A day in the life of a cheese maker!
During last week’s visit to Smith’s Country Cheese, the Boston University students got an inside look at what goes into making delicious cheese. They discovered that it is an all day process that cheese maker, Dave Smith, has been involved with for the past 26 years.
A typical day at Smith’s Country Cheese:
4am – The dairy cows are milked. Smith’s Country Cheese is home to 200 dairy cows.
8am – Milk is brought to the cheese plant and heated slowly to 99 degrees.
9:30am – Starter culture and rennet are added. Starter culture gives the cheese its flavor and character and the rennet helps turn the liquid milk into solid curds.
11am – After the cheese curds are formed, they are cut and cooked.
12:30pm – Whey is drained off and brought back to the cows for them to drink.
1:30pm — The curds are cut into blocks, placed into a round form and stacked into a press.
4pm – Each cheese wheel soaks over night in a brine tank, which is a salt water bath that adds flavor and helps preserve the cheese.
The next morning the cheese is placed on a shelf in the aging room where it will be turned every other day for three weeks. After the three weeks is up, the cheese is then waxed and placed back on the shelf where it will remain for 60 days before it can be packaged, labeled and sold.
The process definitely isn’t quick or easy but the reward of quality, hand-crafted Gouda, Cheddar and Havarti cheese from Smith’s Country Cheese store is certainly worth the wait.
Think you are ready to be a cheese maker? What kind of cheese would you make?
Students pose by the waxed Gouda in the aging room.
The students taste the delicious cheese after experiencing the cheese making process.
