Open Creamery Day

Maine Farm Product and Pick-up Directory

“University of Maine Cooperative Extension worked with Allison Lakin, owner of East Forty Farm and Dairy, and Lakin’s Gorges Cheese in Waldoboro, to develop the database of Maine farmers’ creative distribution strategies implemented for the public.”

~University of Maine Extension Service article

Lakin is a long time member of the Maine Cheese Guild, and many Guild cheesemakers are included on the Extension’s new resource for locating locally produced food that is available directly  from farms during the Covid-19 epidemic.  Farmers’ Markets are also considered essential businesses and  many Maine cheesemakers rely on them to market their products. Visit Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets for a comprehensive listing of markets and updates.

Maine Farm Product Pick-Up Directory

You can learn more here, in an article on the Penobsoct Bay area news site,  www.penbaypilot.com.

We also suggest you check driectly with Maine Cheesemakers on how to purchase their products. See our Maine Cheese Guild Cheesemaker & Supporting Partners map with contact information on our members.

 

Cheesemaking 101

Guild Board member Eric Rector will be teaching a beginning cheesemaking workshop for MOFGA in January — here is the info and a link to the sign-up page:

January 20, 2020
Monday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cumberland County UMaine Cooperative Extension office
75 Clearwater Dr., Suite 104, Falmouth, Maine
Fee: $75 general, $65 for MOFGA members, free for journeypersons; lunch included

Learn how to make cheese at home at MOFGA’s beginner home cheesemaking course. Eric Rector, owner of Monroe Cheese Studio and board member of the Maine Cheese Guild, will teach the basics of turning organic raw milk into delicious cheese through a hands-on demo. We will make a quick fresh cheese to slice and taste during class. Additional demonstrations will feature the differences between fresh, aged and acid-set cheeses and rennet-set cheeses. We will also learn how to make ricotta and mozzarella, and some history of cheese.”

LEARN

Cheese Maker’s Resource Conference by Olivia Barber

Olivia Barber
Cheese Maker’s Resource Conference Article
April 8, 2019

This February I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to attend the annual Cheese Maker’s Resource Conference in New Holland, PA. This was my first time attending any cheese making conference.

At the beginning of the conference we were all given a 3 ring binder. This binder contained all of the presentations and resources from the event. That means that even if you couldn’t attend a session, you still had all of the notes from that session. This is a wonderful resource that I will use over and over again.

For the first two sessions, I attended a talk about Marketing and Agri-tourism. At Fuzzy Udder Creamery, I am the marketing and wholesale manager. In the future I hope to integrate more Agri-tourism into our farm. It was very interesting to see what other farms are doing to add agri-tourism. I walked away with new ideas that I hope to implement at Fuzzy Udder in the future.

At the last minute, a spot opened up in the hands-on cheese making class with Fons Smits and I was able to be part of that class. The first day we went over the cheese making process of a washed curd cheese like a gouda or baby swiss. We went over the basic cheese making process of a washed curd cheese, what cultures to use and renneting. We also went over how to troubleshoot your cheese. For example if your cheese is too sour, you might need to increase the amount of washing water and the temperature of the water.

On the second day, we held the hands on part of the class, where we actually made cheese. We made a gouda style cheese. It is very interesting to learn from different cheese makers. Each one has a very different style. Last year I took a class from Ivan Larcher, who doesn’t brine his cheeses at all and advises against it. On the contrary, Fons brines almost all of his cheeses and highly recommends it. I think learning from many different cheese makers allows you to find the process and cheese that works in your facility and with your milk. I left the workshop inspired and excited to make cheese!

One of my favorite parts of the conference was meeting and socializing with other cheese makers. I met many cheese makers from across the country. Some had vastly different operations than ours and some were similar. It was wonderful to network with people in the same field and make lasting connections.

And of course at a cheese making conference there was lots of cheese! It was great to try so many different types of cheese. They held a Cheese Extravaganza one night, that featured many recipes using cheese as well as cheese pairings. It was exciting to try Parish Hills Cornerstone cheese. There were cheese soups, cheese sliders, cheese balls, basically anything you could make with cheese! They also gave you all of the recipes so you could go home and make your favorites.

Overall, I was highly impressed by the Cheese Maker’s Resource Conference. I hope to make it an annual event and attend every year.