05/14/07 Cheese making workshop

Again this year the two day-hands on cheese making workshop is booked solid. Tomorrow and Wednesday more than two dozen participants will focus on the basic principles of cheese making and the production of farmstead and artisan cheeses. University of Idaho Food Processing Specialist Jeff Kronenberg. KRONENBERG "People on small farms are looking for value added strategies to turn their crops or milk or meat into something that they can make more of a margin on." He's just one of the workshop instructors who will cover the opportunities and challenges for these small scale cheese makers. KRONENBERG "Food safety and how to prevent any kind of food hazard. The different types of cheeses. The actual production procedures. We have hands on workshops in our seven thousand square foot food plant in Caldwell so they learn how to make for example a feta cheese and they learn how to evaluate cheese quality. There's lots of cheese tasting and evaluation going on during the workshop also." Thanks to a funding extension from the United Dairymen of Idaho the basic cheese making workshops will continue for at least another two years and Kronenberg says they'll be adding an advanced cheese making course during the next two years as well. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott