Cheesemaking Workshops
2024- 25 fall and winter Cheesemakinng Workshops
LOCATION & TIME
: 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.
Cheesy Christmas/Holiday Gifts
Dec. 12, 2024 – I-n 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 – See location and other information at top of workshop list. Sign up here.
Basics of Home Cheesemaking- Two Day Workshop
My apologies, the original date had to be pushed ahead due to a family commitment. The new date is listed correctly below.
January 20 & 21, 2025 – 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 , $500/couple – See location and other information at top of workshop list. Sign up here.
Italian Fun – Mozzarella and Ricotta
January 29, 2025 – 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. $100 – See location and other information at top of workshop list. Sign up here.
Cheesy Gifts for Valentine’s Day
Eebruary 12, 2025 – 10 am to 4 pm – if all spaces fill we will offer a second class February 13. 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.$150 , $250 per Couple. See location and other information at top of workshop list. Sign Up Here
fMORE WORKSHOPS TBA IN 2025
Hard Cheese
Introduction to Goat Cheese
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 appletoncreamery@gmail.com 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.