Beecher's Handmade Cheese
Encyclopedia
Beecher's Handmade Cheese is an artisan
cheesemaker
and retail shop based in the Pike Place Market
, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.. The company was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier in 2003, and was opened in the Pike Place Market after Dammeier obtained a storefront lease in the Market, which are rarely available. Because Dammeier had never been a cheesemaker, he sought out the assistance of Brad Sinko, who helped run a family cheese-making business in Oregon. A second location was opened in 2011 in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.
Unlike most artisan cheese
makers, Beecher's mainly uses pasteurized milk
and operates a high-volume modern production facility, with multiple farms supplying milk. When Beecher's encountered problems in guaranteeing the standard flavor of the milks they were using to make cheese, the company bought their own herds of dairy cattle
and farms to ensure control of the cheese products from beginning to end. Beecher's uses various cheese cultures
when mixing cheeses, so a cheddar cheese
produced by Beecher's may use cultures not normally intended for cheddar cheese production.
Beecher's Pike Place Market cheese-making facility includes a café, which servers grilled cheese and other items, and a retail shop, which sells both Beecher's cheeses and others brands from local Pacific Northwest
cheesemakers. The New York location is a much larger space. In addition to the production facility, café, and retail space, it also has a full-service restaurant downstairs referred to as The Cellar. Beecher's also manufactures and sells macaroni and cheese
dishes (and other frozen sides), which have received praise in reviews from the national news media. Dammeier and his firm's cheeses have been featured on national television, including twice on The Martha Stewart Show and once on Oprah, with the "World's Best" Macaroni and Cheese featured as one of Oprah's "Favorite Things." A cookbook by Dammeier, Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes From The Pacific Northwest, has been published, and incorporates recipes used to make various Beecher's products and dishes. In addition to their various business endeavors, Beecher's sponsors the Flagship foundation and Pure Food Kids project, an educational program to teach children in the Seattle public schools
system about healthy diets.
, where his family always kept a cheese board piled high with local cheeses. Raised in a family business involving printing
and food manufacturing, he decided to open a cheese business after his family sold the printing company. He named it for his great-grandfather, Beecher McKenzie. Dammeier also owns the Seattle-based specialty grocer Pasta & Co. and is a major investor in Pyramid Breweries, Inc.; other members of his family have stakes in Pyramid as well. Dammeier also founded Bennett's Pure Food Bistro on nearby Mercer Island
, and the food truck Maximus/Minimus, both of which carry many dishes prepared with Beecher's products. In 2003, Dammeier opened Beecher's in Seattle's Pike Place Market when a rare large retail location became available in the market after the nursery
Molbak's closed its Market location and moved to its current Woodinville, Washington
property.
After taking a cheese making course at Washington State University
, Dammeier decided he needed to hire someone to work with him as chief cheesemaker. He hired Brad Sinko, a microbiologist
, who previously had managed his family cheese business of Bandon Cheese in Oregon
, before it was acquired by the Tillamook County Creamery Association
. According to Dammeier, the artisanal cheese market was underrepresented in Seattle and Washington, and he opened his business in part to encourage more cheese business to grow in the region. In 2000, Washington had nine licensed cheesemakers; this expanded to twenty-eight by 2007. Dammeier compared the growth he expects in artisan cheese to the United States' recent growth in sales of specialty beers:
Thanks to financing from Dammeier's other business ventures, Beecher's had the ability to build up their operations slowly, absorbing the costs of capitalization of the business while experimenting with their cheeses, including the time to age them. "The first vat," remarked Dammeier, "we threw away. The second vat was really good." As their work progressed Sinko would adjust the formulas of their cheese processing, the cultures, and the enzyme
s involved, and increased the average aging time for their Flagship brand to 18 months. However, they only publicly claim 12 months of aging. In their first year of operation, Beecher's had no aged product of their own to sell, instead building up an inventory of 80000 pounds (36,287.4 kg) of cheese. During that same time, their primary sales were of fresh cheese curds.
for additional milk production, which will also give them full control over their entire product's creation. The principal milk supplier is Green Acres Farm in Duvall, Washington
, using only hormone
-free and antibiotic
-free milk. When consistent milk production first became a problem, Beecher's purchased a herd of 200 cows. The entire dairy herd at Green Acres Farm is owned by Beecher's, who leases them back to the farm. For the New York production, all Holstein and Jersey milk come directly from Dutch Hollow Farms in upstate New York.
