Making & Ageing Cheese
The best cheese-making books
There are thousands of cheese-making books out there. And they all vary. Some are uncomplicated and easy to use, others go into great detail. Over the years at The Courtyard…
Where to buy cheese-making equipment in the UK
The rapid growth of farmhouse and small-scale artisan cheese-making in the UK has seen a matching growth of suppliers of cheese-making equipment, starter cultures, moulds and bacteria, keen to supply…
Natural cheese-making and making your own lactic acid ‘starter culture’: is it the panacea of farmhouse cheese-making?
What is natural cheese-making? Natural cheese-making essentially involves cheese-makers making their own starter cultures rather than buying-in commercial starter cultures to make cheese. But it is difficult to do, and…
What is starter culture for cheese and what does it do?
The term ‘starter culture’ is used to describe bacteria specially grown to ‘start’ the transformation of milk into cheese. A starter culture is used in the making of the vast…
How to develop a new cheese – “Hebden Goat” … read all about it.
A couple of years ago, Andy got a visit from Gillian Clough. Gillian loves goats, specifically Anglo Nubian (big floppy eared) goats. Her passion had taken her to breed (and…
Cheese Ageing – how to mature and look after cheese.
Advice for shop owners on how to mature, look after and age cheese; most cheese shops across the land will state that they ‘mature’ or ‘age’ cheese. But what does…
What is the difference between ‘crumbly’, ‘creamy’ and ‘tasty’ Lancashire cheese?
Read about the different Lancashire cheeses: crumbly, creamy and tasty. Find out more about how they came about and what makes them taste so different!
I want to become a cheese maker… where do I start?
I frequently get contacted by budding keen cheese-makers, including owners of small farms that want to find a way to use their milk, looking to make cheese on a commercial…
List of cheese-making course providers throughout the UK
If you want to learn how to make your own cheese, the best place to start may be a cheese-making course, of which there are many throughout the UK.
View a…
Different cheese types, part one – classifying cheese by how it is made
An explanation of the methods of classifying cheese by how it is made.
The history of Stilton cheese: from it’s origins to present day….
The English have a trump card – Stilton. An elderly English cheesemonger once visiting me in France once said: “The French still can’t do the blue ones, eh?” To be…
Finn Cheese: the story of the ‘great white one’
Finn was created in Sevenoaks as Britain’s first cream-enriched cheese (often called double or triple cream cheese) and is named after Charlie Westhead’s dog at the time (Finn is Irish…