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GENERAL BOARDS => DAIRY FACTORY - Butter, Cheese, Ice Cream Making => Topic started by: Tammy on February 23, 2009, 01:57:20 PM
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I think I have about got my husband talked into taking a large unfinished area on the ground level of our home and coverting it into a processing/aging room for my milk and cheese.
I have four Jersey cows and one heifer that will freshen (calve) this year. That means I have a lot of milk to play with (and I love it!). We have an octagon home that is built into the side of a hill. The front and back on the ground level are open but the sides are underground. This unfinished area is quite large and I plan to take the front portion of the room that has a window and put a door where the window currently exists. This will give me a seperate outside entrance to this room and I can milk my cows and then take the milk in through the ground level into the processing room instead of carrying it up the steps to the kitchen like I currently have to do. The back portion of this area I would like to section off and make a pantry/cheese cave for my canned goods and aging cheese. This part of the house is "underground" and has no windows. I am thinking that I can put shelves in there and regulate the heat and humidity and have a perfect "cheese cave".
I would love to have your ideas for both the kitchen/processing area as well as for the "cave" area.
Thanks!
Tammy
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Tammy,
I don't have any input or ideas, but I think it is awesome that you will have a cheesemaking area set up in your own home. I know it has been a challenge for you to get all the milk upstairs if your hubby isn't home, so I'm really excited for you. Keep us posted on updates!
Karen
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Tammy, I will say that I am quite envious of your potential setup and your access to milk.
I would start by saying that you do not need a whole lot of room to make cheese. My room is about 10X12. Storing cheese will depend entirely on how much cheese you want to store.
I guess my first thoughts on your space is ensuring that you have adequate water supply, electricity and drainage. Ideally a drain in the middle of the floor would be fantastic.
I would tile as much as possible and create an environment that is easily sanitized.
You will want to have a clean workspace for curd processing, a tub for washing equipment, and a method and space for cheese pressing.
The bottom line is there are a thousand ways to lay out a space, and there are a thousand variables. The common threads amongst all those layouts will be sanitation.
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Any pics of the area? Then I can see what work flow I can come up with.
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Tammy, it's probably a good idea to have a read through some of these articles (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,621.0.html) plus this book is supposed to be excellent (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,690.0.html) for commercial artisan cheese makers.
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Would love to see some pics when you finally get it done.