Rennet Workshops May 6th

Rennet Harvesting and Goat Kid Butchering Workshop

Every year, dairy farmers are faced with what to do with the male offspring of their cows, sheep, and goats. Come learn one creative way to use this resource and preserve one of the vital cheesemaking ingredients yourself. Participants will learn how to slaughter, butcher, and harvest rennet from a goat kid.

March 25 at Appleton Creamery in Appleton, 10am – 4pm (CONCLUDED)

May 6 at Fuzzy Udder Creamery/South Paw Farm in Unity, 10am – 4pm

$25-$75 workshop fee, sliding scale. Please email fuzzyudder@gmail.com to register or more information about work-trade/scholarships, or call 948-5268

Rennet Workshop Planned

The Maine Cheese Guild will be sponsoring a one-day workshop on cheese Rennet to be held at Little Falls Farm in Harrison, Maine on Monday, April 19th from 9am to 5pm.

At the beginning there will be a short lecture on the nature of rennet — how it works, why it is used in cheesemaking, and the different ways it can affect finished cheeses. This will include a report written by Oregon cheesemaker David Peterson on his experiences using plant derived renneting materials to make traditional cheeses.

After lunch John and Mary Belding of Little Falls Farm will demonstrate step-by-step the methods for harvesting a goat-kid vel, preserving it, and then using it in cheese production.

Fees will be $125 for the general public, $100 for Maine Cheese Guild members (lunch included). For more information email info@mainecheeseguild.com/MCG-build. To reserve a spot (there will be a limited class size) send a check to

The Maine Cheese Guild
c/o Mark Whitney, Treasurer
Pineland Farms
32 Farm View Drive
New Gloucester, Maine 04260

Cheese Guild Meeting at Little Falls Farm

LFF_500

The meeting took place Monday, October 5th at the homestead of John and Mary Belding in Harrison, Maine, on the banks of the Crooked River where they raise and milk goats to make organic aged cheese (including the vela for rennet!), pigs, chickens, turkeys, and lots of hay that they harvest and pack loose in their goat barn.