Of course you gotta do the Ben and Jerry’s tour while in Vermont. Many people are familiar with the creamy and delicious ice cream with fun names like “Chunky Monkey” and “Phish Food”, but many might not know the history of Ben and Jerry’s. This fun tour last about 30 mins and at the end you get to sample ice cream or buy it by the pint, or cone in many of their delicious flavors.
You can visit the graveyard of ice cream flavors of the past….
And grab some ice cream to enjoy there of take home with you…
Nice tour to do on a hot day, or any day for that matter. Ice cream knows no season!
Bread and Butter Farms located in Shelburne, VT, offers a mozzarella cheesemaking class ( recipe to follow)through Vermont Farm Tours which the family and I partook in. Chris Howell from Vermont Farm Tours was kind enough to let me post the fresh mozzarella recipe for my readers, so now you can try and make this easy and delicious cheese with only a few basic ingredients and tools you already have at home. The only ingredient you might not have lying around is rennet, which is needed to help with the curdling process. You can find it on Amazon,Cheesemaking.com, or health food stores. My girls said this was their favorite activity while we were in Vermont. Our instructor, Phoebe, was so knowledgable about the process and the farm, and answered all the questions we threw at her. We were lucky enough to be the only ones attending the class that day, so it felt like a private lesson for the four of us. The class itself is about two hours long, and while the cheese rests we were able to tour the farm and learn a few things about it.
Taking pieces of mozzarella and shaping it into small balls. The longer you shape/handle it, more of the whey drains off and leaves a firmer cheese. If you like a softer cheese, handle it more lightly when you shape it.
Rolling the last of the cheeseThe mozzarella balls sitting in the brine on the left. We sampled it with garden fresh tomatoes and basil we picked that day from the farm’s garden.Freshly made mozzarella, so delicious! The mozzarella get lighter and softer the longer it sits in the brine, so it will have a different texture/flavor the next day compared to when it’s freshly made
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This was such a fun and informative class, I can’t wait to recreate that mozzarella at home!
This mozzarella recipe makes a fresh cheese, meaning it has not been cultured–worked on by bacteria.
Prep Time40 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
resting20 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Servings: 8servings
Author: Vermont Farm Tours
Ingredients
1GallonMilkyields 12-16oz cheese
1tsp Citric Acid Crystalsfound at grocery stores
12drops Rennet
Ice Cubes
6qt Stock PotThermometer, Rubber Gloves, Kinfe, Slo ed Spoon or Spatula
sea saltabout a handful
Instructions
Mix salt into a bowl(3-4 qt) of ice water to make brine (used to cool finished cheese), set aside
Pour milk into 6qt or larger stock pot
Dissolve citric acid crystals in 1⁄2 cup cool water; add acid solution on to the cold milk, stir thoroughly
Gradually heat the milk to 90F; stir occasionally to heat evenly
Dissolve ~12 drops rennet in 1⁄2 cup cool water
Take the milk off the heat and thoroughly stir in rennet solution
Let milk sit undisturbed for 20 minutes or until the curd sets and breaks cleanly
Use a long knife to cut the curds into 1 inch by 1 inch squares
Place stockpot with the curds back onto stove and very gently stir the curds as you heat to 130-140F. The curds will become stretchy and stick together when they are ready(it will look like slightly melted cheese)
Using a slotted spoon, remove a fist-sized ball of curd from the whey. Using gloves to avoid burning your hands, stretch and work the curd for 5-10 seconds. The more you work the curd, the more dense/rubbery the final product
Submerse the mozzarella in the brine to cool for 10-15 minutes. Mozzarella will last for up to a week in the fridge if stored in the brine
Notes
Warm milk is made slightly acidic, enabling rennet (an enzyme) to knit together milk proteins (casein), causing most solids (curd) to separate from the liquid (whey).We use raw—unpasteurized/unhomogenized—milk in the workshop, but store bought milk may also work if it has not been ash or ultra pastuerized (heated to 161F for 15 seconds or 275F for 1-2seconds). Look for “vat pasteurized” milk—meaning the milk was heated to 145F for 30min. This low temperature pasteuriza on retains more avor and, important for cheesemaking, also retains the protein structure necessary for the curd to properly set.
Also known as “The Green State”, Vermont is just that, very green. My husband and I came to Burlington, VT about eight years ago and I can say it’s changed since. Driving around I’ve noticed many chain restaurants/stores that were not here before. Maybe that’s good for jobs and the economy, but I feel it kinda takes away from the charm of the town. There are many farms around that have activities during summer/winter months. A very popular one is Shelburne Farms located in Shelburne,VT.
They are a working/educational farm that offers daily tours of the farm and Inn (where you can stay during the May-October months.). They have animals, vegetable garden, a bakery on site, and cheesemaking building where you can watch them make the Shelburne Farms cheddar, taste all the varieties they make, and purchase them at the farm’s store. They offer summer camps, and many activities for the little ones.
The Inn at Shelburne Farms is a functioning Inn that has been restored. It features unique rooms, great history about the town, farm, and Inn itself, and tea time complete with tea sandwiches and baked goods.
The Inn at Shelburne FarmsView of Lake Champlain from The Inn
Shelburne Farms is a great place to come to and explore. They have so many things going on everyone will surely enjoy it!
