Meet Me At Dos Gatos

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

There are special "sprayers" located throughout the plant that spray disinfectant foam/water on the floors to prevent any bad bacteria from coming into the production area.

This room contains cheese that was made earlier that morning. The curds have been placed into metal forms and are awaiting their next destination.
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[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

The next room is where rennet is added to the milk to create thickening. The milk in this vat is now at "yogurt" thickness. Here, the men are pulling cutting wires through the mixture to create curds.


When we entered this room, I truly believed we were going to "lose" a few folks in our group. Nearly all the women had their hands clamped over their noses. You can actually see a "haze" in the room. This is due to a humidifying sprayer, which ensures a uniform amount of high humidity that Limburger requires.


This employee is rapidly "innoculating" the cheeses with the bacteria used to make Limburger. He grabs a cloth from a bucket of water/bacteria, and runs it over a specially cured pine board. Then, he coats each side of each block of cheese in it.

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[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

The next room was the "warming" room. Some bacteria need warmth to grow. This room contained blocks of cheese that were destined to become swiss. The bacteria needed for this sort of cheese thrives in warm temperatures (as opposed to Limburger, which enjoys cooler temps). As the bacteria thrive, they produce the gas that creates the holes, or "eyes" that give Swiss it's distinctive appearance. This room was very warm, and had a pleasant "woody" aroma from the wooden boxes the cheese was sitting in.


The cheese is tested on a weekly basis to see how well it's developing. Here, Myron tapped on a wheel of Swiss. It made a "hollow" thud, which indicated that the bacteria were doing their job, and eyes were forming. Next, he took a long, cylindrical tool called the "tryer" and inserted it into a wheel of Swiss to remove a sample...


The "plug" of cheese he removed was stretchy and contained small "eyes". We all got to have a sample!
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[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

This employee is in charge of packaging and labeling the cheese.


Thanks so much to Chalet!


Next stop...Baumgartner's pub in Monroe, WI Attached files [img]/converted_files/1420559=5806-attachment.jpg[/img] [img]/converted_files/1420559=5807-attachment.jpg[/img]

[NoraC]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

Fennel - I love it!!! This was absolutely the best tour. (Would have been better if I could have been with you though )
:thanks:

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

If you visit Monroe, WI, you cannot leave without visiting Baumgartner's pub. Cheese, sausages and candy are sold in this front area...


This mural above the bar is a recreation of a mural found in Munich, Germany. I don't read German, but the sign roughly translated tells of the battle between the beer and the wine. Who will win? The local high school art teacher painted this mural, and placed the faces of some of the locals on the beer/wine characters!


People donate money by folding a dollar bill around a tack and three quarters...the package is then launched up to the ceiling, where the tack and bill stay, and the quarters fall back down. The bills remain on the ceiling until the Cheese days festival, every other year. The money is then taken down and given to local charities.


The beer/wine battle mural even extends into the lady's room.
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[NoraC]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

PS - I hope your brought home Swiss and not just Limburger:disgusting:. I had no idea that is why Swiss cheese had holes. :kewl:

[NoraC]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

I was just going to tell you not to forget the mural!!!! Did you ask if the mens room had a mural too?
How many people get hit in the head with the quarters????:H:H:Huch::hitme:

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

More from the lady's room. In this scene, the beers are catapulting Limburger hunks at their enemies, the wines. Note the clothespins on the noses of the beers!


Even the cows pulling the carts got in on the act! Note the whimsical "Groucho Marx" glasses on them.



Of course, Baumgartner's serves the Limburger made at Chalet in it's famous Limburger sandwiches. They have many fantastic sandwich offerings. I can vouch for the wiener and kraut, plus the chili. If any of you come to visit me, I'm taking you here (be forewarned, Nora!)! :H Attached files [img]/converted_files/1420589=5812-attachment.jpg[/img] [img]/converted_files/1420589=5813-attachment.jpg[/img]

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

Next stop, the Emmi Roth-Kase cheese plant in Monroe, WI. I'll have that up tomorrow.

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

NoraC;998494 wrote: Fennel - I love it!!! This was absolutely the best tour. (Would have been better if I could have been with you though )
:thanks:

Thanks, Nora!
If you ever visit, I am definitely taking you on a tour!

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

NoraC;998500 wrote: PS - I hope your brought home Swiss and not just Limburger:disgusting:. I had no idea that is why Swiss cheese had holes. :kewl:

Oops...:scratchinhead: Somehow, I "forgot" to pick some up. I was so focused on the Limburger! :H Guess you'll just have to make do with the stinky stuff until I get down to the market, my dear...

[fennel]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

NoraC;998505 wrote: I was just going to tell you not to forget the mural!!!! Did you ask if the mens room had a mural too?
How many people get hit in the head with the quarters????:H:H:H:

I totally FORGOT to ask about the men's room! I guess I'll have to return and see for myself.

As for the quarters...yes, somebody in our group did get beaned by one! :H

[tlrgs]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

kool fennel ill have to read back more later

[Mish]

Meet Me At Dos Gatos

Never mind about the goat cheese, Fen. I'm partial to the occassional bit of Limberger, but Emmenthal is one of my favourites. The tour sounds fabulous. Wish I'd been there.