To ensure a standardized flavor for the finished cheeses, and due to there being insufficient space in their facilities for milk separating systems, Sinko said he "went and standardized the herd." Their initial milk from Holstein cows was sweet, but lacked the fatty content and nuttiness of Jersey cow milk that was part of the product they wanted to create. They were able to eventually balance the two to their satisfaction. Dammeier has described the blend of Holstein and Jersey milk as a "50–50 mix". From each farm, all the milk supplied to Beecher's is from the same herd, to ensure that the flavor of each batch of milk they receive is consistent (based on the herd's diet and environment).
At times, Beecher's has encountered challenges in maintaining this uniform standard. For example, when flooding affected one farm, the cows there produced enzymes in their milk that helped their calves
to fight off bacteria, but changed the flavor of the milk.
The cheese factory is housed in a small, glass-walled facility in Seattle's Pike Place Market, on Pike Place between Stewart Street and Pine Street. The location includes a retail shop and a café that features cheese-based meals. Passers-by in the heavily touristed market can watch the cheese making process. Beecher's produces over 500000 pounds (226,796.2 kg) pounds of cheese annually. Their manufacturing facility now operates twenty-four hours a day to keep up with their demand. The New York facility is significantly larger than Seattle's and can produce over three tons of cheese a day.
Sinko admits that the modern facility with large vats of cheese and milk processing would seem to contradict the word "Handmade" in the company name. According to him, all of the cheese is monitored, processed, and prepared by hand, but simply on a larger scale than most artisanal cheesemakers. Unlike most artisan cheeses, Beecher's is made largely with pasteurized milk. Dammeier believes that many people feel raw milk
cheeses taste better due to renowned French cheeses, which were historically made of raw milk because the farms were unable to afford pasteurization. "I've probably tasted 150 different cheeses this year, and I'm convinced that raw milk doesn't create more flavor," he said, adding that his cheeses have a more consistent taste from not using raw milk. Nevertheless, Beecher's offers a raw milk version of their Flagship cheese. The cheeses they produce use no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Beecher's typically manufactures up to nine different varieties of cheeses each year, including a combination of their staple brands and various seasonal varieties.
At the Beecher's facility, their process for cheese manufacturing is multi-staged. Thousands of gallons of milk are hose-fed from delivery trucks into the manufacturing area, where it is heated to complete the pasteurization of the milk. The heated milk is processed into a stainless steel
trough, and the temperature further increased, while the first live cheese cultures and rennet
, a coagulant
, are added to the developing mixture. According to Amir Rosenblatt, a cheesemaker at Beecher's, the heating and cheese temperatures used in their cooking process are tightly controlled through the sustainable technology of steam power. "A variation of half a degree [in the pasteurization process] can change the flavor of the cheese," he said. Cheesemakers use stainless steel "rakes" to then gather the milk mixture, before allowing it to settle briefly, at which point the cheese is cut repeatedly by hand until it achieves a yogurt-like texture and substance. This process is repeated often, until a desired consistency is reached. The mixture is then drawn away to a new trough where most of the remaining water and whey
is drained from the cheese. While the whey is continually pulled from the cheese, cheesemakers constantly separate the cheese by hand into smaller and small stacks of cheese curds
, which form as the whey is removed. To complete the curding, a large amount of salt is added to cure
the cheese and draw still more whey from it. The curds are finally cut into portions, filled into cheese molds, stacked on top of each other, and the remaining excess moisture is forced from the cheese with a constant 60 pounds (27.2 kg) of pressure for at least 24 hours, before the finished cheese is stored to age. For every 10 pounds (10 kilograms) of milk and whey, Beecher's will typically create 1 pound (1 kilogram) of finished cheese.
Beecher's cheeses differ from similar cheeses in that they mix cheese growth cultures in unusual ways. For example, their signature "Flagship" cheese includes cultures typically used for non-cheddar cheeses, such as Gruyère
and Emmental
, changing the nature, flavor, and texture of their cheddar. Flagship cheese is produced using a cheddaring
process, but owing to a different taste, Beecher's does not call this cheese cheddar. The cheese has been described as having a "sweet finish and creamy texture" unlike the tangier cheddars, owing to this being one of the cheeses they create with a mixture of different cheese cultures. After being prepared in 40 pounds (18.1 kg) blocks and aged for approximately one year, the Flagship—unlike cheddars—lacks a rind, is moister, resembles butter
visually, and carries a milky aroma due to being aged in plastic bags. A variant called "Flagship Reserve" is aged in cheese cloth in 18 pounds (8.2 kg) sizes on racks in open air, and is rubbed with butter while being turned daily. This preparation method causes the Reserve to lose up to 12% of its initial weight by the time it is completed. The Reserve is aged for a shorter amount of time, leading to a sharper, nuttier taste and texture, according to Food & Wine Magazine
. Of the 500000 pounds (226,796.2 kg) of cheese they produce annually, approximately 200000 pounds (90,718.5 kg) will be Flagship, and only 15000 pounds (6,803.9 kg) will be Flagship Reserve.
