We have done a lot of interviews in the past 12 years – since we started this blog, but James Phelps is the first from Wyoming. In fact, prior to this interview, Wyoming was the only unrepresented state. So, it is with great pleasure that we present to you our first Wyoming home cheesemaker.
James’s Story
I work as a corrosion/coatings professional with pipeline infrastructure. My wife, Jolene and I have an acreage we have been building, remodeling and enjoying for about 7 years now.
We are hoping to raise some sheep in the future, but for now 2 dogs, 2 cats and a flock of chickens will do.
We put in a geothermal green house a while back and it has been good for growing what we can’t grow outside.
We both love to get outdoors in the mountains and take in all there is to do that’s wild and fun around that.
I’m one of the very few cheese makers in Wyoming.
I know of one in Kaycee who is commercial and makes sheep milk, and a few others using goat milk to make some cheese, but Wyoming milk animals are few and far between.
Another reason is Wyoming is a state with around 500k people in a land area that would cover all of ME, VT, and NH with more to spare.
The types of sheep and cattle raised are meat and wool, with very few milk animals. (The high desert and Alpine climate do make it very good for some sheep and cows like Normandy and Jersey.)
The Star Valley was the last place I knew that had a commercial cheese making operation going.
How did you get started?
I got started quite a few years back when, out of curiosity, I bought some rennet tablets. I made cheese from some ultra-pasteurized, ultra-homogenized milk. It was supposed to be a farmhouse style cheddar. It wasted a lot of milk but I got a ball of some kind of cheese like a quick mozzarella. (I later learned that UP milk wasn’t supposed to work.)
That got me started as I find it to be a great stress reducer.
I found a couple of milk sources for raw milk. (Wyoming has great milk laws so it is easier to get started using raw milk.)
I read Sheridan’s first (Sheridan’s Guide to Cheese by Kevin and Seamus Sheridan), a guide to cheese around the world and I got many basics on Youtube. Your website (cheesemaking.com) was an excellent source as well. Once I learned the basic steps, I studied the relationships and differences and how they make the finished products change.
I settled on ButterKäse in the beginning and now I make several of my own varieties based on European cheeses.
I have a son who has contacted a grad student who studies medieval food. Researching the oldest records about cheese making, I hope to uncover something ancient that I can recreate new again.😊
One of the greatest challenges here is the super dry climate. It causes difficulties in keeping the cheese rind at the correct humidity. That’s one reason why I am digging a real cheese cave. We have a sandstone shale hillside right beside the south side of the house, so the cave will be in a north slope.
I have given classes to people and they have used those skills to make cheese for the farmer’s market. Many of the milk producers sell milk and yogurt, but wanted to learn how to use the excess milk for cheese.
I enjoy helping those with milk animals to create saleable products and I would someday like to have milk sheep and goats to create cheeses that are unique to Wyoming.
Wyoming has the best cottage food laws in the US. I can milk sheep, goats and cows, make cheese and sell it at the farmer’s market.
I really want to help others, by teaching because; If I can get enough people making selling and enjoying these laws, we will all be better off as a community. I stress sanitation, and process safety in my classes. I ask that people not only understand the risk of cheese that is under 60 days in maturation but that they inform those they sell to.
It is a matter of responsible communication so the consumer can make the choice. The more that people get interested, the more people will raise dairy animals, the more people will make cheese and there will be a larger market for the artisan. (To contact me about my classes, message me from my new Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/CheeseWyoming).
I taught one class and a milk producer made and sold my Persian feta thereafter. I was going to host more but then Covid hit, so we are very excited to see it going away!
I might note that my Persian feta is quite different from what is found on the recipe boards. My brother-in-law, growing up in Iran in the 50’s in the town of Tabriz helped his family make this cheese as a boy. Collaborating with him and adjusting the cream content (its traditional to use sheep’s milk), we re-created this true Persian gem. I hope you and others enjoy it!
Proportional Tabriz Feta Recipe:
This kind of recipe is one of the ways I teach people so they don’t flub when moving from a 2 gallon batch to a 4. If they have to create the quantities per volume of milk, I think it helps them understand the need to change in scale with the volume of milk. (The more traditional recipe, with actual quantities is shown after it.)
Sheep’s milk or 1.5x the cream content of Jersey milk (raw preferred)
Flora Danica – 1/2 as much as called for per milk volume
M100 – 1/2 as much as called for per milk volume
Calf lipase – as much as called for per milk volume
Calcium chloride (if milk is pasteurized) as much as called for per milk volume
Calf Rennet as much as called for per milk volume
Bring milk to 85F, inoculate, let stand 1 hour.
Slowly rise to 98F (15 minutes), add diluted rennet (in 1/2 cup water).
Let set 1 hour and check for clean break.
Cut curd with a whisk and let heal.
Stir very slowly for about 20 minutes till curd forms well in hand.
Place curds in 2-4 feta forms. Drain using one a top the other for 10 minutes. Trade bottom with top for another 10.
Repeat sequence.
Flip cheese in molds and combine them if there is room in mold, and press very lightly overnight.
Prepare 8% Himalayan salt brine with 1/2% calcium chloride.*
For the liquid, use 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar per quart.
Cut feta into 1/2″ cubes place in sterilized jars and cover with brine. Store in refrigerator.
It is ready in 2 months. I have aged it for a year with excellent results.
