Our friend, Kate Johnson is a bundle of energy! She raises goats at her Briar Gate Farm and she teaches cheese making classes at her school, The Art of Cheese in Longmont, Colorado. She also co-leads a 4-H club and serves as Superintendent of Utility Goats for the Boulder County Fair. (In 2014, she sent us her recipe for Chocolate Ricotta Mousse. Then, recently, we did an articles about her school – Certifying Home Cheese Makers! )
Now, she has created her own video school for cheese making called “Cheesemaking Made Easy.” She has 3 classes available already and a DVD.
As with everything she does, Kate has done an outstanding job with these videos! They are fun to watch, easy to follow and they come with pdf files to download with all the information from the classes.
She wants to be sure you understand the reasons why you take certain steps, so she explains a little bit about the science involved. It’s very easy to grasp because she has made pictures like the one below to illustrate the concepts.
Here’s her trailer for the course:
Kate explained her motivation to us: At The Art of Cheese in Longmont, Colorado, we offer one of the most extensive selections of home-cheese making classes in the country. But we realize not everyone has the time or money to travel to Colorado to take a class with us in person. So we decided it would be great if we could “spread the cheese love” by offering our classes online and on a DVD so that people could learn to make cheese with us anytime and anywhere!
These are the three “Cheesemaking Made Easy” classes that are currently available:
Cheesemaking 101: Intro to the Art & Science of Cheesemaking | Free | 20 minutes. I’ll share the basic science behind cheesemaking as I cover key ingredients, basic equipment, how to choose and source the best milks, and more. I’ll even walk you through the steps to make your own homemade artisan ricotta and you’ll discover that there’s as much art involved in making artisan cheeses as there is science! This free intro course is great for all beginners to kick off your home cheese making journey.
Quick & Easy Cheese: Chevre, Cottage Cheese and Feta | $19.98 | 50 minutes. This beginner level class focuses on three easy cheeses that require minimal equipment and easy-to-find ingredients. From the classic goat cheese (chevre), to cottage cheese, and a dry-salted feta, these three cheeses use the exact same basic ingredients but utilize different techniques. You’ll also get tips and recipes for variations on each of these cheeses including flavored chevres and a delicious herbed feta marinated in olive oil. These three cheeses are quick, easy, nutritious and delicious!
Intro to Pressed & Aged Cheeses: Queso Fresco and Guido’s Italian Hard Cheese | $19.98 | 50 minutes. This intermediate level class focuses on two pressed cheeses: Queso Fresco, a Latin American quick farm cheese, and Guido’s Cheese, a nice Italian hard cheese. The first is a pressed cheese that is eaten the same day you make it, while the second is pressed and then aged. These are both great cheeses to start with when you’re ready to move beyond soft cheeses. You’ll also learn how to wax a wheel of cheese and how to make your own cheese press for next to nothing! And we’ll give you some ideas for creating an easy space for aging your cheeses.
Each online class comes with free downloadable recipes and other useful information such as cheese making supply resources, good cheese making books, and lots of tips.
The DVD version includes all three of the above courses for $29.99.
Special deal – When you sign up for one class at $19.99, you’ll get a coupon to get the second class for only $9.99.
