Murray's Cave Aged Reserve Carpenter's Wheel
$28.00 / Lb
- Pasteurized
- Microbial Rennet
- Age: 6 Months
- Goat Milk
- by Murray's Cheese Caves
- United States
- ApproachableAdventurous
- SoftHard
Crumbly yet yielding, mild yet craveable, Murray’s Cave Aged Carpenter’s Wheel is all about the details. It’s made in collaboration with Maryland’s FireFly Farms, who originally partnered with Brooklyn’s Crown Finish Caves to mature these massive wheels. We’re proud to carry forward their delicious work with this aged Alpine-style goat cheese. It’s sweet and nutty with a gentle tang and speckled stone-like rind featuring a barn quilt design. All it needs is a dollop of Northwoods Apiaries’ toasty Buckwheat Honey.
“I love the versatility of this cheese. It can go from a quick satisfying snack, one you can really sink your teeth into, to an incredible salad ingredient. Try shaving it over your next kale Caesar instead of parm!”
Pasteurized Goat's Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Cheese Cultures
- Born of a true partnership in 2020 between Crown Finish Caves and FireFly Farms, Carpenter’s Wheel combined the Maryland farm's impeccably made goat cheese and the Brooklyn caves’ affinage know-how.
- When Crown Finish Caves sadly closed in 2022, Murray’s affineurs met with the co-owner Benton Brown to assess if there were any CFC cheeses that would be a good fit for Murray’s Cheese Caves, to keep their incredible work from disappearing.
- After some experimentation and conversations with cheesemakers, Carpenter’s Wheel was brought into our Cave Aged lineup.
- The journey begins at FireFly Farms—their fresh, pasteurized goat’s milk is combined with rennet, set, and cut into very fine curds.
- The curds are cooked in their whey at a moderately high heat before being placed in large molds, pressed, and flipped frequently, then brined for 24 hours before they head to our caves.
- As the wheels age for six months in our Alpine Cave, our affineurs regularly wash the wheels in brine, and the rind develops a sandstone hue, speckled with microflora from our caves.
- That length of aging creates a crumbly yet surprisingly soft interior paste, and a mildly sweet and nutty flavor.
- The wheels are marked with a label depicting the Carpenter’s Wheel design, just as they were at Crown Finish Caves. It's a nod to the Amish quilt design found on barns at FireFly and many other farms throughout Northern Appalachia where they’re located.
- At Murray’s Cheese Caves in Queens, New York, our experts age and mature cheeses to perfection, creating unique products that are exclusive to Murray’s.
- We built our caves to enhance the quality of our products, as well as to honor the craft of cheesemakers across the globe. The practice of aging cheese, known in French as affinage, was relatively rare in the United States when we built our first set of caves in 2004.
- The cheeses that mature in our caves are crafted in a variety of ways, which are reflected on their labels, described below.
- Cave Aged Original cheeses are produced from a Murray’s original recipe—we have a hand in every step of the cheesemaking process.
- Cave Aged Reserve cheeses are made in collaboration with some of our favorite cheesemakers. They send us unaged wheels, and we use unique aging techniques to produce something completely new.
- Cave Aged Limited cheeses are born out of our constant innovation and experimentation, only available for a limited time.
- Cheeses in the Cave Aged category are aged in our caves with methods that replicate the treatment they would’ve received from their original producer. This category is largely populated by bloomy rind cheeses that don’t fare well in transport.
- Murray's operates four caves, designed to ensure that each cheese matures in its ideal environment—the Bloomy Rind Cave, Natural Rind Cave, Washed Rind Cave, and Alpine Cave.
- The temperature, humidity, and microbial activity in each cave are controlled and monitored with the greatest precision.