Additionally, Beecher's is in the process of developing new types of crackers, designed to not overpower the taste of the cheese with which they are paired.
Beecher's features a gourmet cheese shop and café in both their Pike Place Market and Flatiron facility. It is considered an anchor of the Pike Place Market, and has become a tourist attraction in its own right. During the day, crowds typically gather in the store, watching through windows as the cheesemakers prepare batches of cheese.
A portion of the cheese curds used in the manufacturing process is set aside to sell directly to visitors at the retail store. The principal cheeses created and sold by Beecher's are their Flagship and Flagship Reserve varieties; "Just Jack", a form of Monterey Jack cheese; "Blank Slate", a type of cream cheese
; unpasteurized, raw-milk versions of their Flagship cheeses, and different cheeses seasoned and flavored with spices and herbs. Some of their seasonal varieties have included cheeses similar to Brie
.
The Pike Place Market store now sells roughly thirty-five other local artisan cheese brands, in addition to the various Beecher's products. The Pike Place Market location also offers classes to the public about cheese making, cheese history, and the pairing of wine with cheese. The collection of Pacific Northwest
cheeses on sale at the retail store has been described as the best in the entire region by Will O'Donnell in Northwest Magazine. In keeping with Dammeier's idea that his cheese business should encourage the growth of the artisan cheese businesses in the area, the Beecher's retail store makes special efforts to feature and sell cheeses from new and small Northwest cheesemakers. The Flatiron location incorporates the Northwest influence its cheesecase, but carries a significant number of Northeast artisinal cheeses.
Beecher's products are sold in retail stores throughout the country at well-known artisanal cheese vendors such as the shops of Murray Klein
and the international Artisanal Cheese retail company. Beecher's also uses the services of PeriShip
to ensure their products arrive to customers across the United States.
and The Washington Post
gave it reviews described as "rave", according to MSNBC
news. Dammeier says the key to the success of their macaroni and cheese is to undercook the pasta by half, so that it softens from cheese sauces in baking with a béchamel sauce. The recipe, named simply "World's Best Mac & Cheese", has been prepared by Dammeier during guest appearances on several television programs. On August 19, 2008, Beecher's facility and cheese was featured on The Martha Stewart Show, and Dammeier prepared his macaroni and cheese dish with Stewart on the program. The "World's Best Mac & Cheese" was also featured as one of Oprah's "Favorite Things," and a second time on "The Martha Stewart Show."
, they took first place, also in 2007. Beecher's also came in as the runner up for Best In Show at the 2007 World Cheese Society competition, in a field of 1,207 competitors. Beecher's again won a top award from the American Cheese Society for their Marco Polo cheese in 2008. According to Laura Werlin, author of The New American Cheese: Profiles of America's Great Cheesemakers, their Flagship cheese is "everything a cheddar should be - and more."
, with the goal of teaching children about healthy foods and eating habits. The program was initially developed by Dammeier and his wife Leslie, after they learned about and were unhappy with the state of school cafeteria meals in Seattle, where their three children attended public school. Established in 2005, 1% of the total sales for Beecher's and Dammeier's other business, Bennet's Pure Food, Maximus/Minimus, and Pasta & Co., are used to fund the Pure Food Kids program. The Pure Food Kids program is staffed by trained volunteers, including Dammeier himself.
Fourth through sixth grade elementary school children are educated on the effects of food additive
s, eating healthy foods, reading food labels, and about marketing of food aimed at children. According to Chip Wood, co-founder of the Northeast Foundation for Children, fourth through sixth grade children will typically be between the ages of 9 and 12 years old. The program is provided at no cost to the children and their families. To date, over 15,000 children have participated in the educational program. Pure Food Kids is taught in classrooms, after-school events, and at Parent-Teacher Association
events, with all supplies and materials provided by Beecher's, although there is explicitly no promotion or use of any products from any of Dammeier's businesses.
