Author Topic: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA  (Read 6866 times)

MarkShelton

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Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« on: June 06, 2010, 11:33:54 PM »
As I live in an apartment, I find it difficult to scale up my cheeses, as I can neither afford new equipment, nor do I have a place to put it. However, it dawned on me that I really don't need either.

My mom is the DRE (director of religious education) for the church in the town where I grew up. It's only a short trip from my current location. Well, the parish center, the building with all the classrooms and a banquet hall, has a huge kitchen that they use to cater church functions and fundraisers. They have: 2 commercial ranges, a buffet with 5 warming trays (chafer dishes), a 3-basin commercial sink with draining trays, rows of stainless countertops, and plenty of huge stainless bowls and colanders.

My mom is willing to let me use this kitchen to make cheese, granted I don't leave a mess or anything. Short of owning my own commercial kitchen, this is the jackpot! Plus, it's much cheaper than buying all the equipment. Really I would only need bigger molds, and a bigger press (I'm still coveting the ones made by Cartierusm) if I'm making hard cheeses. I might even be able to rival the size of Wayne's monster cheeses!  ;D

Woot!

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2010, 01:55:16 AM »
Well that might just be a great find Mark! Now all you need is a walk-in fridge to hold all that cheese! Congrats!

BigCheese

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2010, 03:35:53 AM »
Before I moved to CA and off the grid, my former boss had given me an entire restaurant worth of equipment: a disassembled 6x6' walk-in, a full size pastry case, one of those huge double door freezers, a salad station, a display-like refrigerator with upright sliding glass doors, and more. If we had the power, that walk in would be a cool cheese cave.

iratherfly

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2010, 05:43:47 AM »
So what will you do for cheese cave and affinage? I am in a similar spot where I was offered a commercial kitchen in the mornings but since it's busy at nights I figured it's not going to work because the cheese will be exposed to heat and contamination and I won't have a place to put the product away and age them

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2010, 06:49:43 AM »
I just bought a 48 cubic foot commercial refrigerator/cooler off of Craig's list for $600. Added an external controller to keep it at the right temps. I figure it will hold around 250 (7.5" x 5") 5 pound wheels.

After 6 months of "negotiating" and butt kissing, I believe that I am finally going to get my "provisional" cheese making license this Friday, so I am fairly sensitive to the concerns and requirements of our milk safety people. So, I can tell you that moving unaged cheese from place to place, would absolutely freak out my inspector. Even moving them to a third party professional affinage facility would be strictly forbidden here. They want batch records and accountability more than anything else. They want a clear paper trail untouched by other hands from receiving the milk to records during the makes to the actual sale.

iratherfly

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2010, 07:02:00 AM »
These guys are crazy Sailor. Half the European cheese is delivered un-aged to cheese mongers, restaurants and distributes worldwide that take over the affinage for the cheesemaker. It's like roasting the bean and then sending it away to coffee shops.

Congrats for the license! Where are you located? Will you be bringing milk in? Or pasteurizing your own?

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2010, 03:42:30 PM »
Well... I will be the first licensed non-farmstead artisan cheesemaker in Kentucky (Lexington). Everyone else either has their own cows or has a direct link to a farm. Since I am the first, they have gone out of their way to be nice, but frankly the state doesn't know what to do with me. They know they are opening a can of worms for more artisan cheesemakers so they have made it difficult and kept changing the unwritten "regulations" on me. They probably hoped that I would quietly disappear. Initially they insisted that I would have to pasteurize EVERYTHING on site and refused to allow me to bring in raw milk. I finally convinced them that I should be able to use raw milk and/or age at least 60 days just like a farmstead or commercial cheesemaker. But the battle is ongoing. Even if I use pasteurized milk, they are going to make me re-pasturize if I get into fresh cheeses or anything aged less than 60 days.

I understand that it's all about "milk safety" but many of their rules and regulations make no sense - like transporting for affinage.

Right now I am doing marketing for a Mennonite family with 8 kids that produces wonderful low-temp pasteurized, non-homogenized milk. They are the only dairy in Kentucky that actually bottles right on the farm and they are selling a LOT of milk. So I am getting all of my milk for free. They package my milk in 5 gallon dispenser bags like you would see in a restaurant with self-serve milk. My next battle is to get raw milk delivered in those bags. The state has agreed, but they are working with the farm about how to bypass their pasteurizer just for my milk.This is actually VERY handy because I make 5 gallon wheels. As I get into larger batches, I still intend to make 5 gallon wheels as a marketing point. Small, handmade, personal wheels. So a restaurant, store or consumer can buy just a small wheel instead of a huge quantity. I am thinking about selling strictly by the wheel and not by the pound.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2010, 10:49:06 PM by Sailor Con Queso »

iratherfly

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2010, 02:37:58 AM »
That is amazing! Congrats! You really have an opportunity to spearhead this movement in Kentucky and shape the laws around it. Liberal cheese production laws may contribute to the growth of this type of industry in your state too.

Like you, my operation proposition is a bit different for them; there are not many artisanal cheese producers that have no contact with the animals and want to do it smack in the middle of the big city.

I hear you regarding the milk. Re-pasteurizing previously-pasteurized milk before making cheese makes as much sense as re-curing salami before you can put it on pizzas or re-cooking jams before you can inject them into pastries. While milk safety is important, I think the law should really differentiate between milk for drinking and cooking supply and milk for processing in the production of dairy products. That's where the US is really kind of lagging, which really makes a negative impact on US artisanal cheese production.

I would love to see your setup, your cheese and your label/packaging (if you have any yet)!

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2010, 10:54:34 PM »
Congrats Sailor and good luck in your endeavors!

Minamyna

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2010, 06:50:04 PM »
Congrats, keep us appraised of how it goes. How hard was it to get the license? How long did it take?

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Scaling Up Cheese Making & Going Commercial In KY, USA
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2010, 01:34:55 AM »
I just re-read this thread and noticed Lexington KY. I was just in Glasgow KY for a part of my vacation trip two weeks ago. I wish we had our states/countries as part of our profile pix!