Also called: Artisan Cheesemaker, Affineur (Cheese Ager)
Turns milk into cheese, controlling cultures, curds, salting, and aging.
You heat a vat of milk, add cultures and rennet, cut the curd with harps, and press it into molds. Then you flip and brush wheels in a cool aging cave, tasting as they develop over months.
Food batchmakers category; head cheesemakers and owners earn more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 0 years after high school. Short courses (e.g., University of Wisconsin, Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese) and apprenticeship. Wisconsin even has a Master Cheesemaker program.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Dairy Science, Food Science.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). Estimate based on food batchmakers.
Low risk for 10 years. Big plants are automated, but artisan cheese depends on hand skill and taste, and small-maker demand holds.
Classes: Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-3092.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.