I have never
learned how to make cheese. As a person that has called the State of Wisconsin
my home for more than 30 years, I always maintained a curiosity about the
process used to create one of the celebrated staples of “the Dairy State.”
Despite that fact, I never took time to pursue lessons on making cheese at any
point in my life. In fact, I never even did research on how the cheese making
process worked. As far as I was concerned, cheese makers took milk and bacteria
and used delicious dairy magic to produce one of the best foods on the planet. Basically,
I was ignorant as to where cheese came from, but I was more than happy to enjoy
it whenever I possibly could.
Of course,
as an inquisitive and curious person the idea of learning how to make cheese has
always remained an item on my to-do list. Although I didn’t know how or when I
would learn at first, I eventually found my “I have never...” year provided the
perfect opportunity to finally pursue my long-term goal of learning how to make
cheese. Luckily, I became aware of some cheese classes offered by a local
business, Get Culture, which happens to be a business owned by Dave Potter, the
father of my new Sister-in-law, Missy. With knowledge of my “I have never...”
journey, Dave, Missy, and other members of the Potter family would encourage me
to take a class on and off in the months since my “I have never...” year began.
Although I reassured them I would sign up for a class eventually, I knew the
experience would finally come when I encountered the perfect opportunity.
That
opportunity came when I recently received notice of a Get Culture Cheese Making
101 class occurring toward the end of this week. Realizing it would fit
perfectly into what has quickly become an “I have never...”week of celebrating food,
wine, beer and Wisconsin, I tossed around the idea of dropping into the class as
it approached. All I needed was a little encouragement to pull the trigger on
the event, which came in abundance from the Get Culture crew when I ran into
them at the Isthmus Food and Wine Show. As a result, I signed up for the class
and prepared to learn another new craft this Thursday at the local Hyvee Club
Room.
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| Dave starting the class |
With the
night of the class upon me, I found my way to the Hyvee club room after work
today. Upon arriving, I was quick to notice a group of familiar faces among the
crowd of people gathering around nearby tables. When I entered the room,
Missy’s sister Katie happily met me with a smile, Dave gave me an enthusiastic
greeting and a handshake between conversations with other students, and Valerie
from the Get Culture crew struck up a conversation as she prepared for the
night’s events. Moments later, Dave’s wife Cathy and their grandson Kieran
walked into the club room and immediately called me out for a quick hello as
they took a seat near the back of the room. As always, the Potters and their
wonderful employees set the tone with their omnipresent warmth and amiable
nature. To say I felt welcomed would be the biggest understatement. I was among
good people with an unrivaled depth of knowledge in the art of cheese making,
and as far as I was concerned, I couldn’t have found a better group to help me learn
something new.
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| Ingredients! |
Moments
after settling into my chair at one of the student’s tables, Dave took to the
front of the room and began the class. Starting with a brief explanation of
cheese making fundamentals, he worked through the basic ingredients needed to
make milk into cheese. Describing their independent purposes, Dave explained
the underlying science behind the cheese making actions and reactions caused by
the ingredients at our tables. His delivery was concise but complete, and it
helped explain the technical aspects of cheese making in a way that made simple
sense. As someone completely unfamiliar with the process of making cheese, I
found the information incredibly helpful, which gave me a boost of confidence
as we moved closer to the hands-on portion of the class. I was still unaware of
the finer details of the process, but I was developing a working knowledge that
I knew we guide me through the process. As Dave wrapped up his introduction, I
took a quick look over the class. The consistent looks of certainty and
periodic head nods I observed among the crowd made it clear I wasn’t alone. As
a class, we were ready to make some cheese.
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| The demo |
With that,
Dave moved to a small table at the back of the room, which contained a set of
supplies identical to those on each of the student tables. As he continued his
explanation of the cheese making process, Dave provided a demonstration of the
first steps in separating milk into curds and whey. Indicating the perfect
balance of heat, milk fat, and rennet were critical to gaining the appropriate
consistency in the curd, Dave called on Kieran for some helping hands as he carefully
mixed milk, buttermilk, rennet, and calcium chloride. As the duo worked, Dave
advised us the curd would need time to set, which gave us an opportunity to
start our own mixtures at our table.
With the
other students already paired, I decided to start the process on my own.
