Author Archives: President

Cheese Culture Workshop

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Dave Potter Evaluates Cheeses for Workshop Participants

Dave Potter Evaluates Cheeses for Workshop Participants

The Maine Cheese Guild sponsored a one-day workshop on Cheese Cultures held at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine on Friday, January 22nd from 9am to 5pm.

David Potter, from Dairy Connection, Inc., lectured on the basics of picking the right cheese cultures (thermophilic, mesophilic, yeasts, and molds) for your cheeses, as well as delved into the exciting new realm of using adjunct cultures in traditional cheese recipes to broaden the flavor landscape.

In addition, Dave critiqued a number of cheeses, from experimental batches using different adjunct culture mixes, to commercial versions exhibiting specific culture techniques, as well as cheese brought by workshop attendees. The enthusiastic reception, high attendance rate, and the continued expression of interest in this subject means that the Guild will work to bring Dave (or another culture expert) back soon.

[Deb Hahn has received copies of specific slides that were too small to read on the hand-outs, such as the comparisons of different P. candidum, and Corynebacteria. If you would like to get copies of these, email here at [email protected]]

Guild Holiday Party

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holidaytomme_stackDecember 14th Holiday Party at Liberty Fields Farm, Saco where it was —

Holiday Tomme!

What a great event.

Besides the warm and spirited hosting by Liberty Fields Farm, our Holiday Party featured seven different Tommes made from the same recipe but each bearing the flavor, milk type, local flora and personality of the cheesemakers around the state. There were hard and soft pate’s, there were buttery and silky textures, there was “goaty” and “cow-y” and complex flavors — sometimes all in the same cheese (Appleton Creamery brought a triple-milk version). There was also bright red local membrillo to accompany the panoply of personal cheeses. It was a lesson about how much of the local cheesemaker goes into making their cheese.