Mateo Kehler, the cheese maker who owns Jasper Hill Farm in northern Vermont with his brother, Andy, has just eliminated a lot of backbreaking work for the esteemed creamery. He bought a few big copper-lined vats that a Comté cheese maker in the Jura region of eastern France no longer uses because they have transitioned to larger equipment. The secondhand vats, which can handle 3,000 liters (3,170 quarts) of milk, replace Mr. Kehler’s smaller vessels. Most importantly they are engineered so the curds are transferred to a vacuum system by gravity to the lower level of the creamery where they are pressed and formed, and no longer require the hands-on chore of moving the curds manually. “It’s automated, easier to clean, there’s no waste, we can make more cheese and they will be more consistent,” he said. The Alpha Tolman, Whitney and Highlander are the varieties being produced with the new equipment.
Jasper Hill Farm, jasperhillfarm.com.
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