Artisanal cheese refers to cheeses produced by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers. As a result, the cheeses are often more complex in taste and variety. Many are aged and ripened to achieve certain aesthetics. This contrasts with the more mild flavors of mass-produced cheeses produced in large-scale operations, often shipped and sold right away. [1]
Part of the artisanal cheese-making process is the aging and ripening of the cheeses to develop flavor and textural characteristics. One type of artisanal cheese is known as farmstead cheese, made traditionally with milk from the producer's own herds of cows, sheep, and goats. Artisan cheeses may be made by mixing milk from multiple farms, whereas the more strict definition of farmstead cheese (or farmhouse cheese) requires that milk come only from one farm. [2]
There has been a lot of discussion relating to what truly defines artisanal cheese. According to the American Cheese Society, “The word ‘artisan’ or ‘artisanal’ implies that a cheese is produced primarily by hand, in small batches, with particular attention paid to the tradition of the cheesemaker's art and thus using as little mechanization as possible in production of the cheese. Artisan, or artisanal, cheese may be made from all types of milk and may include various flavorings.” While it is something that is debated by some, those involved in the industry still share a passion for making hand-created products, which may or may not include some manufacturing equipment, that will be enjoyed by many consumers. [3]
The artisanal cheesemaking process can be quite extensive and resembles modern chemistry in many aspects. Many different factors affect a finished artisanal cheese product; these include, but are not limited to, what species of grass is consumed by the cattle that provided the milk source, any sudden changes of heat, and any loss of cultivated yeast, or changes in barometric pressure. These factors to an extent are different from large commercial cheesemakers, and affect artisanal cheese more heavily. [4]
In the last decade, the American artisanal cheese industry has seen an increase larger than that in the twenty years prior, in artisan creameries being licensed for commercial business. This translates to approximately 450 different artisan cheese makers existing in the United States today. Three regions have come to lead the way in this category, New England, Wisconsin, and California. This rise in the popularity of artisan cheesemaking has also coincided with a rise in the number of dairy farms, while traditional cattle ranching has been decreasing in numbers. [5]
In January 2014, Monica Metz, Branch Chief of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition's Dairy and Egg Branch, responded to a New York State Department of Agriculture request asking the FDA to clarify if using wooden surfaces to age cheese was acceptable. In her response, Metz said the use of wooden surfaces to ripen cheese does not conform to the Current Good Manufacturing Practices. Metz cited 21 CFR 110.40(a), to support her stance on the issue. [6] This statement caused concern among those involved in the artisanal cheesemaking process, and consumers who enjoy such cheeses. It was feared this direction as stated by the FDA would harm local American cheesemakers, but also affect cheeses that follow the same practices that are imported from other nations. Many groups including the American Cheese Society, a nonprofit trade association which promotes and supports American cheeses, created a letter on June 10, 2014, arguing against the FDA stance on using wooden surfaces to ripen cheese. The American Cheese Society stressed their stance on strict safety standards during the American cheesemaking process. Additionally, they commented on how such a ruling would affect the non-manufactured cheese industry, affecting the U.S. consumer's ability to access a multitude of different cheeses, including those created locally or abroad. [7] On June 11, 2014, the FDA sent an update regarding their earlier stance on the issue. In the update, the FDA stressed that they are not requiring the prohibiting or banning of wooden surfaces in the cheesemaking process. Furthermore, they stated there is no Food Safety Modernization Act that specifically mentions the use of wooden surfaces needed in the cheesemaking process. The FDA advised they would reach out to and engage the artisanal cheesemaking community, in coming together to resolve the issue. [8]
Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavor and a creamy, heterogeneous, soupy texture. It is made from skimmed milk by draining curds but retaining some of the whey and keeping the curds loose. An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the addition of a "dressing" to the curd grains, usually cream, which is mainly responsible for the taste of the product. Cottage cheese is not aged.
The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the "Tillamook" brand name. Its main facility is the Tillamook Creamery, located two miles north of the city of Tillamook on U.S. Route 101.
