Foundations of Professional Cheesemaking
Duration:
Timings:
Course start dates:
14 Jun 2027
Hourly Schedule
Time
- 9:00
- Arrival & welcome
- Tea, coffee and warm pastries from the kitchen.
- 9:30
- Course Start
- 13.00
- Lunch
- Seasonal lunch prepared by our catering team.
- 16.30
- Course End
- Course ID FoProfiL
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What’s included
- Learn from expert tutors and technicians with demonstrations, guidance, and support throughout the day.
- Enjoy a seasonal artisan buffet lunch showcasing ingredients sourced from the Welbeck Estate and the surrounding local food community.
- Access our state-of-the-art facilities, with all ingredients and specialist equipment provided.
- Help yourself to unlimited refreshments, including tea, coffee, and cordials throughout the day.
- Wear a School of Artisan Food apron in class, with the option to purchase one to take home after your course.
Whether you’re aspiring to become a professional cheesemaker or looking to refine your skills, this immersive 5-day course is your gateway to mastering the foundations of artisan cheesemaking.
Led by world-renowned cheesemaker and educator Ivan Larcher, this hands-on course offers a rare opportunity to learn from one of the industry’s most respected experts. With limited places available, you’ll benefit from focused, practical training in our purpose-built cheese facility.
What You’ll Learn
This course takes a whole-system approach to artisan cheesemaking, starting at the source and guiding you through every stage of the process:
- Milk & Animals: Understand the link between farm animals, milk quality, and how to assess it effectively.
- Cheesemaking Science & Technique: Dive into raw and pasteurised milk theory, microbiology, biochemistry, starters, coagulants, curdling mechanisms, and moulding techniques.
- Food Safety & Quality Control: Learn how to use pH meters and titratable acidity measurements correctly, and apply techniques to ensure consistent quality.
- Hands-On Production: Make lactic, soft, and hard cheeses under Ivan’s expert supervision.
- Affinage Introduction: Explore ripening cultures, climate control, rind treatment, and ageing techniques.
- Facility Design: Gain insights into designing and equipping your own artisan cheese production space.
- Expert Guidance: Ask questions and receive tailored advice from Ivan throughout the course.
- Cheese Tasting: Enjoy a dégustation of artisan cheeses and dairy products.
What’s Included
- All ingredients, equipment, and recipes provided
- Refreshments throughout the day
- Delicious lunches prepared by our in-house catering team
No formal prerequisites are required, though prior experience in cheesemaking or food science is highly recommended.
Please Note:
Whilst we make every effort to adhere to best practices regarding allergen control and cross-contamination at The School of Artisan Food, we sincerely regret that we are unable to cater for severe food allergies or coeliac disease. This is due to the continuous and varied use of our teaching spaces, common areas and food preparation areas.
If in any doubt, please contact us to discuss your individual circumstances prior to making a booking, as this will then enable us to produce a personalised Risk Assessment based on your own specific circumstances and better judge if we can safely accommodate you on site.
Your Tutors
Tutor
-
Ivan LarcherCheesemakers throughout the UK and elsewhere seek Ivan out regularly for both training and consulting. His services are in huge demand across the cheese world, and he is widely regarded as the best in his field of expertise, artisan dairy. He has had a huge impact on the benefit of farmhouse and artisan cheesemaking around the world, including in the UK where he has consulted many cheesemakers and cheese institutions like Neal’s Yard Dairy, as well as for many years teaching professional cheesemaking at The School of Artisan Food.
Ivan is, however, not just a teacher and consultant – he is a master cheesemaker. After several years of working as a cheesemaker for and consulting to various farmhouse and artisan cheese facilities in France and elsewhere, he and Julie set up and ran “Ferme de l’Or Blanc”, their own farmhouse cheesemaking business in Limousin, France, managing a herd of 18 Jersey cows, with the production of yoghurts, butter, crème fraîche, lactic, bloomy and washed rind soft cheeses, blue-veined cheeses, semi-hard and hard-cooked cheeses, with direct sales to local farmers’ markets. This enabled him to apply his extensive dairy technical skills directly to his own farmhouse dairy.
“Ivan Larcher has travelled the planet and provided technical programs and services for producers worldwide. In so doing he has accumulated a breadth of experience we believe is singular and without equivalence. His professionalism, specialized skill set, ability to communicate and high level of organization and breadth of knowledge and experience is extremely rare. …It is not an exaggeration to say that he is more sought-after globally for his skills than any other cheese expert in the world.’ Mateo Kehler, founder and head cheesemaker, Jasper Hill Farm, Vermont, US
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Accommodation
Student-style shared, self-catered accommodation is available on the historic Welbeck Estate. The lodges sleep 2–3 people and rooms will be allocated on a first come, first served basis at booking. All accommodation features shared bathrooms and shared kitchens, and is within a short walking distance from The School of Artisan Food. All bedding is provided, and a welcome will be available on arrival.
The process is simple: Book your place with accommodation and then email info@schoolofartisanfood.org for further details and confirmation.
Alternatively, Welbeck Estate has a range of holiday lets a short distance from the School and there are several local B&Bs and hotels. Please refer to the Where to stay section on our website for more information.
For The School of Artisan Food Cottages only:
Check-in is only available between 3 pm and 6 pm on the Sunday before your course starts. Please depart from the property before 10 am on the following day after your course ends.
(Please note, check out the course starting on 20th July 2026 will be Saturday, 25th July)
Please note that the School provides a secure space for luggage storage while you complete your final day. However, belongings are left at your own risk, and the School cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage.
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