West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers

After the cheese has been pressed for at least 24 hours, the intensive labour of love continues. Each cheese is removed from its mould and wrapped by hand in a soft cheesecloth bandage. Each cheese is then bathed in hot water, rewrapped and repressed and then greased with lard (this helps form the traditional rind) before being labelled and taken to the farm’s store. Here the cheeses are stored at 8–9 degrees centigrade and a relative humidity of 86 degrees and are turned regularly. The cheese will mature for at least 10 months before it is considered ready to eat. 

The block cheeses do not require dressing, and will be wrapped and then strapped tightly in traditional wooden slats for protection. Like traditional rounds each cheese is then stacked on racks in the cheese store and monitored at regular intervals whilst developing its subtle and complex spectrum of flavours.