🎉 National Popcorn Lovers Day is this Thursday 3/13. Will you celebrate with us? BUY CHEMICAL-FREE POPCORN KERNELS.

How to smartly decode cheese labels and predict a variety of tastes and textures

written by

Aaron Miller

posted on

June 3, 2022

Here’s a quick insider scoop about our A2/A2 cheeses.

If you look on the back of your cheese, you will find a not-so-pretty label that’s put on by our cheesemakers. If you look there, you can easily know the exact day that block of cheese was made.

On that label, you will see a code with 6 numbers at the end. Those 6 numbers are a date in reverse order. Ah ha! Code unlocked!

For example, in the cheese picture at the bottom of this email, the numbers are “212611”. So, that means the date the cheese was made was 11/26/21. 

By “made”, I mean the day the curds were pressed into blocks and the cheese was sealed and moved to the cave for aging.

Knowing this date gives you some foodie insight. You can be a cheese prophesier and predict the taste and flavor of the cheese before it’s opened.

The longer a cheese is aged, the sharper it will be.

When cheese is first made, it is at its mildest. It’s more buttery, creamy, or sweet (think mozzarella, which is not aged at all). And, as it ages, the flavor gets sharper. It’s more tangy, pungent, or stinky (think Parmesan, Asiago, or Manchego).

Let’s take cheddar cheese as an example. Our raw mild cheddar cheese is aged between 60 days and 2 years from the day it was made. When it’s aged just 60 days, it will be quite mild. But, as it gets closer to 2 years, it gets sharper and might even be hard to distinguish from sharp cheddar.

Similarly, the longer a cheese is aged, the harder and more crumbly it will be.

When a cheese is first made, it can be described as chubby, rubbery, or squishy. So an unaged cheese like paneer or a 60-day old cheese like fresh gouda will be softer than a cheese aged for a longer time. 

But, a cheese aged for years, like a sheep rind-ripened cheese, will be quite hard. It crumbles when you cut it. You could even smash it into bite-size pieces. And, you might be the lucky one to get some aged cheese with crystals!

And then there’s all that wonderful variation in between. It keeps food interesting and exciting.

Even when made with the same A2/A2 grass fed milk and with the same artisan cheesemaking processes, a mild cheddar that’s 2 months old versus 1 year old will be different. Period.

All those flavor and texture variations lead to food eureka moments - when you make the best ever scalloped potatoes with 1-year old mild cheddar cheese or a fantastic mac and cheese with fresh 90-day old gouda or an exceptional broccoli soup with 3-year old sharp cheddar.

We also love variation because it allows us to achieve the goal of being a zero waste food facility.

That’s right. At Miller’s, we basically never throw away food. 

Our cheese is made in small batches and is aged in 40lb blocks. When cheese inventory runs low in our cooler, we ask the cheesemaker to break down one of those huge blocks to sell to you.

When we have an oversupply of milk, we typically make cheese. And, when we have an oversupply of cheese, you’ll notice the dates tend to be farther in the past.

What flavors and textures do you love when eating cheese? What are your favorite cheese recipes? And, are there any other cheeses that you wish Miller’s sold?

I’d love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required) or contact us.

PS: We have so many cheese options! Mostly A2/A2 cow but also goat and sheep. You can shop all A2/A2 cheeses here.

Cooking

Raw Dairy

More from the blog

If animals eat wheat, does the gluten transfer to the eggs and meat?

We've been getting this question a good amount lately --- If your chickens and pigs eat wheat, which contains gluten, then do your eggs, chicken, and pork contain gluten, too? Super interesting question. I mean, the saying "you are what you eat" holds true to some extent. But... digestion is the opposite of simple. The short answer is --- Gluten in animal feed does NOT transfer to eggs or meat. Eggs are meat are naturally gluten-free. You see, just like you, when an animal eats gluten, the gluten is broken down into amino acids during digestion. Then, those amino acids are reassembled into a variety of things that support life and growth - proteins, hormones, neurotransmitters, etc. We have anecdotal evidence, too. There are many Miller's customers with Celiac disease or gluten sensitivities that handle our eggs, chicken, and pork without any issues. In fact, some say that our eggs and meat are the only they can tolerate - wow! A little caveat --- cross contamination. Here are two scenarios: What if a butcher uses products on meat or surfaces that contain gluten? I mean the list of approved sanitizers is loooong. This isn't a worry with our foods. Our eggs and chicken only ever touch water. And our pork is washed in organic apple cider vinegar.Can gluten be added to foods like sausages or pies or lunchmeat? Yes. Some baking sodas and spice blends contain gluten. And some trace ingredients (that don't need to be on the label) like maltodextrin or modified food starch may contain gluten. This isn't a worry with our foods. We try to keep things as pure as possible. Intolerances and sensitivities can be complicated. Some people react to parts of gluten, not the whole molecule. During digestion, gluten is broken down into peptides in your intestinal tract. Then, those peptides are broken down into amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of life. They're reassembled (with other things like broken down vitamins and minerals) into important stuff that your body needs - proteins, tissue, enzymes, hormones. People with confusing (and sometimes inconsistent) reactions might be having a reaction to a specific peptide or part of a molecule. It might now be the whole molecule that's giving you trouble! That's why many people with gluten sensitivity do fine with sourdough and/or einkorn (in fact, we even have a customer with Celiac disease that loves our sourdough einkorn crackers). Sourdough partially digests the gluten for you and possibly changes the way your body breaks it down. And einkorn is a heritage grain that contains a completely different kind of gluten compared to conventional wheat - gluten AA. There's actually a certain test you can take to give you more info. It's called a Zoomer test. Instead of simply seeing if you're reacting to a whole protein, it sees how your body responds to individual peptides. Neat! Or maybe people aren't reacting to wheat itself. Rather, they're reacting to chemicals sprayed on wheat. Many people with gluten sensitivity go to Europe and eat all the bread. Why is this? Well, maybe it's because glyphosate is banned in Europe. But here in the US, we're still spraying it on conventional wheat to dry it out quickly and get it ready for harvest. It could be that some people are reacting to a chemical on wheat... not the wheat itself. I mean, glyphosate is known for disrupting the gut! This could explain why some people don't do well with some eggs and meat but do just fine with ours. After all, we have the highest natural standards and aim to give you the purest food possible, down to the nitty gritty. What have you experienced? Are you sensitive or allergic to gluten but can handle eggs and meat? How do our eggs and meat feel for you? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources Are Eggs From Grain-Fed Chickens Safe to Eat on a Gluten-Free Diet?Zoomers Food Sensitivity Testing 101: Your Path to Food Sensitivity AwarenessIs RoundUp Giving You a Pain in the Gut?

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines."  Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores.  No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website.  And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