Kosher Blog

Miller’s “Aged” Cheddar

I happened to notice at the local kosher market this evening that Miller’s actually produces an “aged cheddar cheese.” Intrigued, but naturally a bit skeptical, I purchased the $4.29 bar and brought it home.

The proof was in the first bite: it tasted nearly identical to their everyday “cheddar sticks” — the only difference may have been some extra annatto coloring. Of course, nowhere on the package does it say how long this cheese has been aged, so I guess it’s my fault for expecting real sharpness.

False alarm!

Cappiello to sell cheeses online

Effective this February, OU-certified Cappiello cheese products will be available for purchase directly from Cappiello on their website. An excerpt from the message we received:

Unfortunately, at this time, many of you are now unable to purchase our products from your local markets. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, especially during this holiday season. We would like you to know Cappiello Dairy has been working diligently to rectify this situation, as it is our Number 1 goal to ensure that you, our customer, always have access to the products you know and love.

Effective 2/1/06, Cappiello products will be available for purchase via our website, www.cappiello.com. On this site you will be able to choose from our entire specialty mozzarella cheese line as well as our dairy mozzarella. These products will be shipped directly from our manufacturing facility in Schenectady, New York to your selected address within 48 hours of your order. All Shipping and Handling costs will be included in the listed pricing.

As you know, the shelf life of our specialty lines run between 6 months to 1 year, if properly refrigerated, and are Kosher-Dairy. As an internet customer you will also be notified of all new products and given the ability to purchase them in an advance period.

Goat’s Milk “Muenster” Cheesemaking Update

And now a post mortem on the goat’s milk muenster I attempted a couple weeks ago. After pressing, the curds formed a smooth and cohesive mass:

Per the author’s instructions, I left this on my counter for about a week with a plate on top, flipping and salting it each day. I tossed those bamboo sushi mats after day one, as they were absorbing the exuded moisture and getting smelly. I replaced them with simple metal cooling racks which are much easier to keep clean. (I did miss that natural bamboo pattern developing on the cheese, though.)

After five days, it had begun to form a firm rind and started to feel less slimy and more cheesy. After seven days, I wiped it off and popped in the fridge. At nine days, I finally tasted.

I was proud to have made it through the entire cheesemaking cycle, but I wasn’t so impressed with the cheese. It was much drier and more brittle than I had expected, and tasted more like a mild goat cheddar than muenster.

Another stab at kosher cheesemaking

After a long hiatus, I’ve made another stab at producing cheese at home. This time, it’s a muenster recipe from Barbara Ciletti’s book that calls for goat’s milk. I’ve completed most of the active steps of the recipe so far; here’s a photo recap:

Most of my cheesemaking utensils set out on the counter. For this cheese, I purchased a tomme mold and follower for 1-lb. cheeses, some cheesecloth for draining firm-curd cheese, two sushi — uh, “cheese” — mats, and some cheese salt (which has a finer grain for mixing into the curds and rubbing on the cheese). Also pictured are my handy thermometers (analog and digital), my icing spatula/curd knife, mesh colander, slotted spoon, and Pyrex cup.

The maiden voyage of my double-boiler. This thing is marked as an 8-quart double-boiler, but that’s truly a misnomer as the inner pot holds exactly one gallon of liquid. I found it difficult to control the temperature of water on my gas stove, so the milk came to 88 degrees in half the time the recipe called for.

Liquid kosher rennet diluted in tepid water. Used spring water to avoid any contaminants from the public water supply. The vegetarian rennet from New England Cheesemaking Supply company is now double-strength, so I used 1/8 teaspoon rather than the 1/4 teaspoon indicated in the recipe. Upon mixing the diluted rennet in my warm goat’s milk, I removed the inner pot from the hot water and let it sit undisturbed for an hour, covered. Afterwards, I realized this was incorrect: the entire double-boiler apparatus was meant to be removed from the flame. My milk required an extra 30 minutes of warmer coagulating before it made what I assumed was a “clean break.”

Curds cut into approximately 1″ pieces. The curds gave up their whey quite readily upon cutting, but they did seem a bit soft and didn’t quite keep their cubic appearance as the cheese books illustrated.

Curds draining in a cheesecloth-lined collander. The recipe said to bunch up the curds into a ball and put in the collander, but that didn’t seem too plausible. I just poured it all in.

