History

Joseph F. Steinwand in 1874 developed a new type of cheese at his father's cheese factory near Colby, Wisconsin

Colby, Wisconsin

Colby is a city in Clark and Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,616 at the 2000 census...

. The cheese was named after the village, which had been founded three years earlier.

An 1898 issue of the "Colby Phonograph" noted that "A merchant in Phillips gives as one of the 13 reasons why people should trade with him, that he sells the genuine Steinwand Colby Cheese." After the turn of the century Wisconsin became known as one of the great cheese producing centers in the United States.

Properties

Colby is similar to Cheddar

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....

, but does not undergo the cheddaring process. Colby is a softer, moister, and milder cheese than Cheddar because it is produced through a washed-curd process. Colby is considered semi-hard (Sans-kendrall). The washed-curd

Curd

Curds are a dairy product obtained by curdling milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar, and then draining off the liquid portion. The increased acidity causes the milk proteins to tangle into solid masses, or curds. The remaining liquid, which contains only...

 process means that during the cooking time, the 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 replaced by water; this reduces the curd's acid

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

ity, resulting in Colby's characteristically mild flavor. Like most other cheeses, it takes a little more than a U.S. gallon of milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 to produce just 1 pound (just over 8 liters for a kilogram) of cheese. Monterey Jack cheese is produced almost identically as Colby, but is uncolored and softer.

Longhorn is the best known style of the American Colby cheeses. ("Longhorn" cheese refers to a mild Cheddar or Colby cheese made into a long orange cylinder. It is now available in both its original shape and also in rectangles and half rounds.) Colby should not be aged. Colby dries out quickly. Colby cheeses are typically sold in half-rounds. Pinconning cheese

Pinconning cheese

Pinconning Cheese is an aged yellow colby-style, semi-soft whole cow's milk cheese named for Pinconning, Michigan, USA, where it was first produced. It was developed by Dan Horn in 1915 as an aged version of Colby. Pinconning Cheese is produced at several plants around Michigan and the United...

 is a sharp aged relative of Colby cheese.

Uses

Because it is such a mild cheese, Colby is seldom used in cooking. It is used as a table cheese, for grating and grilling, and in snack

Snack food

A snack is a portion of food oftentimes smaller than that of a regular meal, that is generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged and processed foods and items made from fresh ingredients at home....

s and salad

Salad

Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...

s.

Derivatives

Colby is sometimes mixed with Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack is an American semihard cheese made using cow's milk. It is commonly sold by itself, or mixed with Colby to make a marbled cheese known as Colby-Jack . Cheddar-Jack varieties are also available....

 to produce a marbled cheese often called Colby-Jack or Co-Jack.

External links

• Nutrition facts for Land O'Lakes
  Land O'Lakes
  Land O'Lakes is a member-owned agricultural cooperative based in Arden Hills, Minnesota, focusing on the dairy industry. The co-op states that it has about 3200 producer-members, 1000 member-cooperatives, and about 9000 employees who process and distribute products for about 300,000 agricultural...
  
  colby cheese.