I'm starting a micro cheese business in my home

[ophiuchus_99]

I have been working on this for the last 4 years. I purchased some of the equipment, modified some of the equipment and I even built my own drain table. It has been a long process that started in my well house when I lived in Oregon. I have since moved to Nevada and remodeled part of my garage into a very small make room.

I have all the business licensed required and just need to get my plant permit and a distribution license. I am just about there, I will soon be making cheese at home and selling it locally.

 

[Konadog]

Nice setup! And I thought that beer was expensive

 

[Yooper]

Wow- what a great setup. And beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing the pictures of what you've got going on there. I wish I could be there to taste test!

 

[bernardsmith]

That is a pretty professional set-up. Saying that you are making your cheese from your home suggests that you were going to be making the cheese in your kitchen and not in this dedicated space. Good luck!

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Beautiful! All the best wishes in the world!

 

[madscientist451]

Online Sales and shipping?

My favorite cheese, but hard to find:

http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/Karst-Cave-Aged-Cheese.asp

 

[Kent88]

I was just wondering about your setup like a week ago! My wife made a batch of cheddar curds that got a little scorched, so I was wondering about your gear in and around the kettle. Is a lot of that custom?

Looks like you have an agitator and temperature probe going through the lid, and you push hot or cold water through the bigger kettle around it to raise/lower/maintain temperature? Like a double boiler

Way to go, getting legal and everything set up! Keep us posted.

 

[passedpawn]

Well you mentioned this a while back. Good luck. Should be fun.

 

[bernardsmith]

My wife made a batch of cheddar curds that got a little scorched,

Apologies if this looks like I am hijacking this thread but how does one "scorch" curds? Is your wife not using a double boiler to heat the milk or cook the curds? I simply use hot water to raise the temperature of the cheese kettle.

 

[Kent88]

@bernardsmith she scorched the milk. There were a lot of distractions. I wasn't actually around. I ended up making some "manly" poutine (with beef roast) with it and it tasted good. You put genuine beef roast gravy on just about anything reasonable and it will taste good.

 

[cheezybuda]

That looks like an awesome little artisan setup!
If you have any questions on the dairy chemistry side, let me know. That's kinda what I do

 

[ophiuchus_99]

I was just wondering about your setup like a week ago! My wife made a batch of cheddar curds that got a little scorched, so I was wondering about your gear in and around the kettle. Is a lot of that custom?

Looks like you have an agitator and temperature probe going through the lid, and you push hot or cold water through the bigger kettle around it to raise/lower/maintain temperature? Like a double boiler

Way to go, getting legal and everything set up! Keep us posted.

The vat pasteurizer was purchased and slightly modified by me. I added a circulating pump to the water jacket so I can heat more evenly and cool the milk quicker after pasteurization. I also made a custom agitator paddle. The press table was also purchased and the small drain vat is 100% custom.

On the vat there is an agitator and an airspace heater along with two probes with dual thermometers in each probe. One dual probe takes the temperature of the product and the other reads the airspace temperature. It does function just like a double boiler with the ability to record the temperatures.

 

[ophiuchus_99]

Here are some pictures of my first finished blue cheese.

 

[bernardsmith]

I was just wondering about your setup like a week ago! My wife made a batch of cheddar curds that got a little scorched, so I was wondering about your gear in and around the kettle. Is a lot of that custom?

A double boiler prevents scorching.

 

[passedpawn]

Here are some pictures of my first finished blue cheese.

Wow, fantastic.