Cwmglyn Cheese and Dairy Products

Hand-made by Traditional Methods

 Each Cwmglyn (pronounced coom-glin) Farmhouse Cheese is individually handmade from the milk of a single Named Cow, grazing the mixed-herb organic pastures of Cwmglyn Farm — possibly the smallest commercial dairy farm in New Zealand! The farm is situated near Mt. Bruce in the foothills of the Tararua Range, 9 kilometres South of Eketahuna at Middleton Model Railway. The cheese maker, Biddy Fraser-Davies, milks the cows (in a single herring-bone cowshed) and then makes the cheese in her licensed and purpose built cheese room. The cows are loved and respected and live a stress-free life without pesticides on their pastures, chemical drenches thrust down their throats or ladled on their backs. Their contentment is obvious in the quality of their milk! Cwmglyn cheese is made the traditional way with a wholly natural rind. Most cheese is matured for 2 or 3 months. The wheel (or "truckle" as it is known in Britain) of cheese is usually made from about 20 to 45 litres of milk and spends between 24 -72 hours in a cheese press before going into storage where it is wiped and turned daily.

Currently all our cheeses are made from our pasteurised milk. However we have recently applied to the New Zealand Food Safety Authority to make and sell raw (unpasteurised) cheese, which has a much enhanced flavour.

Our cheeses are on sale at the Middleton Model Railway Shop or from the following outlets:

Massa Deli Kitchen, Queen Street, Masterton
Main Street Deli, Greytown
Ingredient, Martinborough

How to Find Us        How to Contact Us

The Milking Cows
SALLY was born on born 3rd. September 1995 and is also a pedigree Jersey and she too came from a conventional large Dairy Farm. She was headed for a one way trip to the Works by her previous owners as she is a very slow walker and, being a senior cow, insisted all the other lesser cows walk behind her, thereby holding up the entire herd. Sally loves it on Cwmglyn Farm, which only has 7 acres so there is very little walking! She is a fast and magnificent milker and a lovely docile cow who enjoys being petted and groomed.

Molly came to us in poor shape, having calved 5 weeks early. Despite this both Molly and her bull calf survived. She has settled in well at Cwmglyn and has put on a lot of condition. Initially rather retiring, Molly has gained in confidence and can now be petted. Molly's milk is especially creamy and cheeses made from it are much in demand.

Dizzy is on loan to us from a neghbouring farm. Her pedigree name is Aura Disney and she is 7 years old. Originally a show-cow, Dizzy is confident around people and has a great liking for sheds! She has taken well to our eccentric ways at Cwmglyn and has settled in well. She is giving a good milk yield and her first cheeses look very promising.

The Rest of the Herd...

HOLLY. Sally produced a fine heifer calf on 17th October 2009 and we named her Holly. We decided to raise Holly to join the herd and allowed Sally to bring her up for the first few months. Sally was overjoyed as she had never been allowed to keep a calf before! Holly is developing well and has become quite used to visitors. She will be inseminated later this year and should be in production Spring 2012.

IVY, IRIS and ISOBEL. Ivy is Emily's last daughter. So far she is showing less signs of bossiness! Iris is Molly's last calf. One of mixed-sex twins Iris is probably what is known as a freemartin - that is she is an infertile female. The hormones which went to making her brother have upset her development. Isobel was given to us by a neighbour just a few days old. She is a very determined animal with great devotion to feeding! In the picture they are, from the left, Iris, Ivy and Isobel. Ivy has now gone to be a proper herd-cow in exchange for Dizzy.

The Basic Cheesemaking Process
The illustrations are numbered and a brief description of each step is given after the illustrations.

       (1)            (2)                          


        (3)            (4)              


        (5)     (6) 


        (7)             (8) 


        (9)             (10) 


        (11)            (12) 


        (13)            (14) 


        (15)             (16) 


        (17)             (18) 


        (19)             (20) 


        (21)            (22) 


        (23)             (24) 


        (25)           (26)  


        (27)

Key


(1) The cow's udder is wiped to ensure cleanliness and to stimulate her to let down her milk.
(2) The cups from the milking machine are attached.
(3) The milk is poured from the collecting vat. The sieve is a precaution against solid contaminants.
(4) The milk is now filtered into the pasteuriser container.
(5) The milk is pasteurised. The water surrounding the pasteuriser container is heated elctrically to a preset temperature, then cold water is used to rapidly cool the milk.
(6) A measured amount of freeze-dried cheese culture is added to the pasteurised milk in the cheese vat.
(7) The temperature of the milk is adjusted as required and the milk is allowed to stand for a measured time to allow the cheese culture to grow.
(8) Rennet is measured out. This is an extract from calve's stomachs which causes the milk to curdle. For vegetarian cheeses a rennet-substitute of microbial origin is used.
(9) The rennet is added to the milk with stirring.
(10) After around 20 minutes the milk has set solid as the curd forms.
(11) The curd is cut with a knife twice at right angles.
(12) The curd is now cut horizontally into cubes using a special curdcutter.
(13) The curd is allowed to stand for some minutes. The temperature may be raised at this point, depending on the type of cheese being made.
(14) The curd is separated from the whey - the residual liquid.
(15) Salt is added to the curd.
(16) The salt is mixed into the curd, a process called "milling".
(17) The mould is prepared by being lined with cheesecloth. The inner portion of a pasta cooker forms a good mould.
(18) The salted curd is packed into the mould.
(19) The cheesecloth is folded over the curd and a "follower" is added.
(20) The filled mould is placed in the press.
(21) The cheese being pressed. Extra weight is added as the excess whey is squeezed out of the cheese. The cheese is also removed from the mould after some hours, turned over and replaced in the press. This helps to obtain a uniform cheese.
(22) This is a cheese being removed for turning.
(23) A cheese after it has been pressed for the first time. It will be trimmed, turned over and returned to the mould. It will then be pressed for another day or two.
(24) A new cheese is removed from the mould.
(25) New cheeses are air dried for several days and then coated with our own butter. Nothing else is added.
(26) The coated cheese is placed in our purpose-built cheese store. The temperature is maintained between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius with a humidity of 80%. A natural rind forms on the cheese.
(27) To encourage a uniform rind and even maturing the cheeses ar wiped and turned daily.

The End Product


Cheesemaking DVD


In this professionally filmed DVD Biddy Fraser-Davies demonstrates the entire process of making farmhouse
cheese, from the milking to the finished product.


Copies are available at NZ$40, plus postage of NZ$4.50 if required.


Farmhouse Cheese Handbook


To accompany the DVD and to provide further information for small cheesemakers, Biddy has written a Handbook which can be viewed as a pdf file (142Kb).

Click here for pdf file


Cheese Press


We can supply plans and instructions for a cheese press similar to those which we use ourselves. The charge for these is NZ$15 including postage.




Return to Home Page