A Busy Day in the Processing Room!

We had so many things going on in the processing room today! This panoramic photo gives a little overview of all that was going on at the same time.

Our friend and neighbor Sharon McHenry came for the second time this month to get some more of the Mangalitsa pork fat turned into creamy lard. We've had so many things on our plates this winter and spring that we had only been able to render one small batch. So Sharon is a huge blessing, because these pigs produced a LOT of fat. I mean a lot :D. There's probably enough still in the freezer for another batch or two...but if you want to make your own lard, it's not too late to snag some of the unrendered pork fat for yourself.

Denny came back again today and took the ice cream-making helm so we could stock up on more flavors in the 12 oz cups. Mom helped him by labeling and putting lids on the containers as he filled them. 

Jennifer was helping with dish cleanup after we took a lunch break, in between the chicken and pig duties she (and husband Paul) tended to this morning and this afternoon. 

And if all that wasn't enough, Dad decided to make the first batch of 2024 cheese today (well, it's the first aside from the cheese curds they made a couple weeks ago). Today he made colby. This batch made 4 wheels. It's pressing in the cheese hoops in the photo below, and will do so for several hours. He takes the wheels of cheese out and turns them over a couple times to form a smoother wheel, and then they'll go in the brine tank for a few days. When they come out of the brine the next step is to paint a wax coating on the wheels which helps keep excessive mold from growing on and penetrating into the cheese.

It will age for a couple months and be ready to cut up and sell in early July. Something to look forward to!
"Aging" cheese pretty much just means it sits around in a humidity-controlled cooler (or cave in some cases) for the desired length of time.

The longer a cheese ages, the more flavor it develops. The oldest cheese we ever produced was over 10 years old at the time of sale. Now that was some strong cheese! These days, we mostly sell all our cheeses within a year or two of their make date. We'd have to deny many their cheese fix in the short term to aim for another 10 year old cheese, haha!

While this entire crew of people was busy doing their respective tasks, a semi pulled in with our milk jugs we had just ordered yesterday! Gotta say, ULINE is on top of things with their customer service and quick deliveries!  I had to jet up the road to get the tractor for unloading the 4 pallets, and thankfully it wasn't raining too much at that point. But the radar told me I didn't have a lot of time before the rain returned, so I scurried as fast as I could to unbox 3 skids of milk jug "pillows" and stack them in the storage shed. I worked up a sweat, but got all 27 pillows in and the cardboard under roof just as the rain started up again.

The day finally wound to a close as the processing and cleanup was completed. But it'll start all over again tomorrow when Paul arrives to churn butter! And Denny plans to come back in the afternoon to make even more ice cream. It takes a small army around here to produce all this delicious food :)

We love being able to serve others with the fruit of our labors and the bounty of this land we are privileged to steward.