My adventures in cheesemaking began with me getting a job at Beechers Handmade cheese in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, the oldest continuously operating public market in the country. I started off as a Hoopbreaker which is the position you start in to learn the ropes before becoming a Cheesemaker. The job consisted of taking the cheese made the day before out of the presses and then scanning the blocks into a computer before palletizing and shipping it out. I did this for about 5 months before getting the opportunity to begin making cheese and I haven't look back since.
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| Cheddaring cheese |
Making cheese at Beechers was an important experience because I learned how a very hygienic and efficient cheesemaking operation worked. We ran a pasteurizer and COP tank for washing the dirty hoops and various implements. Both had charts and were rigorously cleaned every night. The whole program at Beechers was very clean and I learned many basic cheesemaking skills such as taking Titritable Acid readings, monitoring flocculation, and cooking curd. I learned to make Cheddar, Jack, and fromage blanc. The cloth bound Flagship Reserve that was especially good cheese, it won first place for aged cheddar at the American Cheese Society convention held in July 2010 in Seattle, which we got to attend.
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| Make vat and cheddaring table |
Working down in Pike place market was great, I really enjoyed talking with all the vendors and street performers. There was some excellent local produce, fish mongers, bakeries, places to get sandwiches and bowls of the steaming clam chowder. It was pretty cool being able to make cheese in the city, a little surreal when you think about the roots of the craft. All said and done it was a great place for me to start out and I made some really good friends, had a great time, and found something I really enjoy doing.