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
cheesemaker
Cheesemaker
A cheesemaker is a person who makes cheese.The craft of making cheese dates back at least 4,000 years. Archaeological evidence exists of cheesemaking by the ancient Egyptian civilizations....
and retail shop based in the Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...
, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.. The company was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier in 2003, and was opened in the Pike Place Market after Dammeier obtained a storefront lease in the Market, which are rarely available. Because Dammeier had never been a cheesemaker, he sought out the assistance of Brad Sinko, who helped run a family cheese-making business in Oregon. A second location was opened in 2011 in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.
Unlike most artisan cheese
Artisan cheese
Artisan cheese is manufactured by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers. As a result the cheeses are often more complex in taste and variety. Many are aged and ripened to achieve certain aesthetics...
makers, Beecher's mainly uses pasteurized milk
Pasteurization
Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...
and operates a high-volume modern production facility, with multiple farms supplying milk. When Beecher's encountered problems in guaranteeing the standard flavor of the milks they were using to make cheese, the company bought their own herds of dairy cattle
Dairy cattle
Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....
and farms to ensure control of the cheese products from beginning to end. Beecher's uses various cheese cultures
Microbiological culture
A microbiological culture, or microbial culture, is a method of multiplying microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture media under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the sample being tested,...
when mixing cheeses, so a cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
produced by Beecher's may use cultures not normally intended for cheddar cheese production.
Beecher's Pike Place Market cheese-making facility includes a café, which servers grilled cheese and other items, and a retail shop, which sells both Beecher's cheeses and others brands from local Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
cheesemakers. The New York location is a much larger space. In addition to the production facility, café, and retail space, it also has a full-service restaurant downstairs referred to as The Cellar. Beecher's also manufactures and sells macaroni and cheese
Macaroni and cheese
Macaroni and cheese, also known as "mac and cheese", "macaroni cheese" in British English, or "macaroni pie" in Caribbean English, is a casserole consisting of cooked macaroni and cheese sauce...
dishes (and other frozen sides), which have received praise in reviews from the national news media. Dammeier and his firm's cheeses have been featured on national television, including twice on The Martha Stewart Show and once on Oprah, with the "World's Best" Macaroni and Cheese featured as one of Oprah's "Favorite Things." A cookbook by Dammeier, Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes From The Pacific Northwest, has been published, and incorporates recipes used to make various Beecher's products and dishes. In addition to their various business endeavors, Beecher's sponsors the Flagship foundation and Pure Food Kids project, an educational program to teach children in the Seattle public schools
Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
system about healthy diets.
Founding and history
Before founding Beecher's, Dammeier had never made cheese, and had little direct knowledge of the cheese making business. His self-described "passion" for cheese began during his childhood in Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
, where his family always kept a cheese board piled high with local cheeses. Raised in a family business involving printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
and food manufacturing, he decided to open a cheese business after his family sold the printing company. He named it for his great-grandfather, Beecher McKenzie. Dammeier also owns the Seattle-based specialty grocer Pasta & Co. and is a major investor in Pyramid Breweries, Inc.; other members of his family have stakes in Pyramid as well. Dammeier also founded Bennett's Pure Food Bistro on nearby Mercer Island
Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States and the name of the island in Lake Washington on which the city sits. The population was 22,699 at the 2010 census....
, and the food truck Maximus/Minimus, both of which carry many dishes prepared with Beecher's products. In 2003, Dammeier opened Beecher's in Seattle's Pike Place Market when a rare large retail location became available in the market after the nursery
Nursery (horticulture)
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...
Molbak's closed its Market location and moved to its current Woodinville, Washington
Woodinville, Washington
Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,938 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King and Snohomish counties...
property.
After taking a cheese making course at Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
, Dammeier decided he needed to hire someone to work with him as chief cheesemaker. He hired Brad Sinko, a microbiologist
Microbiologist
A microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
, who previously had managed his family cheese business of Bandon Cheese in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, before it was acquired by the Tillamook County Creamery Association
Tillamook County Creamery Association
The Tillamook County Creamery Association is a dairy co-operative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association's main facility is the Tillamook Cheese Factory located two miles north of the city of Tillamook on U.S. Route 101.The Tillamook factory hosts over a million...