Realizing there was an opportunity to assist Kieran eagerly offered his help as
I worked through the process. Happy to accept his offer, I offered him a seat
and the two of us began reviewing our first steps. As directed, we carefully measured
our milk and buttermilk and stirred the mix. With Kieran monitoring
temperature, I proceeded to adding the rennet and calcium chloride to the mix,
which almost immediately caused a change in the texture and consistency of the
milk. Amazed, I sat back as the milk mixture smoothed and congealed into a
glossy surface. In response to our progress, Dave passively reminded me to let
it set untouched for a few minutes as he passed by our table on his way back to
the front of the room. Thankful for the reminder, I turned my attention back to
the demonstration table where Dave was preparing to walk the class through the
next steps in the cheese making process.
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| Getting the assist from class helper Kieran |
After asking
the group to gather around his table, Dave proceeded to demonstrate how to test
the consistency of the curd. In turn, he carefully cut into the surface of the
curd and shifted his knife to test the break on the smooth white surface. Satisfied
with the texture and thickness of his mixture, he then walked the class through
the process of cutting the curd in preparation for its transition to cheese. The
class watched on as he demonstrated a variety of cutting techniques with
various tools, offering tips on how to get the best results with each
technique. Confident I could follow his direction I returned to my table with
Kieran and repeated the steps to test the curd. With Kieran’s excited approval
of our results, I proceeded to cut the curd using the slicing techniques
demonstrated by Dave. Periodic pointers from Katie, Valerie, and Dave helped guide
me as I worked through the process, which resulted in a finely cut mixture of
curds and whey. By all accounts, it appeared I was doing well with my first
attempt at cheese making. All that was left to do was to cook the curd and
press it into cheese.
 |
| Curds and whey |
Another
quick demonstration from Dave provided the insight we needed to work through
the final phases of our cheese making process. Following his direction, the
class gathered hot water for our independent cheese making efforts and returned
to our tables to cook the cheese. Over the next 15 minutes we worked to raise
the temperature of our mixtures to 115 degrees, which Dave advised us would
firm the curd into a workable product. With Kieran offering me a helping hand,
we slowly filled our mixing container with hot water, filtered out diluted
whey, and added more hot water to advance the process. Eventually, our mixture
hit the desired temperature, which spurred Kieran to enthusiastically announce
we had to let it sit for ten minutes before we could get to the final step of
forming the curd into cheese. With a nod of approval from Dave, I heeded
Kieran’s words and took a step back from our mixing container. With my eyes
fixed on the clock, I waited for the final opportunity to test the results of
my first attempt at cheese making, hopeful I would walk away with some tasty
results.
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| The class in the cooking process |
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| Oh, my curds! |
A short time
later Dave let the class know we could proceed with the final process of
draining our mixtures, condensing our curds, and cutting the product into
cheese slices. Doing my best to ensure the best possible results, I carefully
removed the curds from the remaining whey and placed them in draining baskets. Eventually,
my effort proved successful, which moved me to the process of preparing an
empty vessel for the curds to drain as they were pressed. After removing the
remaining whey, I placed the baskets of curds in the empty mixing container and
watched them slowly drain. Following Dave’s guidance, I cycled the baskets of
curds in a stacked column and gently pressed them together. In a matter of
minutes the curds compressed into two white discs maintaining the familiar
appearance of cheese. Satisfied I had achieved my objective, I carefully
removed the discs from their baskets and stacked them to be cut. Moments later,
I had small rectangular chunks of cheese sitting on a plate before me ready to
be consumed. The ease with which the final steps of the process came together
caught me off guard in a way, but the results were undeniable... I had just
made cheese.
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| Packed curds ready to cut |
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| Kieran giving my salting technique a quick check |
In
celebration of our efforts, Kieran and I each grabbed a piece of the cheese and
prepared to sample the outcome of our work. Without hesitation, I lifted the
cheese and took a bite. The familiar creamy taste of high moisture cheese
filled my mouth instantly, which caused me to nod my head in approval. In
response, I offered Katie a slice as she passed. Happy to take me up on the
offer, Katie took a small piece of the cheese and gave it a quick taste test.
With a brief remark and a thumbs up, she gave me the Potter seal of approval,
which was enough to make me deem my first attempt at making cheese a success.
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| Almost done |
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| The finished product! |
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