If you like sharp cheddar, the best cheese in the world is "Cougar Gold" from WSU Creamery in eastern Washington, USA, a region not known to be a hotbed of find cheeses. It comes in a can, also not thought of as a delivery vector for a great cheese, but there you have it. Tastes great out of the can or you can age it for a few years in the refrigerator. Five or 6 years is fine. I absolutely love the crystals. No mold forms unless you open the can.
WSU's other cheeses are okay but do not stand out to me. Nothing from England or France has delivered the sharp cheddar experience like Cougar Gold.
> Actually, all cheese making produces quite a bit of wastage. On average, if a dairy starts with ten-thousand pounds of milk, they’ll end up with only a thousand pounds of cheese. The remaining nine-thousand pounds ends up as whey while the curd is formed.
> That’s right: if you run the numbers on cheese manufacturing, the percent yield is only about 10%.
Yogurt-making produces a lot of whey too, though probably closer to ~50% whey rather than 90% (when made at home). The only difference between greek yogurt and regular yogurt is that greek yogurt is strained to remove the whey, making it thicker / creamier. Though most commercial brands try to cheat and thicken it with something like pectin (which usually makes it kind of jello-y).
Anyways all that to say my favorite yogurt is the one where the only ingredient is milk + yogurt culture. No thickeners, added sugars, flavoring, I like to add those myself.
Whey goes to make protein powder, whey butter, animal feed, etc. The Ag industry is so competitive that usually every little bit gets used for something.
If you like sharp cheddar, the best cheese in the world is "Cougar Gold" from WSU Creamery in eastern Washington, USA, a region not known to be a hotbed of find cheeses. It comes in a can, also not thought of as a delivery vector for a great cheese, but there you have it. Tastes great out of the can or you can age it for a few years in the refrigerator. Five or 6 years is fine. I absolutely love the crystals. No mold forms unless you open the can.
WSU's other cheeses are okay but do not stand out to me. Nothing from England or France has delivered the sharp cheddar experience like Cougar Gold.
I remember hearing about that cheese in the past. Does it need a cold chain to be shipped overseas?
I'm not easily Influenced so I'm mystified at how canned cheese had me checking out ways to order it.
The canning process is the result of post-WW2 government funded research at WSU. It's a cool backstory for a cheese.
I enjoyed reading the article, but really wish it had photos to help educate the reader on how to distinguish between crystals and mold.
Totally agree - interesting info but nothing of practical use, especially because white spots can be mold.
See https://www.eatortoss.com/how-to-tell-if-white-stuff-on-chee..., https://www.eatortoss.com/aged-cheddar-with-a-crusty-white-s....
This is a bit confusing: "The crystals are soft, white, and sometimes appear damp."
The rule of thumb I've heard is hard white: crystal. Soft white: mold.
If you can't tell, I would dump it.
The article is from 2019 and I think it originally had photos.
Hard calcium-lactate crystals are an intentional feature of Belvitano cheese. They add a great texture and add tanginess to parmesan-esque taste.
LOVE Bellavitano! I'm a huge fan of most of their cheeses, but especially the Garlic & Herb—it's like a delicious pizza :)
Same! The Merlot is my go-to, but the "Herbs de Provence" was my all-time fave (can't seem to find it in local grocers these days)
Related, from a few months ago: It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018) – https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43535688
> Actually, all cheese making produces quite a bit of wastage. On average, if a dairy starts with ten-thousand pounds of milk, they’ll end up with only a thousand pounds of cheese. The remaining nine-thousand pounds ends up as whey while the curd is formed.
> That’s right: if you run the numbers on cheese manufacturing, the percent yield is only about 10%.
Yogurt-making produces a lot of whey too, though probably closer to ~50% whey rather than 90% (when made at home). The only difference between greek yogurt and regular yogurt is that greek yogurt is strained to remove the whey, making it thicker / creamier. Though most commercial brands try to cheat and thicken it with something like pectin (which usually makes it kind of jello-y).
Anyways all that to say my favorite yogurt is the one where the only ingredient is milk + yogurt culture. No thickeners, added sugars, flavoring, I like to add those myself.
Whey goes to make protein powder, whey butter, animal feed, etc. The Ag industry is so competitive that usually every little bit gets used for something.
Right about the calcium lactate crystals, though wrong about lactic acid causing muscle pain; this has been debunked.
Aged Gouda from the Netherlands (my favorite!) is riddled with these crystals.
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There is an extra "www." which breaks the link.
The Coastal aged cheddar that Costco sells has these. And she's right, it makes the cheese much more enjoyable.
I'm picturing the author as Ratatouille, sniff-testing all the food for poison for his family