. According to Dammeier, the artisanal cheese market was underrepresented in Seattle and Washington, and he opened his business in part to encourage more cheese business to grow in the region. In 2000, Washington had nine licensed cheesemakers; this expanded to twenty-eight by 2007. Dammeier compared the growth he expects in artisan cheese to the United States' recent growth in sales of specialty beers:
"If you said the word 'Porter'Porter (beer)Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
20 years ago, no one in the U.S. would have had any idea you were talking about beer. Twenty years from now, people will know what a washed rind is."
Thanks to financing from Dammeier's other business ventures, Beecher's had the ability to build up their operations slowly, absorbing the costs of capitalization of the business while experimenting with their cheeses, including the time to age them. "The first vat," remarked Dammeier, "we threw away. The second vat was really good." As their work progressed Sinko would adjust the formulas of their cheese processing, the cultures, and the enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
s involved, and increased the average aging time for their Flagship brand to 18 months. However, they only publicly claim 12 months of aging. In their first year of operation, Beecher's had no aged product of their own to sell, instead building up an inventory of 80000 pounds (36,287.4 kg) of cheese. During that same time, their primary sales were of fresh cheese curds.
Milk supplies
After their initial founding with one milk supplier, Beecher's production system has had to expand several times to include more suppliers. As of 2006, Beecher's was in the process of purchasing their own farms in Eastern WashingtonEastern Washington
Eastern Washington is the portion of the U.S. state of Washington east of the Cascade Range. The region contains the city of Spokane , the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the fertile farmlands of the Yakima Valley and the...
for additional milk production, which will also give them full control over their entire product's creation. The principal milk supplier is Green Acres Farm in Duvall, Washington
Duvall, Washington
Duvall is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on SR 203, halfway between Monroe and Carnation. The population was 6,695 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, using only hormone
Bovine somatotropin
Bovine somatotropin , or BGH, is a chain of amino acids produced by the cow's pituitary gland. Like other hormones, it is produced in small quantities and is used in regulating metabolic processes...
-free and antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
-free milk. When consistent milk production first became a problem, Beecher's purchased a herd of 200 cows. The entire dairy herd at Green Acres Farm is owned by Beecher's, who leases them back to the farm. For the New York production, all Holstein and Jersey milk come directly from Dutch Hollow Farms in upstate New York.
To ensure a standardized flavor for the finished cheeses, and due to there being insufficient space in their facilities for milk separating systems, Sinko said he "went and standardized the herd." Their initial milk from Holstein cows was sweet, but lacked the fatty content and nuttiness of Jersey cow milk that was part of the product they wanted to create. They were able to eventually balance the two to their satisfaction. Dammeier has described the blend of Holstein and Jersey milk as a "50–50 mix". From each farm, all the milk supplied to Beecher's is from the same herd, to ensure that the flavor of each batch of milk they receive is consistent (based on the herd's diet and environment).
At times, Beecher's has encountered challenges in maintaining this uniform standard. For example, when flooding affected one farm, the cows there produced enzymes in their milk that helped their calves
Calf
Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...
to fight off bacteria, but changed the flavor of the milk.
Cheese and food manufacturing
Sinko admits that the modern facility with large vats of cheese and milk processing would seem to contradict the word "Handmade" in the company name. According to him, all of the cheese is monitored, processed, and prepared by hand, but simply on a larger scale than most artisanal cheesemakers. Unlike most artisan cheeses, Beecher's is made largely with pasteurized milk. Dammeier believes that many people feel raw milk
Raw milk
Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.-History:Humans consumed raw milk exclusively prior to the industrial revolution and the invention of the pasteurization process in 1864. During the industrial revolution large populations congregated into urban areas detached from the...
cheeses taste better due to renowned French cheeses, which were historically made of raw milk because the farms were unable to afford pasteurization. "I've probably tasted 150 different cheeses this year, and I'm convinced that raw milk doesn't create more flavor," he said, adding that his cheeses have a more consistent taste from not using raw milk. Nevertheless, Beecher's offers a raw milk version of their Flagship cheese. The cheeses they produce use no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Beecher's typically manufactures up to nine different varieties of cheeses each year, including a combination of their staple brands and various seasonal varieties.
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
trough, and the temperature further increased, while the first live cheese cultures and rennet
Rennet
Rennet is a complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk, and is often used in the production of cheese. Rennet contains many enzymes, including a proteolytic enzyme that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into solids and liquid...
, a coagulant
Coagulant
Coagulant can refer to:* flocculation* coagulation agent...