Loading my drained curds into the tomme mold. The curds drained twenty minutes, then I ladled them into the mold. Due to the snug fit of the follower, I realized that the cheesecloth should only be one layer thick, not doubled over.

Cheese press loaded and ready. With the sliding top lowered into place, I piled on forty pounds of weight. I’ve sinced placed a small level on the top of the weight to assure evenly distributed pressure (and avoid a slanted cheese).

With any luck, there will be more photos to show tomorrow!

Kosher Cheesemaking Hero

In a triumph for the kosher cheesemaking community, Jamie Forest of HonksAndSirens.com is successfully creating camembert at home. (An update with photo is also online.)

For me, it’s inspiring to see folks actually follow through with making cheese, and it’s incredibly helpful, too. Cheesemaking recipes are many, and the books out there are pretty decent, but nothing beats reviewing someone’s detailed, first-person descriptions and photographs of the whole process (well, nothing except actually watching someone make cheese).

Jamie notes, though, that he couldn’t find kosher-certified Penicillium Candidum, the bacteria that gives mold-ripened cheeses their white rind. I don’t know of any, but I’m also not sure if bacteria need certification. Any leads?

Tnuva Hard Grating Cheese

Since Tnuva products landed on these shores, I’ve been wholly unimpressed. All of their cheeses I’ve tried have been bland, over-commercialized, and uninspired. And Tnuva’s “Hard Grating Cheese” (their take on Parmesan) isn’t much different.

I first tried it in small chunks at room temperature, and I could hardly taste anything except the flavor of stale bread. Only for a brief moment after lots of chewing and determined tasting could I detect a slight bit of Italian cheesiness.

Not to be discouraged, I tried grating the cheese over a plate of pasta, and, when hot, detected a bit more flavor.

The price (on sale at the Butcherie for $2.50, normally $2.99) made it less than half that of Miller’s genuine Parmigianno-Reggiano, but Miller’s superior taste and texture is worth every penny.

Since Tnuva is Israel’s largest producer of kosher food, I figure I must be missing something. So I cast aside their English-language website and went for the straight dope… the Hebrew. In Israel, it seems, they sell a wider line of cheeses, including cheddar, provolone, and roquefort — varieties I’d be excited to try. Instead, they stick us with umpteen mediocre kinds of “feta-style” cheese. Go figure.

Inexpensive, homemade PVC cheese press

There are a wide variety of tasty soft cheese that can be made without a cheese press, but, truth be told, those just aren’t as exciting (or delicious) as hard, aged cheeses. The only problem for the amateur cheesemaker is that retail cheese presses are, simply, expensive. New England Cheesemaking Supply’s top-of-the-line cheese press, while impressive, is $239. If you’ve never made a pressed cheese before, and you’re not sure if it’s your thing, the purchase of a good press can be quite a hinderance.

If you have $20 (maybe less) burning a hole in your pocket (and a few tools) you can put together a nifty, nice-looking press made out of PVC piping. My design (note: not yet field tested) is a bit different from most cheese presses out there, in that I use actual weights to press down the curds, rather than a spring-loaded setup with a pressure gauge. The basic premise: the base sits on a counter, supports a cheese mold (and drip pan if desired) and has vertical rods affixed to its four corners. A sliding platform runs along the vertical rods and, when loaded with weights (you know, the big round ones you see at the gym), it presses down on a follower into the curd-filled mold below.

You will need the following equipment:
• Hacksaw for cutting PVC piping
• PVC pipe primer and cement
• Coarse sandpaper
• Ruler/tape measure

You will need the following Schedule 40 PVC supplies (cost me all of $11.64 at Home Depot):
• 1 1-inch Cross
• 1 3/4-inch Cross
• 4 1-inch Tees
• 4 3/4-inch Tees
• 4 3/4-inch Caps
• 27″ 1-inch PVC pipe (minimum)
• 100″ 3/4-inch PVC pipe (minimum)

To use the press, you should also buy:
• Mold with follower
• Drip pan
• Something to sit between follower and bottom of sliding platform

With your hacksaw, cut the 1-inch pipe into four equal pieces (6 3/4″ each). Cut the 3/4-inch pipe into four 6 13/16″ pieces and four 18″ pieces, leaving a bit of pipe left over. Measure and cut carefully, but you needn’t be meticulous.

With your sandpaper, sand all pipe ends a bit to remove the prickly bits.

