Fundamentals of Artisan Cheese is an intensive nine-day program for aspiring and practicing cheesemakers. Offered in partnership with the Cellars at Jasper Hill and led by world-renowned master cheesemaker and educator Ivan Larcher, this course provides students with the practical and scientific knowledge needed to create exquisite small-scale artisan cheese.
Advanced Cheesemaking is designed for cheesemakers who have or work for small-scale, licensed, commercial cheese businesses and want to expand product lines, experiment with new cultures and recipes, and improve quality. The focus is on making, aging, and controlling quality, and the session will revolve around hands-on cheesemaking and thorough discussion.
Cost is $1200 for six day workshop. Participants are invited to bring cheeses for tasting and group evaluation.
This session will be held at Parish Hill Creamery & Farm, Westminster West, VT. For availability contact Rachel at 802.387.4041 or email westminsterartisan@gmail.com Registration information and policies can be found here.
This three-day workshop will explore the craft of cheesemaking, ripening, and grading cheese for sale, viewing the process from the point of view of the affineur. This combination of classroom instruction and discussion will include a trip to a local aging space for a tour of the facilities and discussion of affinage in practice. Topics include:
Participants are encouraged to bring cheeses for tasting and evaluation.
This session will be held in Westminster, VT. For availability, contact Rachel at Tel. 802.387.4041 or westminsterartisan@gmail.com Registration information and policies can be found here.
This 6 day intensive workshop includes hands-on cheesemaking as well as information and discussion about cheese aging, facilities, equipment, regulations, sanitation and food safety, business planning, and creamery design.
This session will be held in Westminster, VT. For availability, contact Rachel at Tel. 802.387.4041 or westminsterartisan@gmail.com Registration information and policies can be found here.
The School of the American Farmstead offers “Fundamentals of Artisan Cheese,” a two-week intensive course taught by world-renowned master cheesemaker, Ivan Larcher at Sterling College in Craftsbury, VT, in conjunction with Jasper Hill Farm, an American Cheese Society-Certified Educator.
Fundamentals of Artisan Cheese provides the practical and scientific knowledge needed to create exquisite artisan cheese. It offers a whole-system perspective on artisan cheesemaking, beginning on the farm with careful attention to animal husbandry and welfare, forage and feed, dairy production, and milk quality. The course then dives deep into the science and art of cheesemaking by exploring raw and pasteurized milk theory, cheese microbiology, coagulants, curdling mechanisms, and starters. In classroom lecture sessions, as well as hands-on and observational cheese making, artisan production of lactic, hard, soft, Saint Nectaire, and traditional brie cheeses is studied. Additional topics covered include: affinage (cultures, climate control, rind treatment, and handling throughout the aging process), recipe development, sensory and tasting skill development, identification of defects and troubleshooting. Attention to critical food safety concerns, an on-site food sanitation workshop, an overview of plant design, exploration of sales and distribution strategy, and lessons is content-based marketing round out the curriculum.
This course is suitable for confident beginners and capable practitioners alike. Students should have some cheesemaking experience, even if only at the home scale.
