Learn, explain and assist with the basic steps of how to make Melanie’s Swallow Tail Tomme cheese.

Basic steps: 

1. Care for the cows. Intensive rotational grazing through at least 60 different paddocks
2. Milk the cows twice daily (6:00 am and 5:00 pm) for 10 months. The cows are dried out in January and February (i.e. not milked). Calving season starts in March and lasts about six weeks
3. While the morning milking is going on (starting at 6:00 am), sanitize all tools and equipment that will be used in the make, including vat, vat lids, drain tables, forms/molds, cloth, etc. 
4. Fill the vat with 500-525 liters of milk, ensure that the milk is at 90 F. Fill the vat jacket with warm water and turn on the vat heat so the milk is insulated and holds it at 90 F 
5. Start stirring the milk, test for baseline pH, and add Calcium Chloride, which improves yield, and the frozen starter cultures, which begins the acidification process
6. Skim top of milk for impurities and foam 
7. Add rennet after 45 minutes of culturing or when the milk has reached the desired pH. This step is also called ripening
8. Test flocculation approximately 8-9 minutes after the rennet is added to make sure curd is starting to set
9. Let the milk set (become curd) for 45 minutes. To calculate the time needed for the milk to become curd, multiply the flocculation time by 45 minutes and then add the flocculation time. So if the flocculation time is 9 minutes, the set time is (5×9) + 9 = 54 minutes
10. Check the curd for a clean break to insure it is set enough and then cut the curd. Cutting the curd releases the whey. For this tomme, the curd should be fairly small so more whey (moisture) is released
11. Stir the curd with no added heat for 15 minutes to help the curd expel more whey and cook evenly
12. Cook and stir the curd to 100 F, approximately 20 minutes
13. Check the pH and stop stirring at pH of 6.4
14. Drain whey 
15. Place the forms in the vat and hoop the curd (put the curd in the forms). Fill 32 forms. Top off the forms with leftover curd from the vat, to try to get even sized cheese
16. Turn and stack two high, eight times at 10 minute intervals, pouring some whey over the forms between the first two turns and stacks. Take pH several times during the turning process to make sure it is going down. Make sure to cover the cheese with cheesecloth between turns
17. Turn and stack between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm
18. Turn (but do not restack) at 7:00 pm and then let the cheese rest overnight in the forms 
19. At around 6:30-7:00 am the next morning, weigh the cheeses to get total yield. Use the total weight to calculate the brine time
20. Remove the wheels from the forms. Rub the tops with salt and place in brine tanks for 24 hours. Flip and add more salt at 12 hours
21. Flip the wheels in the brine tank to remove excess salt. Remove the wheels from the brine tank and let drain on the drain table for 24 hours, flipping halfway through the draining time
22. Turn the wheels over and place on the boards in the cave, two wheels per board
23. Turn every two days. Once the cheese starts to bloom, pat it down when turning it
24. Test one wheel several times during the 60 aging process to see how it is maturing
25. Brush the wheels once a week starting at about 45 days.
26. Age at least 60 days before selling

**Will add pictures to this**