Horizon Organic Cheese

Horizon Organic cheeses, which begin with pasteurized organic milk, run the gamut: Monterey jack is a semi-soft cheese, Cheddar is hard, and mozzarella is semi-soft to hard. Several variables in the cheese-making process, such as the separation of the curds from the whey, can alter the taste, texture and nutritional values of cheese, which is why there are so many varieties of cheeses from which to choose. For instance, we produce our low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella by steam-heating the curd, then kneading it and stretching it until smooth. Mozzarella differs from other cheeses in that little or no curing is required and, therefore, it may be used immediately after processing.

Curing, also known as ripening, is the intentional exposure of cheese to a controlled temperature and humidity for a specific amount of time.To make our Cheddar cheese, warm curd particles are matted together, then cut into slabs. The slabs are turned and then stacked and restacked - a process known as cheddaring - which controls curd moisture and leads to proper curd texture. Softer cheeses such as Monterey jack result when curd particles are kept separate by cooling and then stirring the melted curd to prevent it from matting. Horizon Organic Dairy produces soft cheeses, too, including cream cheese, Neufchatel and lowfat and regular cottage cheese. The fat content in the hard and semi-soft cheeses primarily depends on the fat level of the milk used to produce the cheese and whether or not cream is added to the milk during cheese production.

Horizon Organic Dairy, P.O. Box 17577, Boulder, CO 80308. Tel: 303-530-2711; Fax: 303-530-2714.