, Equipment, Kits, Workshops

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Podcast Reviews

  • Love it. Keep it up!
    February 12, 2022 by Corknip from Denmark

    Excellent podcast. Started the home making adventure last month and have been catching up on all the past episodes and YouTube videos. it is a gold mine of shared knowledge. Thank you!

  • So funny!!!!
    June 15, 2020 by purple quaqamale from United States

    Little green cheese is so funny

  • Great podcasts
    June 14, 2020 by Chrissy Curd Nurd from Australia

    I’ve just started cheese making at home,Gavin ‘s podcasts are so informative. I also watch his you tube tutorials. Thanks for your great work!!

  • An excellent guide to artisan cheese!
    January 14, 2020 by N.K.13 from Australia

    I recently became aware of Gavin’s lovely YouTube channel and podcast and it’s been incredible. His competence and comprehensive explanations leave you craving more. Much like a good cheese! Cheers Gavin!

  • Perfect for Cheesemakers of all levels!
    December 3, 2018 by Viki Leeasa from Thailand

    I love that this podcast does not just have helpful tips and tricks on cheese making, but also stories and news from the cheese world, as well as nice little anecdotes from the host. A big fan from Thailand!

  • If you think you want to make cheese, listen to this!
    November 30, 2018 by paulsaw from United States

    Gavin Webber’s Little Green Cheese is By Far the best podcast I have ever heard! A truly informative and quality production!

  • Great program
    October 9, 2018 by p37dg9q14 from United States

    Very informative and enjoyable podcast. I started at episode 1 and currently listening to 25. I’ll be giving cheesemaking a go in the next week. Mike J from Oceanside CA

  • Great podcast
    September 13, 2018 by nicole_elias from Australia

    I have a long commute to and from work and have worked my way through the back catalogue of these podcasts. Enjoyed every one of them and hope for many more to come. Thanks Gavin! Keep up the great work. Cheers, Nicole

  • Excellent!
    September 3, 2018 by emeldridge from United States

    Looking to take up cheesemaking sometime soon and this channel has provided all the information necessary to get started!

  • Great Resource!
    August 28, 2018 by olivestones from United States

    I have been learning to make cheese for the past year. Gavin's podcast and video series has been a tremendous resource for me. His love for the cheese-making craft is evident in the amount of research he will perform in order to answer a listener's cheese question. All thumbs up for the amount of time and energy he puts into his quality podcast! ...And he cracks me up with his attempts at pronunciation!

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