Insert the four 1-inch pipes snugly into the 1-inch cross, so you end up with a big X. Insert each of the four exposed ends into the perpendicular hole of a 1-inch tee so that you end up with the four open tubes which will slide up and down the base’s vertical poles.

With one “arm” connected

Fully assembled sliding platform

If you wish, prime and cement the pieces together for permanence.

Now, do the same with the 3/4-inch PVC pipes and fittings, but put the longer, 18″ pipes into the top of the tees, and put the caps on the bottom of the tees.

Fully assembled base, showing vertical pipes and bottom caps

Slide the platform onto the vertical rods, and there you have it.

Since I designed the press to be 1-foot square, I’ll probably cut notches into the corners of a heavy ceramic tile and lay it onto the base as a stable surface to hold a cheese mold. I’d also like to cut a hole into the sliding platform’s cross so I can insert a small piece of 1″ piping, which will anchor the round weights I intend to load on.

Discount on Cabot’s OU cheddar ends Monday

Cabot’s introductory discount on OU-certified Sharp Cheddar ends Monday, according to an e-mail from Clay Whitney at Cabot:

The introductory sale is ending this Monday, May 16th, but this great new item will continue to be available through the Cabot website at www.shopcabot.com (under Waxless Cheddar on the left hand bar).

…

The results so far have been good, and we are continuing to review the response.
If there is a kosher market in your area that might be interested in carrying the Cabot OU Kosher Sharp Cheddar, please ask them to contact me at the web address or phone number below, or I would be happy to contact them if you give me their phone number.

Cabot’s contact information:
• 802-371-1246
• www.shopcabot.com

Cabot OU Sharp Cheddar: Review & Interview

As any local Bay Stater will tell you, dairy products from Cabot Creamery are a staple in almost every New England home. For this dairy afficionado, growing up on Cabot’s delicious cheddars and other cheeses made it especially difficult to take on a fully kosher lifestyle. Thankfully, that conundrum is alleviated. With great excitement, the Kosher Blog learned early this month of Cabot Creamery’s plans to introduce a sharp cheddar supervised by the Orthodox Union. We made no delay ordering several of the 10-ounce bars from their online store, and have been steadily enjoying them since they arrived promptly by mail.

Cabot’s cheese is the first kosher variety to our knowledge that has been aged to a truly “sharp” degree (up to eight months), and the marked cheddar flavor is testament to that. Despite its age, the cheddar remains creamy (sharper cheddars become drier and crumbly) but firm enough to slice and shred and with ease. Thus, we can say that Cabot’s is arguably the best kosher cheddar available for all-around snacking and cooking.

To learn more about Cabot’s kosher cheesemaking in terms of supervision, economics, and taste, we had the opportunity to interview Cabot’s Direct Marking Manager, Clay Whitney.

When and how did Cabot initially get involved with kosher certification? Was it solely to tap a “kosher” market or did you anticipate increasing demand among non-kosher consumers as well?
Years ago, when our butter and cultured products first became certified kosher by KVH [Va'ad Harabonim of Massachusetts], and our cheese became certified by Tablet-K, we knew this did more than make these products acceptable for consumers who observe the kosher laws. Kosher certification is like the “Good Housekeeping Seal” for all consumers concerned about the quality of the food they eat. We publicized information about our certification through various means, but admittedly, it was not at the forefront during our efforts to expand Cabot’s selling regions.

After analyzing the costs and benefits of certification of our products by the Orthodox Union, we decided to make the change for our butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, dips and whipped cream. These products have been certified by the Orthodox Union for several years and the packaging bears the OU-D symbol.

In the last few years, inquiries about our cheese certification increased from a few to many. We have changed much of our cheese packaging to reference both the kosher certification from Tablet-K and the Halal certification by IFANCA, since both market segments are growing. The changeover to new packaging is continuing as we deplete our older inventories of labels and film.

Did the switch to kosher production require difficult adjustments to your cheesemaking process?
Our production methods are unchanged whether or not the product is certified kosher, but the issues we have to address are 1) the incremental cost of supervision and 2) the impact of the production scheduling requirements.

Although we use only the milk from Cabot’s farm family owners, Cabot’s cost of cheese is dependent upon the national commodity market, specifically the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In volatile market years, such as we experienced in 2004, the impact on the income to our farmer owners can be dramatic, so any increased cost must be carefully considered.

