It’s exciting for us to have found a fabulous cheese maker before she has become widely known. We predict that someday soon you will hear about Deb Allen’s Gilded Fern Farm cheese because, to coin a phrase – “cream always rises to the top.”
If you are lucky enough to be within driving distance of Concord, you will find the farm 15 miles west. When you consider the cost of a trip to France, it’s a comparatively short trip to find a variety of cheeses, including buttery fresh, soft cheeses sent directly from heaven (in our opinion).
Their farm store is open daily and in the summer they sell at 3 farmers markets – Contoocook, Bedford and Canterbury.
Deborah Allen was a veterinarian for nearly 30 years but she had wanted to make cheese since she was a child. Her father had learned to make it at home and Deb was fascinated by the process of transforming milk into a solid block of food.
When she turned 50, (4 years ago) she finally found the time to start making cheese and it became her all-consuming passion.
She wanted to make sheep milk cheese, but she couldn’t find a source. So, she bought 4 East Fresians – 3 girls and 1 ram. That gave her enough milk to start making cheese.
Now, she has 16 sheep and she is milking 8 of them (when they will let her – they stop in October and nothing will convince them otherwise.)
Even with the increase in her herd, she only gets about 1 1/2 gallons of milk/day which would amount to 1 (7 pound) wheel of Manchego every 4 days. So, she purchases fresh cow milk and goat milk from nearby farms in order to make the cheeses she loves.
It sounds logical to do that, but the learning curve has been daunting. As she put it, “When you know how to make a cheese with sheep milk, you do not know how to make that same cheese with cow milk or goat milk. It’s entirely different.”
To learn, she apprenticed with another cheese maker for 8 months, took numerous classes, read books, watched videos and consulted with experts. It’s an ongoing process.
The Farm Store
There is a viewing window! (We love when customers can see how their cheese is made.)
The list of cheeses available is quite remarkable. Deb likes to change things up and try new ones all the time, so you never know what you will find in addition to the basics.
In the summer, when the milk is flowing, she makes raw sheep milk yogurt (Ewe-gurt). It’s a whopping 9% cream and so thick, it’s Greek-style without straining. It comes in glass containers which can be returned at the farm or at their farmer’s market locations.
And did we mention the ice cream?
The Source
It all starts with the milk. Deb’s favorite part of the day is milking the sheep.
The Make Room
The Cave
Deb pointed out to us that making cheese is simple, but taking care of it from that point on is not. Her cave is located in the basement of the house where it’s easier to maintain the right temperature and humidity.
She doesn’t use wax because she loves the interaction she has with the cheese as it ages.
A Beautiful Film
Deb’s daughter(17), has made a film showing a day in the life of her mother of making Manchego. We highly recommend it as a learning tool.
E McReynolds says
You are seriously an inspiration! If I ever make it to Concord I’ll be stopping in. I’ve been thinking about sheep, do you do anything with their wool? If I get some sheep I have also been studying up on making yarn …. think I might make an order of your cheese soon, I’ve never tasted sheep cheese 😋 but I’m eager ..Happy Holiday season to you and your family .
David La Garce says
Awesome setup, and video. That was very inspiring. Thanks for sharing
Deborah Allen says
Hi Susan,
Thank you for your kind words. We had a lot of fun with the film and the interview.
To answer a few questions: 1) Wonderful hubby made the racks for the cave. They have large wheels beneath (very important to have large wheels. One of the racks has smaller wheels and I can tell that with more weight, it will be difficult to move). 2) I find that there is always plenty of ‘blue’ mold in the cave and it particularly likes young cheese. When I house the blue cheese in the same cave I don’t seem to have any additional blue floating around. Overall, the molds seem content to stay where they are as long as I have created/maintained the right environment for a particular cheese. I do keep my bloomy rinds separate though as they are a challenge to begin with. However, I experimented a few weeks ago with one of the bloomies by placing it in the cave and no contamination occurred! Hope this helps.
A lovely film and I am sure Deb is very proud of her daughter Caroline. It is a very nice set up for the milk parlor, make room and store. I would like to know if possible more about the total cost of equipment for all of this as I am interested in starting a similar venture. I was in the commercial dairy industry for 45 years and am looking to start a small artisan cheese operation for my retirement.
Hi Dennis,
We started with an area in the barn that already had a cement floor. A large part of the expense was fit-up for the space. Possibly you already have a space you intend to use. If you do fit-up any areas (make-room, aging area) BE SURE TO HAVE A VAPOR barrier. We made the mistake of not having one in the cave and the ceiling fell down because of the moisture!
For equipment, if you went with the top of the line everything, I would estimate about $50k. There are however, lots of other options. If you are lucky enough to find used equipment, then that would be a bonus. The pasteurizer is the most expensive piece of equipment. You do not need one though if you are planning to make cheeses that are aged >60 days. I was obsessed with working with soft cheeses so the pasteurizer was non-negotiable and required for me.
Good luck! There are so many great resources out there and Jim at New England Cheesemaking is a wealth of knowledge and great with helping you troubleshoot.
Cheese on!
Deborah (and Caroline!)
Beautiful farm and incredible cheeses! And such a professional and enlightening film! I’d love to know 2 things: 1) did she have the wooden aging racks on rollers made custom, or they available to purchase somewhere? 2) in the aging room how does she keep roquefortii from the blues on her top shelf from “invading” her other cheeses?