Cheesemaking Workshops
2025 Spring Cheesemakinng Workshops
LOCATION & TIME
We hold our classes in the small commercial kitchen at the United Farmers’ Market, at 19 Spring St., in downtown Belfast. Midweek is the most convenient for us to schedule. Weekends are difficult for me due to finding help watching my disabled spouse, and my job at Springdale Farm Fridays and Saturdays. For the same reason, I am not available evenings. I hope these times can work for you!
: All classes will be held in the commercial kitchen at the United Farmers’ Market – 19 Miller Street, Belfast Maine ( on the Miller Street side) from 10 am. to 4 pm.
Our Milk Sources – Please Note: We are sourcing the milk for our classes from the Jersey cows at Springdale Farm in Waldo Maine and goat from local farms seasonally as it becomes available.
Information for all workshop attendees:
Please wear clean, non-shedding, clothes, a hat or hair covering, waterproof shoes (cheese is a water sport!). Please bring an apron or lab coat.
Bring a cooler to take home your cheeses!
Bring a lunch.
Basics of Home Cheese Making
March 26 10 am – 4 pm, March 27, 11 am – 1 pm. (Half day) – A hands-on workshop in basic home cheese making. In this two-day workshop we’ll be using simple equipment you may already have at home to make a jack cheese the first day, press overnight, then finish the second. In addition, we will also make feta, yogurt, a lactic cheese, quick mozzarella, and ricotta, depending on the interests of the class. This workshop will concentrate on basic cow cheeses using Springdale Farm cow milk but will also delve briefly into goat cheese. Basic use of ripening cultures and rennet and milk chemistry will be covered. You will go home with cheese that you’ve made! –
$300/person, $500/a couple . Sign up here.
Cheesy Gifts – 1 day
April 16, 2025, 10 am – 4 pm -In this class, we will make feta and a soft cheese in the morning, and we will then marinate in olive oil in jars in the afternoon. If time, we will also make cheese balls.We will have some jars for the class. If you have any special ones at home, bring them! Pint size, wide-mouth is best. Bring an apron, hair covering, and lunch, as well as a fancy jar or two to fill .$150/person– Sign up here.
Intro to Hard Cheese – 1.5 Days
April 23 & 24, 10 am. – 4 pm. 2025, 10 am. – 1:00 pm (half day). – In this day-and-a-half class, we will spend the first day making one hard cheese, but along the way we’ll discuss the different steps that go into making a hard cheese, and how a slight change here or there will result in a totally different cheese. We’ll discuss the differences between milks, starter cultures, rennet, pH, aging and rind development. We will press it overnight, then finish the next morning.
Fee: $200 – Sign up here.
Italian Fun – Mozzarella and Ricotta
May 7, 2025 – 10 am to 4 pm. Mozzarella and Ricotta are two iconic cheeses of Italy, and so easy to make! You will learn how to make both in this half day, hands-on class See location and other information at top of workshop list. $100 /person – Sign up here.
Intro to Goat Cheese
May 21 or 28 (depends on the availability of the goat milk) 10 am – 4 pm –
Learn the basics of goat cheese. We will make chèvre (a French style of fresh goat cheese), and many of its variations, as well as feta. We’ll discuss how goat milk is different from other milks, and why certain cheeses are better made with goat milk. Basic use of ripening cultures and rennet and milk chemistry will be covered. Do you have goats and want to make cheese? Are you thinking of getting goats? We can help!
4 $150/person. Sign up here.
We’re always interested to know what sort of workshops you are interested in. We prefer to be contacted by email . Shoot us an email [email protected] with your interest and questions, and to be added to our mailing list.
Consulting Services:
● How to Make A Living Running a Farmstead Creamery
● Calves, Kids, Manure & Whey – Planning for the Unexpected on a Farmstead Creamery
● Direct Sales- What You Need to Know to Last at a Farmers’ Market
● Training the Next Generation – How to Build a Successful On-Farm Apprentice Program
● Planning for Senior Farming: Strategies to keep going
● Finding your Niche: what cheese to make and where to sell it
Learn more about my consulting services here.
Skills & Expertise:
● Barn design;
● Creamery set-up & layout;
● Goat management, health & breeding; kid rearing
● Packaging / merchandising;
● Food Law including Maine, Federal and FSMA requirements;
● Equipment evaluation, selection and operation;
● Human Resources Management and mentorship
● Cheese Recipe development
Stay in the know – Get on our mailing list-Please drop us an email and we’ll add you to our list.
Caitlin Hunter got her first goats in 1979, in another life, in another part of Maine. By 1981, she had begun making cheese and selling it at a local farmers’ market she started. In those days, cheese could legally be made in your kitchen with a Home Food Processing License. She developed her initial line of soft cheeses in those first years.