the cheesemaking process of Stony Pond Farm in Fairfield
FAIRFIELD ― By 6 a.m. on a typical Monday, the husband-wife owners of Stony Pond Farm are up milking cows. By around noon that day, that milk will become squeaky, salty, fresh cheese.
Stony Pond Farm is a Fairfield-based organic family farm owned by Melanie Webb and her husband Tyler. Founded in 2003 as a small beef farm, Stony Pond Farm added dairy cows about 15 years ago, and started making cheese about four years ago.
“Being first generation farmers, it’s been an uphill battle, but we’ve been up for the challenge,” Webb said.
Melanie Webb is the co-owner of Stony Pond Farm in Fairfield.
From milk to cheese
Stony Pond Farm has a herd of about 63 jersey cows that they milk. The farm only makes cheese when the cows are getting milked, Webb said. Milk flows directly from the cows to a vat inside the farm’s cheesemaking space.
“The milk’s coming in warm from the cow’s body still and I can get started making cheese right away,” Webb said.
Dinker the cow eyes the camera at Stony Pond Farm in Fairfield on June 12, 2023.
Once the vat is filled with milk, Webb adds cultures for the milk ripening process and rennet, which separates milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Then Webb cuts the curds into small pieces, using both a mechanical cutter and a manual knife.
Webb cooks the curds for a bit before pouring the whey out of the vat. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled.
“Most days we’re capturing this whey and feeding it to the pigs,” Webb said. “It’s a great food for them and they love it.”
A machine cuts ripened milk into curds at Stony Pond Farm in Fairfield on June 12, 2023.
The next step of the process is called “hooping,” in which Webb scoops cheese curds from the vat into bucket-like colanders, and then flips, stacks, and presses the curds to remove excess moisture.
Lastly, the cheese will be kept in the refrigerated cheese cave until it is ready to be sold. The cheese that Webb made on June 12 was a tomme-style cheese called Swallow Tail Tomme, which is…
..