Hope you had a great national Independence Day and that your summer is going well. Mine is off to a wonderful start and things are starting to pick up as we count down to the festival. Earlier this month, I embarked on a dream of mine to work as a real estate agent and am excited to be with Restaino & Associates in their New Glarus office. This last month was full of many wonderful events, but the most memorable was when Simon Zimmerman and Delaney Sweeney became the 2016 Prince and Princess. Congratulations to those two sweeties.
This article is the first of a two-part series with Silvan Blum, my cheesemaker uncle, as a reference. I asked him some questions a "normal" cheese-lover might not know. I hope you enjoy getting to know Silvan and gaining some perspective on his experiences with the process of cheesemaking.
Many people wonder, "How does one get into cheesemaking?" Silvan began his career as a cheesemaker helper with Albert Deppeler at Chalet Cheese Cooperative. He began about 31 years ago with some of his duties being turning cheese, dipping cheese and cleaning.
Silvan said a person needs to work at least 240 hours under the supervision of a licensed cheesemaker to take an exam with the state of Wisconsin. Once you have some experience in cheesemaking, you can also take classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW-Madison has offered dairy school for more than 120 years and is one of the most prestigious dairy schools in the country. While taking these classes, students learn about various topics, most notably the chemistry of the cheese and how the various ingredients can affect the final product. Silvan received his cheesemaking license nearly two years after starting at Chalet. Albert Deppeler was also managing his own factory - Deppeler Cheese Factory - and when a cheesemaker there retired, Silvan took the position. He is still employed there today.
The most rewarding part of cheesemaking, according to Silvan, is at the end of the day, when you can see that you have made something. You have taken a raw product, "milk, and added some ingredients" to create a tangible product. Cheesemaking is serious business and there are many important factors - including meeting federal, state and Department of Natural Resources regulations. Cleaning is a huge part of the process and will continue to be, to keep consumers safe and the product at the highest standards possible.
Another very important factor is the milk. Cheesemaking has changed over the years because the milk changed as well. Silvan said, "These days there is not as much variation in summer milk to winter milk." This is because most cows are not strictly either grass fed or feed fed, instead eating a combination of the two all year.
Farmers use a special bacterium that acts as a preservative. This bacterium has changed the way Swiss cheese is made. Silvan said they are always working to improve the recipe to make the cheese as tasty as possible. He went on further to say that if a cheese recipe isn't adjusted it will get left in the dust by the others that have adjusted to the changes in the milk and ingredients.
I'll be back next month for part two of this article - with more from Cheesemaker Silvan on the cheese industry.
July is a busy month for promoting Cheese Days, with Fourth of July parades, Monticello Homecoming Parade on July 10, and the Green County Fair mid-month. I'll be at the cheese auction at the Green County Fair on July 24.
Cheese Days is currently seeking volunteers to assist with various tasks: beer stand (beer serving and ticket sales), retail tent (set up, retail sales, clean up), and hospitality tent (clean tables, pick up trash, assist with food sampling on Saturday). If you're interested in helping out, go to cheesedays.com and click on the volunteer tab, or call the Cheese Days office at 608-325-7771.
- Jana Duval Crandall is the 2016 Cheese Days Ambassador
This article is the first of a two-part series with Silvan Blum, my cheesemaker uncle, as a reference. I asked him some questions a "normal" cheese-lover might not know. I hope you enjoy getting to know Silvan and gaining some perspective on his experiences with the process of cheesemaking.
Many people wonder, "How does one get into cheesemaking?" Silvan began his career as a cheesemaker helper with Albert Deppeler at Chalet Cheese Cooperative. He began about 31 years ago with some of his duties being turning cheese, dipping cheese and cleaning.
Silvan said a person needs to work at least 240 hours under the supervision of a licensed cheesemaker to take an exam with the state of Wisconsin. Once you have some experience in cheesemaking, you can also take classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW-Madison has offered dairy school for more than 120 years and is one of the most prestigious dairy schools in the country. While taking these classes, students learn about various topics, most notably the chemistry of the cheese and how the various ingredients can affect the final product. Silvan received his cheesemaking license nearly two years after starting at Chalet. Albert Deppeler was also managing his own factory - Deppeler Cheese Factory - and when a cheesemaker there retired, Silvan took the position. He is still employed there today.
The most rewarding part of cheesemaking, according to Silvan, is at the end of the day, when you can see that you have made something. You have taken a raw product, "milk, and added some ingredients" to create a tangible product. Cheesemaking is serious business and there are many important factors - including meeting federal, state and Department of Natural Resources regulations. Cleaning is a huge part of the process and will continue to be, to keep consumers safe and the product at the highest standards possible.
Another very important factor is the milk. Cheesemaking has changed over the years because the milk changed as well. Silvan said, "These days there is not as much variation in summer milk to winter milk." This is because most cows are not strictly either grass fed or feed fed, instead eating a combination of the two all year.
Farmers use a special bacterium that acts as a preservative. This bacterium has changed the way Swiss cheese is made. Silvan said they are always working to improve the recipe to make the cheese as tasty as possible. He went on further to say that if a cheese recipe isn't adjusted it will get left in the dust by the others that have adjusted to the changes in the milk and ingredients.
I'll be back next month for part two of this article - with more from Cheesemaker Silvan on the cheese industry.
July is a busy month for promoting Cheese Days, with Fourth of July parades, Monticello Homecoming Parade on July 10, and the Green County Fair mid-month. I'll be at the cheese auction at the Green County Fair on July 24.
Cheese Days is currently seeking volunteers to assist with various tasks: beer stand (beer serving and ticket sales), retail tent (set up, retail sales, clean up), and hospitality tent (clean tables, pick up trash, assist with food sampling on Saturday). If you're interested in helping out, go to cheesedays.com and click on the volunteer tab, or call the Cheese Days office at 608-325-7771.
- Jana Duval Crandall is the 2016 Cheese Days Ambassador