Cheddar cheese is our "bread and butter" here at Heber Valley Artisan Cheese. Cheddar works well with our farm-to-table Holstein cow milk, and produces a beautiful base for our flavor pressed, rubbed, and aged cheeses.
What is Cheddar?
"Cheddar" is a style of cheese, categorized by the cheesemaking process itself.
After the curds are formed, and the whey drained, a final process called "cheddaring" gives us cheddar cheese.
Cheddar curds are continuously stacked, cut into slabs, and flipped. This changes the way the protiens form, giving us a denser texture with no holes. Cheddar ages easily due to this density, and the flavor of our prized milk really shines.
Cheddar differs from other cheeses due to the way the curds are treated. Some cheeses use washed curds (Gouda), streched curds (Mozzarella), or cooked curds (Swiss)
Aging also changes the flavor and texture of cheddar. As time passes, the proteins and fats break down, and moisture continues to seep from the cheese.
Within our cheddar family, you can taste the difference in aging:
- Snake Creek Fresh is aged less than 6 months. It has a fresh, creamy, milk-forward taste and is the most mild of our cheddars.
- Snake Creek Medium is aged for around 8-10 months. The aging process has started breaking down the proteins, and a sharp taste is beginning to form.
- Snake Creek Sharp is our 2-Year aged cheddar. It carries those sharp, tangy notes of aged cheese and has begun to form age crystals that add to the beautiful texture of this cheese.
- Snake Creek Extra Sharp is aged for 6 years and contains sharp, almost citrus, notes and heavy crystaline texture.
And if you're wondering, our Snake Creek Cheddars are named after the lovely Snake Creek that flows in our farm's backyard!
Our Cheddar Varities
Aside from our plain cheddar, Heber Valley Artisan Cheese is known for our pressed and rubbed cheddars.
While aging, cheddar takes on any flavors around it. We've taken this fact and created some of our highest award winning cheeses with it.
- Vanilla Bean Cheddar
- Lemon Sage Cheddar
- Cracked Pepper & Chive Cheddar
- Mustard Herb Cheddar
- Tomato Basil Cheddar
- Honey Lavender Cheddar
Isn't Cheddar supposed to be Orange?
The answer to this question will surprise you! First, let's talk a little about milk:
Historically, cows that were fed greener, richer feed produced milk that was more creamy in color. This meant that cheddar produced during the summer months would be a slightly different, richer color than cheddar produced by the same cows in winter.
Higher quality milk = richer colored cheese
Cheese producers wanted to produce consistently colored cheese regardless of the time of year-- and on top of that, they would often skim cream off their cheese milk, leading to lower quality, paler cheese. So, how did they cheat the system?
Dye it!
Annato coloring began to be added to cheddar cheese-- and when cheddar arrived in the US, consumers began to expect a brightly colored orange cheddar cheese.
At Heber Valley Cheese, we don't use dyes in any of our cheeses. We are confident in the quality of our feed, the health of our cows, and the richness of our milk. We are proud to make cheese that showcases quality itself through natural, creamy coloring.
World-Award Winning Cheddar
Five of our cheddars have been awarded medals at the most prestigious cheese awards: The World Cheese Awards.
Gold, World Cheese Awards: Lemon Sage Cheddar
Silver, Bronze; World Cheese Awards: Vanilla Bean Cheddar
Silver, World Cheese Awards: Cracked Pepper & Chive
Bronze, World Cheese Awards: Cascade Raw
Bronze, World Cheese Awards: Mustard Herb Cheddar
Thank you, as always, for supporting this 4th generation of dairy farmers, bringing you some of the best cheddar in the world.
-The Kohler Family
