Kosher Blog

I would verify this with Miller but I think the term ‘Aged’ cheddar as used in the description of this specific cheese may not be consistent with the market term for ‘Aged’ but most likely refers to the Halachic guideline of aged cheese, pertinent to the Ashkenazic custom of having to wait 6 hours after its consumption before eating meat.

‘Aged’ cheddar is typically 9 months or older.

‘Medium’ cheddar can be anything aged from 2-3 to 9 months.

I’ll call to find out if this is actually the case, and post again when I know for certain, but for now I am giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that the cheese is at least 6 months old.

Very interesting. I had hoped to gather more details on their aging standards, but their website at koshercheese.com is no longer operational. Looking forward to your findings!

While we’re on the subject, should anyone wish to see how “real” cheddar is produced, New England Cheesemaking Supply has a great photo series on the process.

I had a chance to speak with the Rabbi at Miller’s cheese. He was most helpful and informative. As I originally suspected, the cheese is aged for 6 months, but not much more, so they label it as ‘Aged’ for Halachic purposes.

BS”D

The best aged Cheddar I’ve had recently is the Joseph Farms (Joseph Gallo) sharp Cheddar, under OK-D hashgacha. Not cholov yisroel. I just bought it yesterday when I discovered from Rabbi Eidlitz that Joseph Gallo had indeed gone kosher, at least with much of the cheese found in Food for Less. Our normal Cheddar favorite was Tillamook “medium”, a good mild Cheddar with a bit of bitterness. The Joseph Farms “sharp” Cheddar is a very flavorful, medium Cheddar with no bitterness and pronounced sweetness and richness. All of the best hard cheeses exhibit sweetness rather than bitterness. To me, this cheese stands out in terms of quality. And for $3.58/lb, it’s hard to beat. I also found 5 lb. blocks of their mild Cheddar and Monterey Jack for $12.98 each. How can one go wrong at that price? Only if you desire more flavor. Good quality cheeses for sure, but not a metzia in terms of flavor. The “mild” Cheddar is supermild, too mild for me and most of my family-only the 5 year old likes it. The Monterey Jack is so innocuous as to almost be a pizza cheese substitute- but at that price, who cares? A good substitute for Mozzarella at a bit over $2/lb. In any case, I’m waiting for the kosher production to include 5 lb and 10 lb “sharp” Cheddar blocks at $12.98 for the 5 lb. Then, I’ll be a happy camper indeed.

Craig Winchell

Rabbi Eidlitz: It has come to our attention that the products listed below sold under the Joseph Farms Brand name and labeled with the O/Kd symbol are in fact NOT kosher. Corrective action is being taken: Aged Cheddar, Cheddar, Colby, Marbled Cheddar, Marbled Jack, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Mozzarella Balls, Muenster, Pepper Jack, White Cheddar.

BS”D

Very interesting, Alyssa, because in the January 2006 issue of Jewish Life- Traditional Living in Los Angeles, in the article “Kashrus Concerns by Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz on page 19,in the “clarifications” section, it says,”Joseph Gallows cheese found at Food For Less correctly bears the O/K symbol.- O/K

Based upon that information, I purchased it. I’m waiting for a phone call from Rabbi Eidlitz for clarification. Luckily, I see him at Mincha/Maariv most days, so I can, in any case, ask him then. I won’t eat any more until I hear more.

Craig Winchell

The OK’s website http://www.ok.org lists the Joseph Gallo cheeses as being non authorized. They are in fact NOT certified by the OK.

BS”D

Well, thanks, Tzvi, and I’m sure you guys are correct. Interesting, that Rabbi Eidlitz had contradictory information in his article and on his web site (both of which were purportedly supplied by the OK). No doubt the latest info is that which is on the web sites rather than the printed page. We have therefore taken steps to identify and kasher what keilim we can. Rabbi Eidlitz has not yet gotten back to me concerning this, and I was not in shul yesterday mincha/maariv to “goose” him.

So besides this unfortunate event which serves to underscore the fact that contradictory information can be supplied by the same kashrus expert, this exercise as a whole has established to me the abject failure of the major kosher cheese companies in providing real quality in standard cheese types. The fact is that the ksoehr consumer does not demand quality, so he does not receive it. It was that way in wine, and it is that way in cheese. And I wonder what would happen if a small cheese supplier came out with quality at a reasonable price. Would the kosher consumer respond, or would inertia keep the consumer coming to World Cheese Company, and other minimal quality cheeses? I was particularly enamored with Joseph Gallo’s “sharp” Cheddar. There is no reason a kosher producer could not produce to that quality standard.

