Cheesemaking Support – Looking Glass Creamery

Last Updated On: January 9th, 2025 at 12:37PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
115 Harmon Dairy Lane
Columbus, North Carolina, 28722

Primary Contact: Jennifer Perkins
Secondary Contact: Doyle A Perkins

Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 8284580088
    Email: jen@ashevillecheese.com

Secondary Phone
    Type: -----
    Number: 828-458-4715
    Email: andy@ashevillecheese.com

    Email: andy@ashevillecheese.com

Website: https://www.lookingglasscreamery.com

Internship information

General Farm Description: Looking Glass Creamery is a small, family run farmstead cow dairy and cheesemaking operation located on 226 acres in Western North Carolina. We started as an artisan cheesemaker in 2009 then transitioned to farmstead with the purchase of a dairy farm in 2018. We transitioned to seasonal in 2020 and milk about 25-30 cows from February to November and process all the milk on the farm into cheese. We have 2100 square foot production space and 1,000 square feet of subterranean cellars where we age the cheese. The farm is predominantly pasture and hayfields and some wooded area's. We grow all our own hay and plant a six acre sunflower field for agri-tourism. We operate a farmstore that is open year round where we do light food service and retail our cheese. We operate a small kitchen garden by the Farm Store. All our cows are bred and born on the farm and we raise up our replacement heifers along with some beef cross steers.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: April 1, 2025
Internship Ends: September 30, 2025
Number of Internship Available: 1
Application Deadline: March 1, 2025
Minimum Length of Stay: 3 months

Internship Details:

We are looking for someone who has an interest in Farmstead Dairy and small cheesemaking with cows milk. The primary focus of the position is providing support to operations in the creamery.  In the Creamery, you would be assisting with all steps in the cheesemaking process like milk transfer, culturing, cutting curd, packing molds, loading the press, salting or brining cheeses and helping wash lots of equipment. Half the time will be spent working in the cellar helping with affinage which includes moving cheese from the brine to the cellars, waxing wheels, brushing, turning, vacuuming as needed. Support for distribution to our onsite store and to restaurant customers is also part of the job and this will include cutting wheels into wedges, bulk packaging for restaurants, vacuum sealing and labeling for farmers markets. On occasion, this person will also support other production in the creamery including ice cream and seasonal jam making. You will be working with a small but dedicated crew of people and have the opportunity to learn alot about dairy, value added processing, and the craft of cheesemaking.

Educational Opportunities: Learn all about value added processing, cheesemaking and aging, packaging, distribution and small scale agritourism and onsite direct to consumer sales. Equipment we use: Pipeline parlor with Surge system, two Van-Riet cheesemaking vats, chamber vacuum sealers, COP tank, boiler, chiller, John Deer 5220, 4-wheelers, ToolKat, haybine, tedder, Claas baler.

Skills Desired: No specific skills are required, we will teach you what you need to know about cheesemaking. A good attitude and strong work ethic goes a long way. Some experience in food service and basic understanding of sanitation and a willingness to adhere to strict standards and guidelines for food handling is helpful. Willingness to work hard with a small team of people and be able to change gears and switch between tasks as needed. We have a lot going on here and everyone has their focus but is willing to jump in and help out in other area's when it is needed. The focus of the internship is creamery support with the vast majority of time spent in this area but our intern needs to be willing to help out in whatever area is in need of support and that may be in the farm store, garden, dairy or general farm work etc.

Meals: No but intern has a weekly share of farm produce, eggs and cheese. Beef and other products at the store can be purchased for the employee 25% discount.

Stipend: Stipend is $1,200 a month. Intern will have 2 consecutive days off and be expected to work approximately 30-35 hours over the other 5 days. Schedule will be fixed once it is worked out with intern. No super early mornings or late evenings. Cheesemaking days usually start about 8am and will be finished by 4pm or so.

Housing: Unfortunately no. However if you can bring your housing with you, you are welcome to park it on the farm for free while you are working here. You will have access to laundry facilities, a shower/bathroom, water hookup.

Preferred method of Contact: Email