Scheduling production and packaging for the OU-certified product also has a cost in terms of management and efficiency.

The purpose of this market test is to get an idea of the interest for this product. Success in the test could lead to a rollout, which would mean higher volume, larger distribution, and lower costs.

Your announcement of an OU-certified variety stated that it was a result of consumer comments. When did you start to hear demand for Orthodox Union-certified cheese?
As Cabot’s distribution grew beyond the East Coast, and the certification of our products became known, a larger audience has enjoyed Cabot’s kosher products. In the last few years, we have been contacted about our kosher standing more frequently and with varied requests.

Did it increase when Cape Cod’s “Shapes of the Cape” was released (OU-certified featuring Cabot cheddar)?
Other national brands, such as Coca-Cola and Oreos, had caught our attention earlier, but the request from Cape Cod to have the cheddar ingredient from Cabot certified by the OU heightened our awareness of the Orthodox Union’s national presence.

What makes OU-certified cheese different from your other varieties – with the OU on board, were you once again required to make changes to your cheesemaking process?
The rigorous inspection conducted by the Orthodox Union confirmed that our ingredients and processes are in compliance with their requirements. The standards for our dairy products have been maintained diligently since our cooperative’s founding in 1919 and were instrumental in our being awarded “World’s Best Cheddar” at the 22nd Biennial World Championship Contest. Personal supervision by a rabbi from the OU confirms those standards are maintained to their satisfaction.

[KB Note: See the Kosher Bachelor's discussion of Cabot's OU Cheddar for more detail on the difference in supervision.]

There are many widely-recognized national kosher certifiers, like Star-K of Baltimore, OK of New York, Kof-K of New Jersey, and others. What led you to choose the OU as your new certifying agency? Did you consider any other major organizations before choosing to work with the OU?
Our butter and cultured products have been certified by the Orthodox Union for several years, and the OU has been diligent in their efforts to work with us to develop an OU-certified cheddar. We called representatives from synagogues in several states and asked what the predominant and most appropriate certification would be for our products in their area. Our initial impression of the Orthodox Union’s national recognition was corroborated.

In your professional opinion, would you say the texture and flavor is equal to your award-winning standard sharp cheddar?
Absolutely! All our cheddars are produced to achieve the same highest standards for taste and texture. In a blind taste test, you would not be able to distinguish the OU kosher sharp cheddar from the Cabot cheddar that has won every major award for taste.

Kosher cheeses, aside from a few exceptions, are much more expensive than non-kosher cheeses. The average Jewish consumer chalks this up to the cost of supervision, but relatively little is known about the phenomenon. To what do you attribute the price premium of your OU-certified variety over your other varieties? If the demand were great enough, could your OU-certified price equalize with the lower, standard price?
If this test of OU-certified sharp cheddar is successful, the next step is to make it available for kosher and general retail stores. The cost of certifying our entire production by the OU, when only a portion of our sales are impacted by the certification, burdens the cost of all our products. If national retailers see a value to offering this cheddar, and are willing to pay the incremental cost, volume and efficient distribution will drive down the incremental costs associated with certification.

If the demand were great enough, would it be economically feasible to use a widely-recognized, national certifier like the OU for your entire line? Would you consider such a change?
After analyzing the costs and discussing this possibility with the Orthodox Union, we have determined we will proceed on a step-by-step basis to find the point of optimal value to our customers and farmer owners as our sales develop. To misquote a famous book and movie, “If you come, we will build it.” We will be learning a great deal about this product’s impact in the marketplace if this test is successful and the roll out begins.

Any plans to produce other OU-kosher varieties? As I recall from my non-kosher childhood, your Monterrey Jack is stellar.
Thank you for the endorsement. It’s too soon to consider that yet, but not at all out of the question.

OU Cabot Cheese!

From the Cabot Cheese website:

OU Kosher Sharp Cheddar – Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar that is certified kosher by Orthodox Union (OU-D) will be available exclusively from this website starting this March. All of the cheeses in our online store (except for Smoky Bacon Cheddar) are already certified kosher by Tablet-K and certified halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). However, we have received many consumer inquiries about providing OU-certified cheddar, so we are conducting this market test. If successful, we will make this product a permanent addition to our web shopping selection. In the future, we may even explore making it available through your local supermarket. It’s coming here in March — be sure to tell your friends.

Many thanks to elf for pointing this out!

UPDATE: Coming March 12!