Craig– That’s exactly why I started getting into cheesemaking after I stopped eating vegetarian at treyfe restaurants. Someday, when my financial situation allows, I’d love to produce excellent, kosher farmstead cheeses on a commercial scale.

(In fact, I just started reading an interesting book on the subject — American Farmstead Cheese by Paul Kindsedt.)

It may take some time to reprogram the tastebuds of kosher folks who have only eaten bland, uninspired “cheese product” their whole lives, but it would be worth every effort.

Craig: Try the cheeses produced by Two Tribes - Mitzvah Farms. A small producer in Iowa. Cholov Yisroel. Owned by a Frum Yid. Many say that they are delicious.

BS”D

Tzvi:

It’s not that I can’t find quality cheese, it’s that I can’t find them at a reasonable price. The Tillamook is eminently suitable as a Cheddar. I can get the Tillamook for $2.99 per 8 oz block (sometimes on sale for $2.49), or $5.98/lb. That’s a far better price than most of the dreck that’s out there. So it was a pleasure to find the Joseph Gallo sharp Cheddar at $3.58/lb.- a better cheese at little more than half the price. I’m not prepared to pay more than I pay for the Tillamook for mere Cheddar or Swiss or standard-type cheeses, or at least not much more than for the Tillamook if it’s truly far better quality. That means I’m not willing to pay more for a shrunk-plastic wrapped rindless block. A gourmet Cheddar I would pay much more for, but I’d purchase far less. The small kosher producers, even if they’re doing runs at larger nonkosher dairies (much less establishing their own facilities) are producing rindless blocks which they are selling for premium prices. But could a small producer do regular runs at a large cheese company in such a way that prices remain competitive with the Tillamook, or perhaps even cheaper, and still produce quality sharp Cheddar on the order of Joseph Gallo’s cheese, I would purchase it. Would others? Or do they really prefer the insipid stuff they get from World and others? JAbbet, producing farmstead cheese is a wonderful idea, but don’t look for the kosher consumer to buy it- make sure it pencils out in the general market. Especially if it’s 5 and 10 lb. wheels of gourmet sharp Cheddar or other “standard type”, I can’t see the kosher consumer purchasing it instead of the rindless packaged product. They’re not sophisticated enough to see the difference in dollars an cents, even if they can with their tongues.

There are two gourmet kosher cheeses that I would highly recommend.

One of them is the Mitzvah Farms (under I believe both the OK and United Mehadrin Kosher) brand of cheese that Tzvi pointed out in this thread. Mitzvah Farms makes at least four delicious kinds of cheese. Here in Des Moines, I found the Mitzvah Farms cheeses in the grocery section at the local kosher deli called Maccabee’s Deli, which is operated by our local Chabad center. I’ve seen them in both block and sliced versions and they’re really great. There is in fact a kosher pizza that I also found at Maccabee’s called “47th Street Pizza”, which used the Mitzvah Farms cheeses. I can honestly say that this “47th Street Pizza” was the very very best packaged kosher pizza I’ve ever had in my life.

The other gourmet kosher cheese I highly recommend is from the Sugar River Cheese company out of a suburb near Chicago. The Sugar River Cheeses are under the cRc’s supervision (Cholov Stam milk) and there are 7 excellent flavors available involving white cheddar, prairie jack, or monterrey jack cheeses.

I found the Sugar River Cheeses here in one of the regular grocery stores and they are all superb. In that grocery store, I found it in only 8 ounce blocks.

The only flaw I find with both of these cheeses is of course the really expensive prices. But nevertheless, I consider both of these cheeses to be of really high quality and thus I think it’s worth the expensive prices.

BS”D

Here again, Yaakov, these are simply high quality rindless blocks you’re talking about, not gourmet cheeses. Therefore, they shouldn’t be charging a gourmet price for them. I once considered having a kosher run made of 5 Lb. wheels of Cheddar at a small cheese factory known for its nonkosher 5 lb wheels. When I realized I’d be sitting on 500 or so wheels of gourmet kosher Cheddar that I’d need to sell for a gourmet price, whole, to the kosher-keeping public, and I realized I hadn’t the foggiest idea of whether I could even sell a small portion at the prices I’d need to charge, I got off that idea quickly. The rindless cheeses are what the kosher market is prepared to pay for, but good as they might be, they’ll never be the gourmet cheeses I long for. But if they’re available at a good price, flavorful and of good quality, they’ll give the World Cheese Company a run for their money. They have the Sugar River cheeses at the Ralph’s here. I’ve had them and they’re good, but way too expensive to interest me. Flavored rindless blocks.

