Latest news with #WorldChampionshipCheeseContest
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
If it's the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, it must be a big day for cheddar
ASHWAUBENON – The U.S. Championship Cheese Contest had every kind of cheese: mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, aged cheddar, young cheddar and cheddar blue. Well, this is Wisconsin. The championship, which kicked off Tuesday at the Resch Center, included 2,414 entries in 177 classes from 31 states and Puerto Rico. New this year were classes for sour cream and cultured dairy dips. Winners were decided by 38 judges from 15 states. But the top five classes, by number of entries, were mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, shredded cheeses, aged cheddar and medium cheddar. There were 285 cheddar entries, nearly 12% of all entries, in eight classes. That said, the most popular cheese in the United States is mozzarella — because of pizza. Cheddar is a close second, said Sarah Guttmann of Plymouth, of Masters Food Gallery Inc., who conducted judging demonstrations at the contest. Lucy Jeter of Clemson University became the contest's first student judge after winning — wait for it — the cheddar judging competition at the 100th Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest in Milwaukee last year. She was first in cheddar judging and third overall, among more than 40 student competitors. That contest included, along with cheeses, foods such as milk, cottage cheese, ice cream, butter and strawberry yogurt, but "cheddar is the most specific and most harshly criticized," Jeter said. She spent about five hours a week for a semester preparing for the competition. "There are a lot of nuances with cheddar, depending on age, especially when you compare them side by side," she said. Jeter, a graduate student who wants to work in dairy research and development, is shadowing professional judges on Tuesday and Wednesday. She hopes to some day be one of them. "I would hope so. It's a lot of fun," she said. The cheese championship is known for its openness and transparency. Judges are arrayed in a u-shaped line of tables. Signs identify the judges, their affiliation and the type of product being judged. The less-harried among them will answer questions while doing their work, and that includes most of them. Last year, at the world championships in Madison, also hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, demonstration sessions, conducted by experienced dairy professionals, explained the judging process, using different types of cheeses as examples. Samples were handed out for each. As might be imagined, the sessions were popular. More: Swiss cheesemaker wins third consecutive World Championship Cheese Contest; Wisconsin wins 39 classes More: As Lent nears, readers say these 4 restaurants have the best fish fry dinners in Green Bay area The association carried the demonstrations over for this year's U.S. championship, and the morning's first session was attended by about 40 cheese lovers, who all sat through the more than hourlong presentation, which greatly relieved the number of questions working judges had to respond to. Liz Tienor of Manitowoc said it's tempting to think of cheese as just being solid milk, but the demonstration painted a different picture. "It's just the little blips of information you get ... it's made in caves and it has holes you put oxygen in" that makes it clear what an exacting process cheese making is, she said. For a judge who's inspecting 54 entries of mild cheddar in a day, the lack of interruption is appreciated, said Grace Atherton, cheese makers communications director. The contest is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Resch Expo. Championship judging on Thursday is closed to the public, but the announcement of the new champion and the runners up will be livestreamed at 2 p.m. that day at In addition to samples at the demonstration, the event includes four tables of cheeses to sample — more than just cheddar, although there's plenty of that, including one on Tuesday made with Spotted Cow beer that tasted like, well, Spotted Cow beer. Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@ Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Cheddar dominates contest, but more than 2,000 other entries compete
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Here's a chance to sample award-winning cheese as U.S. championship returns to Resch Expo
ASHWAUBENON – Before the NFL draft comes to Green Bay, the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest will make an appearance. The every-other-year contest, held March 4-5 at the Resch Expo, will have 2,414 entries in 117 classes from 31 states. Categories include cheese, butter, cultured products and dry dairy ingredients. Preliminary judging, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, will be free and open to the public. Even better than the judging are samples of competing and champion cheeses. It's a chance to taste the best of familiar cheeses or try something unique. Championship judging on March 6 is closed to the public, but announcement of winners will be livestreamed at 2 p.m. at The event is hosted by by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, which has its headquarters in Madison. At least 38 dairy experts, many of them cheese championship veterans, will evaluate entries on attributes such as flavor, body, texture, salt, color, finish, packaging, and more. More: U.S. cheese champion: Best cheese is from Connecticut, but the cheese maker is from Wisconsin More: Swiss cheesemaker wins third consecutive World Championship Cheese Contest; Wisconsin wins 39 classes Twenty-two northeastern Wisconsin producers submitted entries to the contest. An aged Gouda, called Europa, made by Arethusa Farm Dairy in Bantam, Connecticut, was the 2023 United States Champion Cheese. At the World Championship Cheese Contest in 2024, a Hornbacker cheese made by Michael Spycher of Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus in Bern, Switzerland, was named the best cheese. The world championship is held every other year in Madison. Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@ Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: U.S. Championship Cheese Contest comes to Green Bay every other year
