Texas used to be a darn easy state to make and sell raw milk aged cheeses in. Just get a food manufacturing license, no need for inspection (they get to it eventually - a year or so after your license is approved in seconds online), and go. So that's what we were going to do. BUT...then they went and changed the rules on me! So starting this month, I now need several dairy licenses. I thought this might be a good place to document my journey.
First and foremost, I like the guys that will be helping me get properly licensed. The head of the Milk Group in Texas has probably spent hours on the phone with me just chatting about the proposed changes, then the draft rules, and finally the adopted version. The head of the local inspection group fully admits that they are still getting used to the rules and I have asked questions that they don't even know how to answer. Our first meeting with our actual inspector should be set up soon.
So we are looking to get licensed for being a production dairy (we have a small herd of goats) and then for cheese making. We aren't sure if we are going to get a simple producer dairy license or a Grade A Raw for Retail (could sell raw milk). I'd like the latter but the rules might be too stringent, we might not be able to find insurance and it just might cost too much. The cheese making (from raw milk) can be done with either. Our current cheese kitchen was constructed for our own sensibilities and not according to any code so we need to see what should be upgraded.
In the meantime, I am going to switch from focusing on fresh cheeses (mozzarella, chevre, feta, queso fresco, etc) and perfect a few aged cheese recipes. I figure by the time we are fully licensed, I will have a few recipes up my sleeve and I can start out.
So I thought I would just log my journey here and see if anyone had any good suggestions for me!