, are added to the developing mixture. According to Amir Rosenblatt, a cheesemaker at Beecher's, the heating and cheese temperatures used in their cooking process are tightly controlled through the sustainable technology of steam power. "A variation of half a degree [in the pasteurization process] can change the flavor of the cheese," he said. Cheesemakers use stainless steel "rakes" to then gather the milk mixture, before allowing it to settle briefly, at which point the cheese is cut repeatedly by hand until it achieves a yogurt-like texture and substance. This process is repeated often, until a desired consistency is reached. The mixture is then drawn away to a new trough where most of the remaining water and whey
Whey
Whey or Milk Serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese...
is drained from the cheese. While the whey is continually pulled from the cheese, cheesemakers constantly separate the cheese by hand into smaller and small stacks of cheese curds
Cheese curds
Cheese curds in cuisine, or cooking, are the solid parts of soured milk either eaten alone or used in various regional dishes, mostly in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States...
, which form as the whey is removed. To complete the curding, a large amount of salt is added to cure
Curing (food preservation)
Curing refers to various food preservation and flavoring processes, especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, nitrates, nitrite or sugar. Many curing processes also involve smoking, the process of flavoring, or cooking...
the cheese and draw still more whey from it. The curds are finally cut into portions, filled into cheese molds, stacked on top of each other, and the remaining excess moisture is forced from the cheese with a constant 60 pounds (27.2 kg) of pressure for at least 24 hours, before the finished cheese is stored to age. For every 10 pounds (10 kilograms) of milk and whey, Beecher's will typically create 1 pound (1 kilogram) of finished cheese.
Gruyère (cheese)
Gruyère is a hard yellow cheese, named after the town of Gruyères in Switzerland, and originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Berne...
and Emmental
Emmental (cheese)
Emmental or Emmentaler is a cheese from Switzerland. It is sometimes known as Swiss cheese in North America, Australia and New Zealand, although Swiss cheese does not always imply Emmentaler....
, changing the nature, flavor, and texture of their cheddar. Flagship cheese is produced using a cheddaring
Manufacturing of Cheddar cheese
-Milk:Generally, the milk is raw milk . The milk must be "ripened" before adding in the rennet. The term ripening means allowing the Lactic acid bacteria to turn lactose into lactic acid which lowers the pH of the solution, greatly aiding in the coagulation of the milk...
process, but owing to a different taste, Beecher's does not call this cheese cheddar. The cheese has been described as having a "sweet finish and creamy texture" unlike the tangier cheddars, owing to this being one of the cheeses they create with a mixture of different cheese cultures. After being prepared in 40 pounds (18.1 kg) blocks and aged for approximately one year, the Flagship—unlike cheddars—lacks a rind, is moister, resembles butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
visually, and carries a milky aroma due to being aged in plastic bags. A variant called "Flagship Reserve" is aged in cheese cloth in 18 pounds (8.2 kg) sizes on racks in open air, and is rubbed with butter while being turned daily. This preparation method causes the Reserve to lose up to 12% of its initial weight by the time it is completed. The Reserve is aged for a shorter amount of time, leading to a sharper, nuttier taste and texture, according to Food & Wine Magazine
Food & Wine Magazine
Food & Wine is a monthly magazine published by American Express Publishing. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and seasonal/holiday content and has been credited by The New York...
. Of the 500000 pounds (226,796.2 kg) of cheese they produce annually, approximately 200000 pounds (90,718.5 kg) will be Flagship, and only 15000 pounds (6,803.9 kg) will be Flagship Reserve.
Additionally, Beecher's is in the process of developing new types of crackers, designed to not overpower the taste of the cheese with which they are paired.
Retail sales and cheese shop
A portion of the cheese curds used in the manufacturing process is set aside to sell directly to visitors at the retail store. The principal cheeses created and sold by Beecher's are their Flagship and Flagship Reserve varieties; "Just Jack", a form of Monterey Jack cheese; "Blank Slate", a type of cream cheese
Cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting, white cheese with a high fat content. Traditionally, it is made from unskimmed milk enriched with additional cream....
; unpasteurized, raw-milk versions of their Flagship cheeses, and different cheeses seasoned and flavored with spices and herbs. Some of their seasonal varieties have included cheeses similar to Brie
Brie
Brie is a historic region of France most famous for its dairy products, especially Brie cheese. It was once divided into two sections ruled by different feudal lords: the western Brie française, corresponding roughly to the modern department of Seine-et-Marne in the Île-de-France region; the...
