Cheese Musings & Tips


Why do goats cheese taste of goat?

Why do goats’ cheeses taste ‘goaty’? And why are some stronger than others?

Many people have been put off for life by tasting a really-ripe goats’ cheese – saying it is ‘like licking a goat’! But contrary to popular opinion, goats’ milk doesn’t…

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Using goats’ milk to make cheese – its history, science and challenges

Firstly lets debunk three broadly-held myths: Keeping the Billy Goat with your female goats is NOT the reason some goats’ cheeses taste ‘goatier’ than others, Goats are historic to the…

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Cheese carving model

Cheese Carving

In order to keep staff entertained during the Coronavirus pandemic, The Courtyard Dairy found some old ‘rejected’ cheeses (flavour profile was not good at all!) and challenged the staff to…

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Cheesemkaers say thank you

A big heartfelt thank you from the cheese-makers

When you buy farmhouse cheese you are supporting the farmer and his/her family. Shown below are just a few of the families and individuals you have supported and are continuing…

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Farm Made Raw Milk Cheese

Six reasons why we all should support British farmhouse cheese.

Farmhouse cheese is tasty – raw milk, heritage breeds, traditional grasses, pasture feeding, and slow, ancient cheese-making techniques quite simply make for unbeatable flavour. Continuing support of farm-made cheese is…

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Supporting ‘Send A Cow’ – helping feed Africa through dairy cows….

Cheese shop The Courtyard Dairy near Settle has teamed up with the charity ‘Send a Cow’ to celebrate ‘Februdairy’. For every new three-month subscription to The Courtyard Dairy’s popular monthly…

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Whin Yeats Fellstone Cheese

An interview with Tom & Clare Noblet of Whin Yeats Dairy (Fellstone Cheese)

Farmer and cheese-makers, Tom and Clare Noblet make Fellstone cheese on their farm near Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria. Andy interviewed them to find out what makes these fantastic cheese-makers tick….

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Salt Cheese Flavour Preservative Reduce Low

Why is salt added as an ingredient when making cheese? Well, it’s not just for flavour!

Salt is very important in cheesemaking, for as well as helping add to the flavour of cheese, it also controls the bacteria that grow inside the cheese, helps with texture…

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Difference Between Single and Double Gloucester

What is the difference between Single and Double Gloucester?

There are many opinions and different views on what makes a true Single or Double Gloucester and how they vary as cheeses. The height, the weight, the richness, the age…

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Complete list of cheeses stocked at The Courtyard Dairy

Listed below are all the cheeses normally available from The Courtyard Dairy cheese shop.  Other ‘guest’ cheeses are occasionally available that may not appear online – please phone Andy on…

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Crunchy Crystals in Cheese

What are the crunchy crystals found in hard cheese?

Well, if you thought it was salt, you’d be wrong! We do know what causes the crystalline white deposits found within hard cheeses. It isn’t common salt, and in fact…

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Hafod Cheese Nick Millard

Farming at Hafod Cheese – a year in review, as told by herdsman Nick Millard

The farm began 2017 under a substantial cloud of bovine Tuberculosis (bTB). Unfortunately we had a quite terrible test result just before Christmas 2016 and were counting down the days…

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