Colby cheese

Colby is a cow's milk cheese.

History

Joseph F. Steinwand in 1885 developed a new type of cheese at his father's cheese factory near Colby, Wisconsin. The cheese was named after the village, which had been founded three years earlier. While Colby cheese is still widely available, it is no longer produced in its native Colby, Wisconsin. A festival commemorating the cheese is held every year in mid-July where all local food booths offer free Colby cheese. On August 12th 2015 the original cheese factory was torn down leaving only the foundations of the building which can still be seen today on the corner of Colby factory road and highline Ave just outside Colby.

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."

Properties

Colby is similar to Cheddar, but does not undergo the cheddaring process. Considered a semi-hard (Sans-kendrall) cheese, Colby is softer, moister, and milder than cheddar because it is produced through a washed-curd process. The washed-curd process means that during the cooking time, the whey is replaced by water; this reduces the curd's acidity, resulting in Colby's characteristically mild flavor. As with most other cheeses, it takes a little more than a U.S. gallon of milk to produce one pound (just over 8 liters for a kilogram) of cheese. Monterey Jack cheese is produced almost identically to Colby, but Colby is seasoned with annatto which gives it a sweet nutty flavor and its orange color.