A cheese from Ohio captures the top spot at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The winner is . . . baby Swiss!

Cheesemakers at Guggisberg Cheese in Millersburg, Ohio, crafted the winning cheese. It just barely beat a Gouda cheese to first prize. (Do you know the difference between a Gouda and a Swiss? Both Swiss and Gouda cheese have sweet, nutty flavor. But Gouda is not as hard, and Swiss is full of holes. The more holey the Swiss, the stronger the flavor.)

The cheese championship contest—the biggest in the United States—takes three days and happens once every two years. People bring their very best cheese, butter, and yogurt to compete. This year, judges evaluated more entries than ever: 2,555. The categories with the most entries are Cheddars, Brick and Muenster, and Latin American Style Melting Cheeses. Judges choose the best by asking these questions: How is the cheese’s flavor? What does the cheese feel like in the mouth? Is it salty enough? Does it have good color? Is it packaged in an attractive way?

The winning Guggisberg cheese comes from cows living in pastures in Ohio. Local farmers deliver milk to the cheesemakers every day. During cheese making hours, customers watch through viewing windows as the milk becomes cheese.

Making Your Own?

Did you know you can make Swiss cheese at home? You can . . . in theory. But you’ll need some ingredients you probably don’t keep in your cupboard. And you’ll need a fancy tool called a cheese press. At this point, it might be a good idea to imagine you’re making cheese . . . or watch a professional cheesemaker in action!

A cheesemaker follows these directions:

Start with two gallons of fresh cow or goat milk. Add one-eighth teaspoon of propionbacteria. Propionbacteria are microscopic, rod-shaped bacteria. They create carbon dioxide bubbles that make the holes in Swiss cheese. (Those holes are called eyes. Cheese without eyes is called blind.) Add more bacteria (called thermophilic culture). Put in some salt and rennet. (Rennet is a set of enzymes that come from the guts of animals. It helps them digest their mothers’ milk. In cheese making, it makes milk coagulate, or form curds.)

Now the work is just getting started! The cheesemaker must cook, strain, and drain the bacteria, salt, and milk. He or she pops the cheese into a cheese press at different pressures for many hours. Then the cheese is soaked in brine (salt water) for 24 more hours. For one week, the cheese rests at a temperature between 55 and 65 degrees. The cheesemaker wipes it with salty water and flips it every day. Next, the cheese ages for two or three weeks, then for around 12 more weeks. While the cheese waits, the bacteria will do its work.

Making cheese is a huge job! It’s more like owning a complicated pet than cooking dinner. No wonder great cheesemakers win prizes for their art!

The laborer deserves his wages. ― 1 Timothy 5:18