2002 Annual Report for FS02-147
Appropriate-Scale, Inexpensive Cheese Vat for the Farmstead Cheesemaker
Summary
The South does not have a significant history of small-scale cheese making and so there is very little appropriate equipment lying around in barns that can be adapted or rehabilitated by today’s small-scale cheese makers. Inexpensive cheese vats are difficult to come by for use by small-scale cheese makers.
One of the issues for these small-scale cheese makers is making use of an auxiliary cheese vat in addition to their pasteurizing vat. By using an auxiliary vat, a cheese maker can make several batches of cheese and save time.
This producer will try to adapt a piece of equipment called a sausage truck for use in small-scale cheese making. The cheese maker will document the vat’s strengths and limitations and will encourage other cheese makers to try the vat and comment on it.