Camembert Workshop with Neville McNaughton

Are you ready to get serious about your Camembert?


Now's the time (September 28-30th) and place (Oregon State University in Corvallis) to take a 3 day course with Neville McNaughton and Brian Richter:

6 Ways to Make Camembert- Which is Right For You?

Day 1:

  The theory behind the Camembert process.

Day 2:

  Hands on cheese making day, making all 6 methodologies.

Day 3:

  How to design an aging room.

Take aways will include:

  Full notes on each method, comparative notes showing how each type differs.  Make sheet format for keeping records.  Design detail for your aging room.

Neville McNaughton has long been a favorite of ours, because although he is a "star" in the cheese world, he has always had time to answer any technical questions we have had.  He has been in the cheese business for over 35 years, but for the last 9 years, he has run his own consulting business, CheezSorce, (cheezsorce.com) which specializes in setting up small to medium-sized cheesemaking operations.



Brenda McNaughton and Brian Richter planned the upcoming workshop.   If you would like more information, you may call 314-647-5361 or e-mail Brenda at brenda.cheezsorce@gmail.com.  They are limiting the enrollment to 25.

Our table at the recent American Cheese Society's annual conference was right across from the CheezSorce table, so we met some of their team: 

Brian Richter will be teaching the Oregon workshop with Neville.  He became a consultant after making the cheese for seven years for his own business, Oregon Gourmet Cheeses.  He and his wife primarily made Camembert, Fromage Blanc and a washed rind cheese they called "Sublimity."  He was originally trained to make cheese in southeast Australia.

Brian Civitello consults mostly on the east coast, because he lives in Connecticut.  He taught Mozzarella at one of the "hands on" workshops at the conference along with our own Cheese Queen, Ricki, and Paula Lambert (owner and founder of The Mozzarella Company).

In the FAQ section of the CheezSorce website, there is some good information for those of you who are dreaming about selling your cheese.  These are just a few of the questions and answers;
 
Q:  I am a dairy farmer, and have seen the growth of farmstead cheese operations.  I am also tired of milk prices going up and down.  Where do I start?

Starting a farmstead dairy operation takes a considerable amount of planning and resources.  CheezSorce, LLC clearly advises that interested parties take a minimum of a year and investigate what is necessary for launching a business.

   1. Get an idea of what type of facility would best suit your needs. Visit a minimum of three current cheese plants. Please be sure to call before hand and introduce yourself. Try and respect their time constraints and confidentiality issues.

   2. Get an idea of how you are going to market your products. Visit at least three specialty cheese shops. Pastoral (Chicago), Larry’s Market (Brown Deer, WI), and Fromagination (Madison, WI) cater to great farmstead cheeses and are very generous in providing samples, and will answer questions.  If you are in an area that has no cheese shops and farmers markets embrace the fact that you will be an exporter and your markets will be far flung.

   3. Take some educational courses, and learn as much as you can in three critical areas before you start your business:  cheese making, marketing, and business management for entrepreneurs.

   4. Partner with a qualified consultant to provide objectivity and provide expertise in engineering, construction, air management, cheese make sheets.

Q:  I’m done with research where do I go to too finalize my proposal?

 CheezSorce can:

         1. Write grants

         2. Write business plans

         3. Do market research and provide marketing plans

         4. Develop plant designs

         5. Recommend equipment

         6. Provide make procedures

         7. Train personnel

         8. Write GMPs

         9. Write SSOPs

        10. Write HACCP plans

        11. Assist in finding and selecting staff

        12. Provide project management