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?

Have you wasted gallons of your precious milk trying to figure out cheesemaking on your own?

Making cheese is not hard (I’ve taught hundreds of children to do it!), but it can be a challenge because the smallest changes in time, temperature, or ingredients can mean the difference between success and failure.

It's not like baking a cake! You can't simply mix up the ingredients and be done.

Having a good recipe is important – but understanding the fundamentals of cheese-making and handling dairy can be a huge help when it comes to producing your own dairy products at home.

In this course, you’ll master making seven different kinds of cheese, as well as yogurt, buttermilk, and sour cream. You'll also learn fundamentals, such as flocculation.


◊ 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 a form for creating your own personal cheesemaking journal, which is the secret to cheesemaking success. Deborah explains in a video how to use it.



Cheese making is a lot of fun but it’s a lot more “technical” than I expected to get something that actually tastes good. Deborah takes that technical aspect and makes it easier to apply to cheese making, giving you a greater chance of making something really good. I have loved the course and will continue to use it year after year.

~ Maren, Colorado

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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"The explanations included details that included what a proper result looks like, what can happen if something isn't done right, and, when appropriate, how multiple strategies can yield a good result. This is very helpful."

~ a beginning cheesemaker in the course

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.
Can I save money by making my own cheese?
Oh, yeah! A pound of cheese costs far less than $1 a pound when you use your own milk! And the equipment that you purchase lasts forever. We are still using all the molds and the cheese press that we bought in 2002.
What's the difference between this course and YouTube videos?
All of the steps to making cheese are laid out for you from start to finish in this course. You won't have to waste time searching online to get each question answered. Once you start making cheese -- or even before you've started to buy your supplies -- you can ask questions, which will be answered by someone experienced in not only making cheese, but also teaching cheesemaking, including via the Internet. Making a batch of soap is one of the requirements for my Raising Dairy Goats Sustainably class that I teach online through the University of Massachusetts, so I'm experienced with troubleshooting challenges via discussion boards.

This course is for you if ....

◊ You want to learn to make cheese with proven recipes and guidance.
◊ You don't want to learn everything by trial and error.
◊ You love the idea of having someone to answer your questions as they come up.
◊ You are excited about saving money by making your own cheese!


This course is not for you if ...

◊ You don't want to use a thermometer or timer.
◊ You hate keeping records.
◊ You don't like to follow directions.
◊ You have so much milk that you're fine if some is wasted while you're figuring out the cheesemaking process.

Get started now!