How Cheese Is Made

One of the things that makes cheese so impressive is that there's so many different types. The better the milk, the better the cheese. Everybody believes that. You want cows that are happy. It's a very labor-intensive physical job. That's part of the fun. I'm always amazed when I just see hundreds of blocks of cheese just sitting there. Anytime I tell anyone that I work in cheese, almost everyone's immediate reaction is, I love cheese. The entire process takes around five hours. So we pasteurize our milk, fill our vat, add culture. After that would be a rennet addition, which will coagulate the milk. We let it sit undisturbed so it sets and makes, similar to like a pudding, non-liquid form. And at that point, we cut and have curds and whey. It's great. It feels good. It's fun to make something. Since the day I started here, it's always been a really cool experience. Obviously, the fact that I love cheese and enjoy eating cheese made it really easy to get more in-depth about this. I love being able to eat cheese every day, but I guess I could do that no matter what job I had. It's very fast-paced and enjoyable to keep curds and whey moving, keep them from settling and sticking back to each other. They want to stick together naturally. It is a lot of cheese for a couple of hours. It's a very labor-intensive physical job. That's part of the fun of it. It's not sitting behind a desk, you know, but it's a tangible activity. We're working with our hands. I think it continues to be interesting, and I love cheese. Absolutely love it. And from there, we are doing what's called shattering, and that's just a process of stacking and flipping the loaves of cheese to form proteins and let the cheese acidify. That's the big step. That's really what adds a lot of the traits of our flagship. They're fairly heavy, but, you know, it's like anything else. You build the muscles with repetition, and it's a good workout. There's always more to learn. I work with an incredible staff, so it really is awesome. There is currently some cheese at my desk. It's all around all the time. It's in my refrigerator at home. At least four different types of futures cheese. My sister sometimes gets overwhelmed with how much cheese is in my fridge. It's a great situation, I guess, a fun way to learn. It's a whole world. I mean, there's science. There's certainly a learning curve. In the beginning, people are like, wow, these things are really heavy, and then a couple months into working here, you're just moving stuff around and not even thinking about it. The flagship cheese is a delicious cheese, and that is because of a lot of different things. It's because of the passionate, involved people we have making it by hand every day. It's because of the recipe that we've developed over the years, the details of our recipe have an effect on what we're looking for, what we're trying to make. Final step is hooping. We put it into the hoop. It gets pressed into large blocks. The aging process is an integral part of our cheese making process here. The aging process affects texture, moisture, flavor profile. Always have a piece of flagship in my fridge at home. Super creamy, melts really well, and it has enough flavor, then you know you're eating your cheese. My parents always loved a grilled cheese sandwich, so it seemed like a natural fit to come and work at Beecher's. Probably one of the things that makes cheese so impressive is that there's so many different types. Depends so much on the person, the situation, everything. One of the reasons I chose to buy a farm is I've always loved the outdoors. So I wanted a place where I could make cheese, but I would want to relax outside. That's how it all began. The better the milk, the better the cheese. Everybody believes that. You want cows that are happy. We use raw milk for our cheese for many reasons. When you eat a raw milk cheese, you do pick up more of the flavors of what the cows were eating, especially if they're allowed to eat outside. What makes it unique compared to other cheeses is the color. It has natural annatto, which is a natural coloring that gives it that bright color, makes it look in a way almost like something from outer space, like the moon. The more I got into cheese making and visiting farms, the more I fell in love with it. One of the things I talk about is the art of possibility, that almost anything is possible. Just about every cheese made follows the basic steps. So how can this cheese be so different from another cheese? I think what humans can bring to making cheese is that sense of the moment. We do follow a strict formula, but your eyes and your hands and your senses will tell you that despite what you're supposed to do, maybe stir it for an extra couple minutes because of the way it feels. You want the right texture. There are wonderful things that can be done with robots, but there's certain human emotions. They can affect food or anything else you do in a positive way. So if you really love what you're doing, you can't really program a robot to have that same kind of love and passion for it. It'll do what you program it to do, but it'll end there. Once you make the cheese, there's a long waiting period during the aging process. Aged cheeses, you go into it knowing that you may not see the fruits of your labor for six months to a year out. So you have to have a lot of patience with this cheese. One of the things I really enjoy is I have an excuse to build this below ground cave. When the cheeses are in the cave, they're still alive. The cultures are still reacting. The cheeses can just sit and they develop this rind based on the different strains of bacteria in the air. We do our best to give it the right environment to thrive. You have to try and keep the air clean. What it picks up to create the molds adds another level to the flavor and also the texture because it's a high humidity environment. That's basically a drying process that takes a long time. Staying there in a year lets it develop its truest potential. When I'm in the cave, I'm always amazed when I just see hundreds of wheels and blocks of cheese just sitting there. I'm sure there's several hundred thousand dollars worth of cheese down there. To me, they seem happy. When you complete a batch of cheese, whether it works out or not, you feel good because you've created it and done it. It's a wonderful feeling. The full circle value of doing everything from start to finish is my attempt at what one might call artistry. You know, when I taste cheese, there is a bit of magic. I'm just blown away by it. That feeling doesn't change. That's why I take so much pleasure in improving it. Maybe it's harder, but that's what we're trying to do. My hopes and dreams for the future are to enjoy life the best way I can. Working on a farm, they're long hours. There's no doubt about it. But if I wake up and I'm healthy and I can make cheese, it gives me reason for doing what I'm doing. The more I got into cheese making, the more I fell in love with it. The fact that I love cheese and enjoy eating cheese made it really easy. You go into it knowing that you may not see the fruits of your labor for a year up. But it's fun to make something. It's great. It feels good. When I taste cheese, there is a bit of magic. I'm just blown away by it. Super creamy. Melts really well. It really is awesome. The reason I do this is because almost anything is possible. I foresee continuing to make and eat great cheese for all my days.