A Tale of Two Creameries - Part Two - Taylor Farm

Jon's got a great team out at Taylor Farm, thanks for the hospitality everyone!
You know you’re in VT when you show up at a small farm, immediately meet the farmer’s sister, get whisked into the family’s kitchen, across the dining room and onto the couch next to the fire. That’s exactly what happened to me at Taylor Farm. While Sweetbreads was absorbing Peter Dixon's cheese knowledge a few miles up the road, I was hanging out at Taylor Farm on the couch with owner Jon Wright. Pretty sweet. I’m kind of digging this “farm research” lifestyle.  
 
We first met Jon Wright while we were volunteering at the VT Cheesemakers Festival
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Goudette - Cheddar Gets a Cave Mate

home, cheesemaking, gouda, brine, salt crystals, little seed farm

Meet the Stacked Goudette. She's no baby gouda! I didn't want to part with the many pennies it would take to get gouda or baby gouda molds so I formed the curd inside the same small sized hard cheese mold I used for my first farmhouse cheddar. Sometimes beautiful things happen when you have to improvise - I'm hoping my Goudette is one of those. Baby goudas (not the Laughing Cow Babybell kind, I'm talkin' about the real deal) weigh a little less than a pound, while a full sized gouda wheel can weigh up to 30lbs. The Goudette is weighing in at 2lbs after a swim in the brine this morning and a day drying out. Who knows what changes in flavor and texture the stacked shape will create... I guess we'll find out in 2-6 months!

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