.
The Pike Place Market store now sells roughly thirty-five other local artisan cheese brands, in addition to the various Beecher's products. The Pike Place Market location also offers classes to the public about cheese making, cheese history, and the pairing of wine with cheese. The collection of Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
cheeses on sale at the retail store has been described as the best in the entire region by Will O'Donnell in Northwest Magazine. In keeping with Dammeier's idea that his cheese business should encourage the growth of the artisan cheese businesses in the area, the Beecher's retail store makes special efforts to feature and sell cheeses from new and small Northwest cheesemakers. The Flatiron location incorporates the Northwest influence its cheesecase, but carries a significant number of Northeast artisinal cheeses.
Beecher's products are sold in retail stores throughout the country at well-known artisanal cheese vendors such as the shops of Murray Klein
Murray Klein
Murray Klein was a Jewish American entrepreneur who helped transform New York City's famous Zabar's speciality food emporium from a small Jewish delicatessen based on Manhattan's Upper West Side into one of the city's premier culinary destinations. Klein was a part owner of Zabar's for more than...
and the international Artisanal Cheese retail company. Beecher's also uses the services of PeriShip
PeriShip
PeriShip is a logistics provider for the perishable food industry. It was founded in 2001, and is based in Branford, Connecticut. The company exclusively uses FedEx for transportation.-Services:...
to ensure their products arrive to customers across the United States.
Macaroni and cheese
Beecher's retail shop in the Pike Place Market sells over 17,000 orders of Dammeier's macaroni and cheese dish annually. The recipe is featured in a 2007 cookbook, Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes From The Pacific Northwest, which Dammeier wrote with Laura Holmes Haddad. Both The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
gave it reviews described as "rave", according to MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
news. Dammeier says the key to the success of their macaroni and cheese is to undercook the pasta by half, so that it softens from cheese sauces in baking with a béchamel sauce. The recipe, named simply "World's Best Mac & Cheese", has been prepared by Dammeier during guest appearances on several television programs. On August 19, 2008, Beecher's facility and cheese was featured on The Martha Stewart Show, and Dammeier prepared his macaroni and cheese dish with Stewart on the program. The "World's Best Mac & Cheese" was also featured as one of Oprah's "Favorite Things," and a second time on "The Martha Stewart Show."
Awards and recognition
In 2007, Beecher's was the winner of the American Cheese Society awards for their cheddar cheese. At the World Cheese Awards in 2007, Beecher's "Marco Polo" cheese won a gold medal, and at the American Cheesemaker Awards in Newport Beach, CaliforniaNewport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, they took first place, also in 2007. Beecher's also came in as the runner up for Best In Show at the 2007 World Cheese Society competition, in a field of 1,207 competitors. Beecher's again won a top award from the American Cheese Society for their Marco Polo cheese in 2008. According to Laura Werlin, author of The New American Cheese: Profiles of America's Great Cheesemakers, their Flagship cheese is "everything a cheddar should be - and more."
Pure Food Kids
Beecher's and Dammeier also fund and develop "Pure Food Kids: A Recipe for Healthy Eating", an outreach and educational program, run by the Flagship Foundation, for elementary and middle-school children in the Seattle Public SchoolsSeattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
, with the goal of teaching children about healthy foods and eating habits. The program was initially developed by Dammeier and his wife Leslie, after they learned about and were unhappy with the state of school cafeteria meals in Seattle, where their three children attended public school. Established in 2005, 1% of the total sales for Beecher's and Dammeier's other business, Bennet's Pure Food, Maximus/Minimus, and Pasta & Co., are used to fund the Pure Food Kids program. The Pure Food Kids program is staffed by trained volunteers, including Dammeier himself.
Fourth through sixth grade elementary school children are educated on the effects of food additive
Food additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines...
s, eating healthy foods, reading food labels, and about marketing of food aimed at children. According to Chip Wood, co-founder of the Northeast Foundation for Children, fourth through sixth grade children will typically be between the ages of 9 and 12 years old. The program is provided at no cost to the children and their families. To date, over 15,000 children have participated in the educational program. Pure Food Kids is taught in classrooms, after-school events, and at Parent-Teacher Association
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
events, with all supplies and materials provided by Beecher's, although there is explicitly no promotion or use of any products from any of Dammeier's businesses.