Conventional Tabriz Feta Recipe:
Sheep’s milk or 1.5x the cream content Jersey milk (raw preferred) – 2 gallons
Flora Danica – 1/8 tsp (50 DCU)
M-100 – 1/8 tsp (50DCU)
Calf lipase – 1/8 tsp
Calcium chloride – ½ tsp for pasteurized milk and 1 teaspoon for brine mix
Calf Rennet – ½ tsp
Bring milk to 85F, inoculate, let stand 1 hour.
Slowly rise to 98F (15 minutes) add diluted rennet (1/2 cup water).
Let set 1 hour and check for clean break.
Cut curd with a whisk and let heal.
Stir very slowly for about 20 minutes till curd forms well in hand.
Place curds in 2-4 feta forms. Drain using one a top the other for 10 minutes. Trade bottom with top for another 10.
Repeat sequence.
Flip cheese in molds and combine them if there is room in mold, and press very lightly overnight.
Prepare 8% – 10% Himalayan salt brine with 1/2% (minimum) being calcium chloride.*
For the liquid, use 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar per quart.
Cut feta into 1/2″ cubes or large chunks that will fit in quart jars. Place in sterilized jars and cover with brine. Store in refrigerator.
It is ready in 2 months. I have aged it for a year in the fridge with excellent results.
Kris Robertson says
James, Thank you for the wonderful story, and for reaching out and finding me. I have a hard time navigating the internet. I’m much more comfortable with our cattle. We have a beef herd and a small dairy herd, milking Brown Swiss, Jersey and Guernsey cross. We’re up to 7 head now but the calves take half!! Would love to share more with you. I’ve been milking and making cheese since 2014. I took a cheese class in February that year and broke my leg the day after the class. Milking accident, and was laid up not able to walk due to complications for nearly a year. I scooted around my house making cheese and have kept at it every since. Very relaxing like you said. Can’t wait to see your finished cave, that’s my hope too in the near future to have a good aging place!!
Jody says
Best story yet! You are living my dream. I have Nigerian dwarf dairy goats that I have built up a nice little herd of 100. I have been making artisan cheese with my raw milk since 2011 in the pursuit of becoming a licensed farmstead artisan creamery. the raw milk laws here in Colorado are strict and unless I make a move to Wyoming, financially(been in drought for over eight years so I’ve had to buy expensive grass hay to feed my herd) just can’t seem to achieve my dream to be able to become a licensed raw cheese maker where I can legally sell my cheeses… my goats are going to need somewhere they can be useful by providing the rich sweet, close to 9% butterfat, milk they provide. Interested?
James Phelps says
Jody you can PM me on the Facebook page link. I am looking for a few milkers.
Thank You for your kind words!
Cousin Jim!
I’m so proud of all that you do with your creativity! What fun conversation the two of you must have over coffee in the morning: ” Jolene, what should we experiment with today?”!
The world is a happier plate and thank you for sharing!
Love you Cuz, You MUST come through and have a tasting with us
I’m new to cheese-making and really enjoyed this. I admire this kind of creativity and industry! I’ve been through Wyoming a couple of times the last year or two, driving my daughter to her college in Utah from our home in Houston. Such a beautiful state! I can easily see you developing a successful cheese business and community of enthusiasts there.
Thank you for your kindness, we are so happy to have such good food laws, we must protect them by education.
Lovely! You are an inspiration.
You are very kind thank you!
Dear MR. Phelps,
Can your whey syrup be refrigerated and if so what is the shelf life?
Thank you
Terry Sanford
Canisteo, NY
Well I never tried. It could certainly be frozen. I try to use a whey thats not to acidic as it is more sour. but hence it would keep longer due to the acidity.
Good Luck!
Hello James, good to hear of a fellow cheese maker here in our wonderful state! 🙋🏼♀️
I live here in the western side, in Sublette County. I have owned and milked jersey cows here on my little homestead for the past 11 years, and have been making cheese since then as well, but only for home use. I plan to branch out to local sales this year, and I am very excited!
Happy cheese making.
Sharron,
Thank you for your kind words. I know that if you are in the cottage food movement here that our food laws are the best in the US. There is so much opportunity for artisan cheese here! Thanks for being a producer and the more we educate the more we can build this new agriculture enhancement to the existing farms and homesteads. Kudos!
My sister in Sheridan made cheese last winter. Her favorite is the curds. I want to try soon.
Lynda,
That is truly something Wyoming people long for is a squeaky curd.
James, it is great to put a face to the name and see what your life is like in Wyoming. I am happy to personally welcome you into our cheese making family. I wish you the best as you expand your horizons, your cave will be a wonderful addition. Keep spreading the love of cheese and the importance of the science in making it. Thank you for sharing your Persian recipe for Feta, I love to learn more about the great traditions of cheesemaking around the world. Jolene, I also have done some quilting and the ones you show in this article are truly magnificent. Keep in touch with your progression into your love of cheese. Stay Safe and Stay Creative,
In Peace, Ricki
Thank You so much and you have given so much I know. It is wonderful to serve others while doing something we also love.
Charles Delcambre
Thank you for the kind words, it is always a great thing when you can serve others and enjoy your passion as well.
Cudo’s, James, on your penchant to teach and help your neighbors to develop a “Wyoming cheese”! Your photos of your surrounding territory are absolutely beautiful! And go for it in your quilting, Jolene! My wife Debbie is also a master quilter.
Thank you for the Persian feta recipe. I haven’t tried feta yet, but your creation has tempted me to do so. And best luck to you with your natural underground cheese cave.
Thank You for your kind words Charles.