Making our way up the stairs from the lower level upwards we find ourselves walking up into the bright sunshine of day – as the room we entered was missing its roof. Just like the rooms below, this one also featured a collection of concrete tubs. But unlike the lower vat rooms these tubs were not laid out along rows but instead were pushed up against the walls of the room.

Due to the placement of these vats, we were pretty sure by this point that they were not cheese vats used to curdle the milk. Those vats would never be placed up against a wall like this, since it would be too hard to easily access the entire contents of the vat.

There is another possibility however. An important ingredient of cheese is salt, and the amount of salt added to cheese depends on the cheese type. Some cheeses only require salt to be added after the curdling stage, others require the cheese to soak in brine for a period of time. Most likely these concrete tubs we’ve been finding were used for that purpose. The amount of vats would indicate that this factory specialized in high-salt cheeses.

Besides the vats, the room was devoid of anything else save a collection of plants and weeds that were enjoying the ample sunshine streaming in through the rooms open roof. While three of its walls were made of brick, its west wall was the more traditional gable topped sandstone variety. (click on image to see a panoramic view) On both ends were doorways which opened into adjacent rooms. We tackled the east room first.

Once again we found ourselves in another vat room. Just like its neighbor, this one featured more concrete vats up against its walls. Unlike its neighbor however, this room still had its concrete roof. Sitting in the middle of the room was a hole in the floor that led down to the lower vat rooms.

A pair of windows up along the room’s south wall looked out over the large two-story storage room we first visited at the beginning of this exploration. Why there would be the need for windows overlooking that room is another thing altogether however.

Now with the factory’s four vat rooms having been explored, we turned our attention back to the west – taking a look at yet another large sandstone room. This one featuring a collection of ruins that seem a bit out of place in a cheese factory…

NOTICE: The Stella Cheese Factory ruins are on private property and are NOT open to the public. Please keep out!