Your Home Dairy

Making Cheese and Everything Dairy With Your Goat Milk

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Want to learn to make cheese and other dairy products with goat milk?

Have you tried to make cheese and found it challenging?

Making cheese is not hard, but it can be a challenge because the smallest changes in time, temperature, or ingredients can mean the difference between success and failure.

In this course you'll learn to make seven different kinds of cheese, as well as yogurt, buttermilk, and sour cream.

Videos guide you step by step from milking your goat to proper milk handling through actually making each of the different cheeses.

You can print out recipes for future use, as well as the form for creating your own personal cheesemaking journal, which Deborah explains in a video.


Your Instructor


Deborah Niemann
Deborah Niemann

In 2002, Deborah and her family moved to 32 acres on a creek in the middle of nowhere to grow their own food organically. With the help of goats, sheep, pigs, and poultry, they produce 100% of their meat, eggs, and dairy products, as well as a large percentage of their vegetables, fruit, and herbs. They sold chickens and turkeys for more than 10 years, and are currently a licensed egg producer in Illinois and sell eggs to a grocery store and through a CSA.

Deborah is the author of six books, including Homegrown and Handmade, Ecothrifty, and Raising Goats Naturally, as well as her latest book, Goats Giving Birth. She also teaches sustainable agriculture courses online for the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. She has been teaching Raising Dairy Goats Sustainably since 2013 and Pastured Poultry since 2015.

In 2022, Deborah got certified as a FAMACHA instructor so that she and her students could feel confident that she was providing the most up-to-date information on parasite research and management.


Course Curriculum


  Home Dairy Basics
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days after you enroll
  Introduction to Cheesemaking
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  Making Simple Dairy Products
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days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.
What do I do if my cheese is a total failure?
Each video is followed by a discussion area where you can ask questions and post photos of your cheese. Deborah has helped thousands of people learn to make cheese, including hundreds of children, for more than a decade. She is experienced in trouble-shooting cheese challenges and can help you figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
Do I need special equipment to make cheese?
It depends on which cheese you want to make. You can make mozzarella with a pot and a spoon, which is probably found in every working kitchen. To make chevre, feta, or queso blanco, you need something to drain the curds in, which could be a clean tea towel or pillow case or cheesecloth. To make aged cheeses you will need a cheese press and a place for aging, and I explain various options in the course, from old-fashioned cheese cave to beverage fridge to repurposed refrigerator with a Johnson controller.
Do I need to buy special ingredients to make cheese?
Most of the recipes in this course use commercial rennet and starter, which will cost you less than $1 per batch of cheese, and I provide you with a resource list where you can order ingredients. Queso blanco only uses vinegar, which costs very little.
How much goat milk do I need for the recipes?
My recipes are specifically for home cheesemakers, so they all use 1 or 2 gallons of milk per batch, depending upon the type of cheese.

Get started now!