Chances are you’ve eaten at least one kind of Grafton Cheddar (http://www.graftonvillagecheese.com/). It’s sold everywhere, including the main supermarket in my town (Greenfield, MA). It is, in fact, the only raw milk cheese they sell.
The company (located in Brattleboro and Grafton, Vermont) makes all kinds of cheddars – clothbound, smoked, flavored, etc. The cave-aged cheddars are made in Grafton. The best view of the entire selection can be found at the Murray’s website (click here).
I’ve been buying Grafton cheddar for years, but I had never been to their store in Brattleboro. I had heard that they have viewing windows and I always love to watch cheese being made, so I decided to check it out.
The children’s farm next door to the cheese shop used to be run by the Windham Foundation, but now it has become a separate non-profit-Retreat Farm, Ltd. The Windham Foundation restored the original cheese cooperative in Grafton in 1965, and that became the Grafton Village Cheese Company.
These buildings are part of the Retreat Farm.
There is cheese everywhere, from Vermont and all around the world (as well as every type of Grafton cheese). There are great pictures of some of the cheeses they sell at their Instagram page- @graftonmonger
This is definitely the best place to buy cheese, in the Brattleboro area.
Grafton cheese
More Grafton
On the walls, there are dry erase boards and chalkboards with good information.
And, there is much more for sale than cheese.
What’s that up on the top shelf? It looks familiar!
It is, indeed, our very own Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit
Stairs leading up to the viewing windows.
View from the top of the stairs.
Making Cheese
Most of the pictures below were taken through the viewing windows (there are 2 very large ones). I went on a weekday at 10am, which is when they open. The work begins at 8am, so there are steps I couldn’t see. I wanted you to see it all, so, I used a few pictures from their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GraftonVillageCheese/) and their YouTube video (https://youtu.be/bldyWbFm0fo).
Ripening the milk
The milk is from Jerseys at local farms.
This picture came from their YouTube video.
Cutting the curds
This picture of the cutting harp came from their Facebook page.
Breaking up the curds
This is the point where I started watching through the windows.
Raking the curds and cutting the slabs
I didn’t get any good pictures of this part of the process, so I used theirs. Cheddaring involves raking the curds to the side of the vat where they knit together. The curds are then cut into slabs and stacked on top of each other to further dispel the whey.
From their YouTube video
From their YouTube video
From their Facebook page
Stacking and turning the slabs
Breaking up the slabs
The slabs are broken up by hand, then fed into the milling machine where they are cut into small pieces.
The milling machine is hard to see, but it looks like an inverted triangle of stainless steel.
Salting the curds
This is from a picture that was on the wall. I like the way it shows the salt in the air.
Packing the curds into molds
Cleaning the vats
There are parts of the process I didn’t see:
Before the hoops are put in the press, they are weighed to make sure the right amount of curds are packed in (from their Facebook page).
He is taking the cheese out of the hoops. That is disposable nylon inside the hoops (from a picture on the wall of the viewing room).
40 pound blocks of cheese, ready to be hand-cut and waxed (from their Facebook page).
This cheese came directly from the process above in Brattleboro.
