Northern Dairy Cheese School, Seminar 1: Wensledyale Workshop

Seminar 1: An in-depth look at Wensleydale.  September 2024.
A look in detail at how differences in the cheese-making process can produce very different cheeses, by examining three slightly different Wensleydale recipes. The seminar attendees will discuss with the cheese-makers how the parameters of making Wensleydale affect the end results, before spending a day in the dairy making a Wensleydale to a recipe they create.
Wensleydale offers a great opportunity to help all of us understand the relationship between moisture, acidity and texture.

Cost to attend: £200*. Only 10 places available.
(Attendees must have previous cheesemaking experience – please get in touch if you want to discuss this).

Detail:

Earlier in the year three Wensleydales will be made at The Courtyard Dairy to Stonebeck, Fellstone and Yoredale recipes – using exactly the same milk, equipment and maturation time/methods. The only difference will be the cheesemaking recipes; these will then be discussed, sampled and examined with the cheesemakers themselves before designing a Wensleydale recipe as a group to make together.

Format

• Day 1 Attendees arrive in time for lunch.
  Afternoon classroom session: taste those three different Wensleydale recipes made at Courtyard Dairy, and also taste Yoredale, Fellstone & Stonebeck made that same week with the cheese-makers.
  Discuss why the differences occur (looking at starters, temperature in the make, acidification profiles, drainage methods, etc.) and how this has affected the end cheese.
  From this, as a team, design a Wensleydale recipe to make the next day.
  Evening meal for all delegates.
• Day 2 Arrive for 9am.
  Make the freshly designed Wensleydale recipe, with notes taken and parameters discussed during the making with discussion round the vat.
  Evening free.
• Day 3 9am start.
  Discuss the cheese made 17th Sept, what was different, what we would do next time, and what we would like to learn in future.
  Finish by midday.

Minutes of these seminars detailing learning, cheesemaking techniques and recipes used on the day as well as parameters explored and end outcomes provided to all attendees within one week. Finished, matured cheeses to be sent out to attendees at maturity.

A physical copy of findings to be kept in the Cheese School Library with future Cheese School topics and improvements to be documented.

*Course is not-for profit – fee is to cover costs (milk, lunch, cheesemaking expenses, power, dairy assistant, etc.). Surplus funds will be used for delivery of future courses. If you are a small or new cheesemaker and would like assistance with these costs there is a bursary provided by The Academy of Cheese & The Courtyard Dairy – to apply just email

Seminar 2: Starter Culture.  Sept 2025. 2 Days
An in depth look at how the starter culture you add affects the end results. The objective is to understand a bit more the role of starters within the make and final flavour/texture and how different starters can affect that so you can improve your cheesemaking.
The exact same recipe will be made with four different starter strains and their differences observed: how they grow and acidify (bench top), how this affected the cheesemaking, and how they affected the flavour in the final product.  With input from Barbers Maryland Cultures and Standa Cultures we will discuss how better to manage starter and what affect it is having on our end cheese.  Using this knowledge, day 2 features a cheesemaking day where you will make cheese (recipe to your choice) altering the starter (varying potentially type, quantity, low/high activity or using a wild starter) to see if you can manage the process and get your desired results.

Outcomes, discussion points and findings from the seminars will be made available in the public domain on The Northern Dairy Cheese School website here >

Background Northern Dairy Cheese School

Northern Dairy Cheese School is a series of seminars to increase technical knowledge and understanding for current and future cheesemakers, through hands-on cheese-making sessions.
The school’s core objectives are:

• Spreading & Building Knowledge
• Connecting People
• Creating Industry Strength

Northern Dairy Cheese School is a not-for-profit initiative that runs two seminars a year to look in detail at specific themes within the cheese-making world, combining discussion and theory in a classroom followed by hands-on cheese-making in The Courtyard Dairy’s ‘development’ dairy.