Not the first time I've seen it organically recommended, and I'm not surprised. A buddy has some of this stuff, he usually ages it for a minimum of a year, ideally 2+, in the fridge. Will sometimes have fantastic crystals, and even if it doesn't it's still exceptional sharp cheddar.

I'm not easily Influenced so I'm mystified at how canned cheese had me checking out ways to order it.

The well known Rainier cherry cultivar similarly comes from Washington State University - quite an ag program they have there!

I just ordered two cans of the cougar gold, one of the viking, and one of the mild cheddar. If it's not good I will blame you.

The archaic checkout system and the fact that this is a Washington State school agricultural product make me think that this will be the best cheese I've ever eaten in my life. Quite fond of their apples!

I'd love to try that but the only site I can see selling it here in the UK wants 85 quid a tin.

There are plenty of extra mature cheddars with crystals here, though. Marks & Spencer have a 2 year aged one called Cornish Cruncher that I'm partial to.

I remember hearing about that cheese in the past. Does it need a cold chain to be shipped overseas?

I'll be making a stop in Seattle here in a few weeks. I'll see if this is available for purchase at Haggen.

Some guy cracked open a 15 year old can of Cougar Gold and said it was good: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cheese/comments/1oas900/update_i_op...

Hmmm, I'm somewhat doubtful about cheese from the USA as my experience there (only on holiday, mind) was that most cheese seems to be made of plastic. However, I fully acknowledge my lack of knowledge about good/great american cheeses and I'm sure there are small scale producers of quality products.

Some of the best cheddars that I've tried are Wyke Farms Cheddar (from Somerset, but not quite in Cheddar itself) and my favourite is Davidstow which comes from Cornwall. Quite why you'd be expecting quality Cheddar cheese from France is beyond me - wouldn't they consider it insulting to be making an English style cheese when they have so very many unique types of French cheese?

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.

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.

I usually make my yogurt with powdered milk so that I can have less water in it. I don't add thickeners or sugar.

>> That’s right: if you run the numbers on cheese manufacturing, the percent yield is only about 10%.

Percent yield is an odd choice of words when the "waste" product is 90-95% water.

Rum Runner is one of my favorites

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product/sartori-cheese-rum-...

LOVE Bellavitano! I'm a huge fan of most of their cheeses, but especially the Garlic & Herb—it's like a delicious pizza :)

The article is dated in 2019, and the wayback machina has a version saved in 2020 [1] but ChatGPT was launched in 2022.

[1] https://snipettemag.com/cheese-crystals/