Caerphilly is a hard, crumbly white cheese that originated in the area around the town of Caerphilly, Wales. It is thought to have been created to provide food for the local coal miners. The Caerphilly of that period had a greater moisture content, and was made in local farms. At the start of the 20th century, competition for milk in the local area saw production decline, and Caerphilly production was gradually relocated to England.
Camembert is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit with a slightly lower butterfat content than brie's typically 20% - 25% by weight.
Cheesemaking is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrated form. Cheesemaking allows the production of the cheese with diverse flavors and consistencies.
A creamery or cheese factory is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream returned to the skimmed milk.
Coulommiers is a soft ripened cheese from Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France. It is made from cow's milk, and is usually in the shape of a disc with white, bloomy, edible Penicillium candidum rind. When produced as an artisanal or "farmhouse" cheese from unpasteurized milk, it has some reddish blush in parts of the rind. The period of ripening when made of pasteurised whole milk is about four to six weeks. The fat content is 40 per cent.
Cheese is a dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.
Wisconsin cheese is cheese made in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a long tradition and history of cheese production and it is widely associated in popular culture with cheese and the dairy industry.
Florence Lucy Appleby MBE was an English traditional cheesemaker. She created 'Mrs Appleby's Cheshire' which, by the time of her death, was the last remaining Cheshire cheese to observe the traditions of using unpasteurised milk from the farm herd, being bound in calico cloth and matured on-farm. Appleby co-founded the Specialist Cheesemakers Association to defend the use of unpasteurised milk in cheesemaking.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese is an artisan cheesemaker with retail locations in the greater Seattle area and several airports. The company was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier in 2003 and opened in Pike Place Market after Dammeier obtained a difficult to obtain storefront lease in the Market. Because Dammeier had never been a cheesemaker, he sought out the assistance of Brad Sinko, who helped run a family cheese-making business in Oregon. A second location was opened in 2011 Manhattan's Flatiron District; this closed in October, 2022.
Valley Shepherd Creamery is an artisan cheese making farm in Long Valley, New Jersey, and the winner of Edible Communities' New Jersey Food Artisan award in 2009.
Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "ripening agents", determines the features that define many different varieties of cheeses, such as taste, texture, and body. The process is "characterized by a series of complex physical, chemical and microbiological changes" that incorporates the agents of "bacteria and enzymes of the milk, lactic culture, rennet, lipases, added moulds or yeasts, and environmental contaminants". The majority of cheese is ripened, except for fresh cheese.
The American Cheese Society (ACS) is a non-profit trade group for the American cheese industry that was founded in 1983.
Jasper Hill Farm is an artisan cheesemaker in Greensboro, Vermont, owned and operated by Andy and Mateo Kehler. Jasper Hill Farm is also the location of the Cellars at Jasper Hill, which provides aging, sales & marketing services.
Farmstead cheese, less commonly known as farmhouse cheese, is produced from the milk collected on the same farm where the cheese is produced. Unlike artisan cheese, which may also include milk purchased and transported from off-farm sources, farmstead cheese makers use milk only from animals they raise. According to the American Cheese Society, "milk used in the production of farmstead cheeses may not be obtained from any outside source". As a result, the cheeses produced often have unique flavors owing to the farm's local terroir. Most farmstead cheese is produced from cow, goat or sheep milk, although some farmstead cheeses are produced from water buffalo milk.
Anne Therese Saxelby was an American artisanal cheesemaker and cheesemonger. She was the founder of Saxelby Cheesemongers, the first shop dedicated to American artisanal cheeses in New York City. She was a major figure in the growth and promotion of the American artisanal cheese industry.
Commercial cheesemaking in Wisconsin dates back to the nineteenth century. Early cheesemaking operations began on farmsteads in the Michigan and Wisconsin territories, with large-scale production starting in the mid-1800s. Wisconsin became the largest producer of cheese in the United States in the early 1900s, and in 2019 produced over 3.36 billion pounds of cheese in more than 600 varieties, accounting for 26% of all cheese made in the country that year.
