Nestled high in a beautiful valley on the Cumberland Plateau, Red Gable Farm was established in  2004.  By early 2008, we decided it was "logical" to add a barn to our property. After all, how could you own over thirty acres and have no barn? That one decision led to a domino series of events that landed us with a herd of dairy goats and an intense curiousity to learn cheese making. With an extensive background in food and beverage and a life long case of being a "right brainer with a serious lean to the left",  I began the task of learning the art of cheese making. And fell in love with it immediately!  That passion fueled the main barn, cheese kitchen and the birth of Red Gable Cheese Workshops. It's a classic example of you just never know where life will take you......

 

Like most types of food in the world, cheese making offers an almost endless variety of cheese by skillfully combining the science and imagination of a recipe with quality ingredients handled correctly. Unfortunately, we quickly found out there were many recipes out there, but not many that produced reliable results worthy of the effort. And to make matters worse, many recipes were poorly written causing bad results, mediocre cheese and much frustration-particularly for the beginning cheesemaker. 

So it became my goal to develop a set of recipes that produce great tasting cheese in a logical step by step fashion understandable by beginning and experienced cheese makers alike.

 

We started developing goat milk cheese recipes with milk from our goats, then added cow's milk cheeses from store bought milk. Not all types of cow's milk cheese recipes translate well using store bought milk but-yes, you can make some great tasting cheese from store bought milk! I learned quickly that a cheese maker must have patience. Some cheeses mature quickly, others need months to reach their potential. Only then do you know what you have. This makes developing, testing and retesting recipes time consuming, but it also give the cheese maker time to reflect and refine the process. 

The recipes you recieve as part of a class are thorough and tell you step by step what to look for and what to do. You get the benefit of my triumphs and mistakes and most importantly, you get recipes that make sense for the home cheese maker. And along the way, you learn about cheese in general. Even if you never make another cheese, you will gain an appreciation for why cheese has a unique place in our food lives.

 

And making cheese should be fun! Very early on, I found out that when I told people I was making cheese, they automatically smiled. It appears to be a natural reflex kindled by almost everyones association with cheese as a comfort food. Our classes are fun, very hands-on and a celebration of cheese making. I want you to understand the natural power of the science but I also want you to marvel in the wonder of a curd coming to life! 

 

Our Farm & Middle Tennessee

 

Middle Tennessee is a beautiful and relatively unspoiled rural area. Great for a day, week or weekend, there are many opportunities for outdoor activities and also visits to nearby larger cites. Our farm is almost smack dab in the middle of an upside down triangle formed by the cities of Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga-all about 90 minutes away. It is easy to combine visits to these cities with outstanding hiking and outdoor activities available in our immediate area. And, of course, we hope you schedule a cheese class! Check out links under the "contact" section to fun & interesting opportunities around us, including quaint rental cabins available at a neighboring farm.