Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition

by Jerry Apps

This is a story of farmers, milk cows, dairy barns, and green pastures. It is the story of cheese makers who work their magic and turn milk into cheese. Jerry Apps narrates the history of the cheese-making industry in Wisconsin from its inception in the 1940s to the present. In his compelling yet conversational style, Apps documents how the daily lives of the early cheese makers and how Wisconsin became the nation’s number one cheese producer. The experiences come from the cheese makers, milk haulers, cheese graders and buyers, with stories of snow-blocked roads and frozen milk, of fish in the milk cans, wine in the cheese cellars, and the early resistance toward "western" cheese. Apps explains the many different kinds of Wisconsin-made cheeses (including those that originated or are exclusively made in the state), and discusses the current cheese producers, their factories and technology. Apps also includes his insights into the wedge-shaped foam headgear and other cheese phenomena.

236 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2004

About the author

Jerold W. Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of more than 30 books, many of them on rural history and country life. His nonfiction books include: Living a Country Year, Every Farm Tells a Story, When Chores Were Done, Humor from the Country, Country Ways and Country Days, One-Room Schools, Cheese, Breweries of Wisconsin, Ringlingville USA (History of Ringling Brothers circus), Old Farm: A History, Barns of Wisconsin, Horse Drawn Days: A Century of Farming With Horses, and Campfires and Loon Calls. His children's books include: Stormy, Eat Rutabagas, Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers, and Casper Jaggi: Master Swiss Cheese Maker. He has an audio book, The Back Porch and Other Stories. Jerry has published four novels, The Travels of Increase Joseph, In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story, Blue Shadows Farm and Cranberry Red. Jerry is a former publications editor for UW-Extension, an acquisitions editor for the McGraw-Hill Book Company, and editor of a national professional journal.

Jerry has won awards for his writing from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Library Association (the 2007 Notable Authors Award), American Library Association, Foreword Magazine, Midwest Independent Publishers Association, Robert E. Gard Foundation, The Wisconsin Council for Writers (the 2007 Major Achievement Award), Upper Midwest Booksellers, and Barnes and Noble Bookstores, among others. In 2010 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Check www.jerryapps.com for more information.

Reviews

[Madeleine · Rating 3 out of 5]

very informative and chock full of anecdotes! makes me happy to know pretty much anyone can write a book

[Dave Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy eating a piece of good cheese, and Jerry Apps is one of my favorite Wisconsin authors. So App’s book, “Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition,” was a must read for me. It is a wonderful travelogue through the state’s cheese industry. We learn why cheese has always been a big part of Wisconsin’s economy, how cheese is made, how the industry has changed, and the history of the industry’s specialty markets.

• In the late 1800s, while dairy farmers and cheesemakers were making money, some greedy owners decided to add water into the milk. It forced regulation and nearly ruined the state’s reputation in export markets.
• John L. Kraft developed the so-called “process cheese’. An assortment of cheddar cheeses is ground together, pasteurized with emulsifying salt, and heated. It became a very popular cheese in that it was less expensive and didn’t have a strong taste that some people didn’t like in ‘regular’ cheddar.
• In 1870, there were 90 cheese factories in Wisconsin. The number peaked in 1922 with 2807 cheese factories before a slow decline began. By 1995, there were only 142 cheese factories in the state.
• The cheese-making process is relatively simple. It starts with whole milk. Rennet is added, and the milk curdles. You end up with a mixture of curds and why. Whey is drained off, the curds are pressed into blocks, and you have cheese.
• Among the ‘specialty’ cheeses that became popular is “Colby” cheese, which is softer and more elastic than cheddar.
• String cheese is a real mozzarella that is sold in one-ounce strands or ropes.
• Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese. It was first made in the 1500s in England.
• More than 30% of all cheese produced in the US comes from Wisconsin.

Jerry Apps is a wonderful storyteller, and in this book, he shares more insights about cheese than I ever thought I’d learn.

[KathleenB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inconsistent in places but well researched

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheese, glorious cheese.