Cheddar from Clover Creek Cheese Cellar

This week we're celebrating the first of many batches of Clover Creek Cheese Cellar's mild Cheddar.

Clover Creek Cheese Cellar is located on a 126-acre dairy that's owned and operated by Dave Rice and family in Williamburg, Pennsylvania. In addition to artisan farmstead cheeses, they also sell raw milk and pasture-raised beef. Their mission is to produce wholesome products that are healthy for their family, animals, community and environment.

The Rice family has been producing cheeses since 2005. Of note, their dairy is grass-based, meaning that the herd enjoys open-air pastures throughout the summer and dried hay through the winter. No milking takes place in winter so cheese production begins each April. The cellar on their farm features wooden shelving and no wax or cloth is used to wrap the wheels of cheese so they are able to age naturally and, very importantly, breathe! As a result, their cheeses develop beautiful natural rinds that give each variety both added character and flavor.

I recently had a conversation with the Rice's oldest son, Anthony. He's been leading the way in cheese production this season and he had a lot to say about cheddar-making when I asked him:

"Cheddar is one of our least favorite cheeses to make because of all the extra steps it takes. In cheesemaking 'cheddaring' is a verb, a process of turning and stacking the slabs of curd after draining off the whey. This allows the curds to 'knit' together and lose more of the whey. This process is why Cheddar is able to age much longer, but it also adds several hours to our cheesemaking day."

Here's a video of Anthony flipping cheddar slabs: (via Instagram) @CloverCreekCheese.

As mentioned above, the cheese featured this week is a younger, milder batch than we've grown used to receiving from Clover Creek. Generally, Clover Creek's Cheddar is aged about 9 months before the wheels are cut and packaged for retail, but this season they'll be cutting into their wheels after only 2 months.

"Cheddar around this age is usually what my family chooses to use in our kitchen," Anthony explained. "We go through one wheel every week or so. We use it in sandwiches with our own grass-fed dried beef or bologna, as well as snacking or cooking. On most Sunday evenings, we enjoy sitting down and watching a movie as a family while we snack on homemade popcorn, cheese cubes and apples." He also recommended checking out their list of favorite family recipes that incorporate cheese.

They're reserving last season's cheddars to expand their cheddar selection so be on the look-out for their 'new' aged cheddar, "Four Leaf Clover," in the coming weeks!