Factory Tours Day #2

On Tuesday we decided to take in a couple more factory tours. We wanted to go to Maple Grove Farms and the Cabot Cheese factory and these two places weren't close to the other factories that we had already been to so we did them on a separate day. On the way to Maple Grove Farms we saw this cool covered bridge along the road on which we were driving. Notice the cupola on top and the angular, rather than rounded, shape of the bridge.



We got to Maple Grove Farms by around 9:30 and went inside to start the factory tour. Here are Ellie and Natalie with their hairnets on. They were required since we actually got to go in the factory and didn't have to just look through a viewing window.



The first place in the factory that we went was where they were bottling maple syrup into the bottles that they usually sell in grocery stores. This line can also do salad dressings.



Natalie thought that the bottling area was really loud.



After watching them bottle the syrup, we went downstairs where they make maple candy. Here is a huge container of maple fondant. I think that when this container is full it weighs around 400 pounds. The fondant is the result of boiling down the maple sap. When they make the candy they combine the fondant with more maple syrup.



After the candies are made they are soaked overnight in maple syrup. This crystallizes on the outside and makes the candies shelf-stable for up to a year. If they don't soak them then the candies would be as hard as rocks within two weeks. All the candies are hand-packed into boxes.



After the tour we sampled some maple candies and some warm maple syrup. It was delicious and Ellie was thrilled when we bought some maple syrup. Their maple syrup is definitely better than the stuff we usually buy at Sam's Club.

After Maple Grove Farms we drove a few miles down the road to the Cabot Cheese Factory. First we watched a movie about how Cabot came to be--it was a co-op that started around 1919 and now has over 1200 farmers.

The day we were there they were making cheddar cheese. Here is the cheese being stirred while the whey is being drained. In the far trough they are salting the cheese.



The cheese curds are sucked through a vacuum to another tube where they are compacted and cut into 42 pound blocks. Then they are sent to a warehouse where they are allowed to develop the flavor. One thing we learned while we were there was that cheddar cheese has no lactose in it so people who are lactose intolerant can eat cheddar cheese.

On the way home we went back to Cold Hollow Cider Mill since they were making cider and they wouldn't be making it any other days this week. We watched them for a few minutes while we sampled more fresh cider and the kids had a frozen cider popsicle. Then we drove down to the Green Mountain Coffee Mill and learned about coffee. I also had the best iced coffee I've ever had. It was a peach flavored coffee and it was delicious!!!! It was almost like an iced tea (not sugared).