BS”D

I’m still waiting to hear from Rabbi Eidlitz concerning the Joseph Farms cheese (he did not daven at Shaarey Zedek mincha/maariv yesterday). At issue to me is the fact that he said that “Joseph Gallows” cheese from Food For Less correctly bore the OK. Joseph Farms packaging only has a small label bearing the name Joseph Gallo (there is no such cheese as “Joseph Gallows”, so it is obvious that this is the cheese Rabbi Eidlitz meant, and he attributes that information to the OK). Then, there is a blurb on both his and the OK web site that the Joseph Farms brand is not under supervision. It could be that “Joseph Gallo” cheese is under OK supervision, but the “Joseph Farms” brand name is not registered with them. Having seen firsthand how kashrus agencies, both for-profit and not-for-profit, it’s entirely plausible to me that even on this massive scale, this is a simple misunderstanding between Joseph Gallo Farms and the OK. Happens all the time. So I”m keeping the cheese(not eating it), not throwing away any keilim until I hear further. I kashered other keilim so I could use them in the meantime. Kashrus agencies are notorious for licensing brands, and not companies, to use their symbols. If the brand wasn’t registered, who knows how long this could take to clear up? If everything else is kosher, it may not be cleared up until another fee is paid. Or, this could be a matter of blatant fraud on the part of Joseph Gallo farms. It would be nice if it is the former rather than the latter. Then, my keilim would be kosher and I wouldn’t need to throw out the cheese.

Here’s the reply I got from Rabbi Eidlitz:

Both pieces of information came from the o/k. They seem to have been misinformed on the subject and are aware of the difficulty. The cheese as far as I understand from them now was never certified. Kol Tuv

My husband and I have been purchasing Sweet River Cheeses (various Monterrey Jack combos and Cheddar combos) at Whole Foods here in Baltimore…we especially like the chipotle cheddar, being from Texas! However, we learned yesterday that they didn’t sell enough and will no longer carry it. We’ll have to find another source, but we recommend this brand. It is a little pricey, but we love our Mexican vegetarian food. We use the cheese with Morningstar Soy Crumbles for tacos, enchiladas, etc.

I did a search on Sweet River Cheese and found nothing. I’ve been to Whole Foods and never noticed it. What hashgagah is it under?

The product you’re thinking of is Sugar River Cheese — we’ve reviewed it in the past. Maybe I’ll try to get some pictures up soon.

Please note that the OK now has issued a statement on its Alerts page stating that Joseph Farms cheese IS kosher:

Directly copied from the website:

January 19, 2006
Pursuant to our previous notice, we are pleased to inform the public that OK Kosher and Joseph Gallo Farms have corrected the Kashrus issues that occurred with the production of Joseph Farms brand cheeses.

Joseph Farms cheeses manufactured after January 16, 2006 with a “sell by” date beginning July 17, 2006 are kosher and dairy (cholov stam), ONLY WHEN BEARING THE OK-D SYMBOL.

Like everyone else here, I also love cheese and find that unfortunately I cant find any really good kosher cheeses. The Tillamook Cheddar is awesome, and the new Mitzvah Farms Meunster is also pretty good. Besides that (all the heimish brand)there really isnt much. Although I did hear of a new cheese company in Amish country that is going to start a line of real cheeses, that are actually kosher under a lesser known but strict hechsher. I hope its good cheese.

Any one know where one can order Jospeh Farms cheeses? Their web site did not have links for ordering cheese other than gift baskets. None of the local supermakets carry any cheese other than Miller or Haolom. The local kosher market also carries the standard kosher brands.

Does anyone know how their sharp cheddar compares with the OU cerified Cabot Sharp Cheddar?

I purchased some of the varieties of Sugar River Cheese at Shalom’s in Wheaton, Maryland, and they were superb. I would certainly buy more (have tried to purchase at the local Whole Foods-one says they no longer have it as it wasn’t selling enough and the other hadn’t heard of it; the one that heard of it suggested trying other Whole Foods stores which were larger and carry more variety). These cheeses are a real step up for kosher cheese.

i was wondering if the miller’s cheese “semi-sharp cheddar” was considered hard cheese making a person wait 6 hours before eating meat? I saw the comment about the aged cheese but am not sure about the semi-sharp and how long it is aged for. Thank you