Keep the Cheese Coming

And what could stop it...

Cheese is more than Wisconsin culture. Cheese making has been the livelihood for many European immigrants to Wisconsin and the Midwest; since they started making their way to Eastern Wisconsin in the 1850’s. In 1852, The Wisconsin Commission of Emigration was created, and pamphlets were made to be distributed in Europe to advertise the state.  Many of the cheese makers in Sheboygan County, WI; where Gibbsville Cheese Factory is located, with whom I had a conversation with on Episode 12 of Conversation Mill; are of German, Norwegian, and Dutch descent.

At one point Sheboygan County was home to over 200 cheese factories. Many of th

ese were part of family farms and unfortunately, many of these burned down because they were wooden buildings using coal or wood fires to produce steam or to heat vats for the pasteurization process.

It is a challenge now to start your own cheese factory because of the required equipment for sanitary guidelines; the costs involved could put you in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range just to get started. Farmers interested in starting their own specialty cheese lines often will work with established cheese factories to produce their cheese. Phillip the current owner of Gibbsville cheese speaks to this and provides examples of local farmers creating their own unique small-batch cheese lines.

Cheese making has not changed much since it began. The biggest changes have been in equipment and sanitary practices. The National Cheese Making Center of Monroe, WI has a timeline of the history of cheese-making dating back 10,000 years. They explain that rennet an enzyme used in cheese making is found in the stomachs of some animals like cattle, sheep, and goats. Milk in ancient times was stored in casks made from the stomachs of these animals and so cheese may have been a happy accident.