Marcus Fergusson

Cheese Making at Home

£45 £27 Save 40%
Level: Peer






What’s the difference between Peer and Expert levels?

Both Peer and Expert levels provide:

  • Video lessons led by an expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Practice assignments
  • Group learning in a 20-student online classroom
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes, and classroom

The Expert level additionally includes:

  • Personalized feedback and coaching from your tutor
  • Private messaging with your tutor
  • Certificate of completion
Want to buy as a gift?

To purchase as a gift, check the box above and enter the recipient's name and message. Then, choose whether to send the gift directly to the recipient or to yourself.

Want to buy for a business or group?

You can buy this course through your business or organisation for individuals and groups up to 20. To find out more contact us

Level: Peer

Course overview

Learn the art and science of cheese making with Marcus Ferguson, an award-winning cheesemaker from an organic farm in Somerset.

Marcus first learned to make cheese at River Cottage and has gone on to win Best British Cheese at the Virtual Cheese Awards. He now returns to share his wealth of knowledge so that you can learn to make impressive cheeses at home.

Marcus will guide you through the process of how cheese is made and provide you with the necessary skills and confidence to make four different types of cheese - a Caerphilly, Camembert, Ricotta and Labneh. Marcus also shares his tips on how to adapt common household items for cheesemaking, rather than buying expensive specialist equipment.

Cheese making consists of moments of magic as the milk transforms and Marcus guides you through these periods with an explanation of the science of cheese making as the milk takes its “leap towards immortality”.

You'll learn:

  • which equipment you'll need for making cheese (and how to make the equipment and cheese moulds at home)
  • making camembert, Caerphilly, ricotta and labneh cheeses
  • how to taste cheese professionally
  • when the cheeses you make are ready for eating

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Marcus Ferguson and River Cottage
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical cheese making assignments (with tutor feedback available)
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas

Independent Cookery Schools Association approved

This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.

Time to complete the cheese making course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 15 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 15 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your cheese making assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

You'll need:

Your lesson notes will include the full details of the cheese making equipment and ingredients you'll need. You will be making cheeses so will need standard kitchen equipment as well.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Marcus on your cheese assignments.
If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

 

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Introduction to cheese, methods, equipment, theory
In this first lesson, Marcus will guide you through the main ingredients and how to source them. You’ll learn all about cultures, rennet, the best milk to source, curds, cooking and draining. Marcus will then guide you through the maturing and aging process: why this is done, what to look for during maturation right through to the finished product. Marcus will discuss benefits of making cheese on a small scale at home-making versus professional. When you're making cheese at home, we recommend you use pasteurised milk.
Camembert and Caerphilly
This lesson will guide you through making two very impressive cheeses. You’ll start with Camembert, a mould-ripened cheese particularly suitable for making at home. Next, we'll learn how to make Caerphilly, a hard cheese that matures in as little as two weeks. Both require very similar preparation and ingredients, but small variations lead to big differences in the finished product.
Ricotta and Labneh
Your third cheese is Ricotta, which you’ll make from the whey left over from making the Caerphilly. Marcus will also show you how to make one of the simplest cheeses of all, the Middle Eastern strained yoghurt cheese called Labneh and he'll show you how to prepare a simple starter using the whey from the labneh.
Professional tasting and making your own equipment
Marcus will also guide you through making your own equipment - which is not only a lot cheaper but creating your own moulds is brilliant creatively and can lead to new styles of cheeses, too. Marcus will also guide you through aging and tasting cheeses, what to look out for and how to know when the cheeses you make on the course are at their flavourful best.

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
Avatar of Marcus Fergusson

meet the expert

Marcus Fergusson

Award-winning cheesemaker from Feltham’s Farm

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT levels?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.

When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.

How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.

Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

For privacy or data questions, please contact us here.

Awards and accreditations