MERCER, Pa. — Penn Soil Resource Conservation and Development Council has 15 openings for a three-day cheese making training course, July 1-3 at the Trinity Church in Mercer, Pa.
The course is available to those in the area interested in learning how to produce farmstead cheese for retail sale. This hands-on training course will feature both classroom discussion and actual cheese making instruction from Melanie-Dietrich Cochran, a well known cheese maker from Keswick Creamery in Newburg, Pa.
About the class
This three-day class is designed for novice cheese makers. Participants will learn about the milk quality, ingredients used in cheese making, processes for making a variety of cheeses, techniques and requirements for aging cheese, and how to establish a business as a farmstead or artisan cheese maker.
This is a “hands-on” class, which gives participants an opportunity to make several kinds of cheese.
There will be short lectures to provide an understanding of basic milk and cheese chemistry, the art of aging cheese (affinage), and how to design and operate a cheese making business.
Fees
The class size is limited to 20 students. The tuition fee for the training course is $295 per student; however, residents of the eight northwestern Pa. counties (Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren) comprising the Penn Soil RC&D area are eligible to apply for the Susan McCorkle Memorial Scholarship offered by Penn Soil RC&D, which may reimburse successful applicants up to 50 percent of the cost of attending.
For more information, contact Maryann at 814-226-8160 ext. 192 or via e-mail at maryann.frampton@rcdnet.net.
