Tag Archives: Education

Rennet Workshop Planned

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The Maine Cheese Guild will be sponsoring a one-day workshop on cheese Rennet to be held at Little Falls Farm in Harrison, Maine on Monday, April 19th from 9am to 5pm.

At the beginning there will be a short lecture on the nature of rennet — how it works, why it is used in cheesemaking, and the different ways it can affect finished cheeses. This will include a report written by Oregon cheesemaker David Peterson on his experiences using plant derived renneting materials to make traditional cheeses.

After lunch John and Mary Belding of Little Falls Farm will demonstrate step-by-step the methods for harvesting a goat-kid vel, preserving it, and then using it in cheese production.

Fees will be $125 for the general public, $100 for Maine Cheese Guild members (lunch included). For more information email [email protected]/MCG-build. To reserve a spot (there will be a limited class size) send a check to

The Maine Cheese Guild
c/o Mark Whitney, Treasurer
Pineland Farms
32 Farm View Drive
New Gloucester, Maine 04260

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 Meeting and Sanitation Workshop

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umcoopext

May 11 – U of Maine Cooperative Extension, Orono (Sanitation Workshop)

*Now Full; No Longer Accepting New Registrations*

Agenda:

Sanitation Training & Introduction to HACCP for Cheese-makers

May 11, 2009
McIntire Room, Buchanan Alumni House; UMaine, Orono campus
Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Lunch is provided. Free for Maine Cheese Guild Members
$10.00 for non-Guild members

Please register with Melissa Potts via email: [email protected] or by calling toll free: 1-800-287-7170, as we have a registration limit of 30 people.

Directions can be downloaded from the University website, including a campus map.

If you do not have internet access, please call Melissa for a campus map.

Tentative Schedule:

10:00am – Registration

10:30am – Beth Calder (Extension Food Science Specialist) will discuss bacteria, bacterial growth and food safety.

11:15am- Gary Anderson (Extension Animal and Bio-Sciences Specialist) will discuss farm and milk room sanitation, cleaning equipment, recommended water temperatures, appropriate cleaning/sanitizing products and how to use them, quality testing and thoughts from a dairy inspector’s perspective.

Break at 12:30pm – Lunch will be provided.

Resume with Gary’s talk at 1:15pm.

1:45pm – Barbara Brooks (Seal Cove Farm; Lamoine, ME) will discuss sanitation from the farm/cheese processing perspective; what has worked for her and problems she has encountered and what she has done to correct the situation.

2:30pm – Beth will discuss recommended cleaners/sanitizers for the cheese-room and FDA recommendations at what level to use.

3:00pm – Beth will briefly describe HACCP principles and how to incorporate HACCP into your cheese-making process along with worksheets to take home.
4:00pm – End of training/Questions & answers.