my nephew turned me on to tillamook ice cream a while back, which i love! picked up some mild cheddar at trader joe’s and wasn’t impressed — but it was mild, so…
when i saw their extra sharp cheddar at my regular supermarket, i decided to take a chance. wow! my new go-to cheddar — makes the best grilled cheese ever.
I’ve had a lot of Tillamook products including their Sharp Cheddar but not their Extra Sharp Cheddar. I’ll give it a try next time I go shopping. There’s also a Tillamook Maker’s Reserve 2018 Extra Sharp White Cheddar that I’ve seen at Safeway and been tempted to buy but haven’t yet.
My latest cheddar find is Wyke Farms Aged Mature and Sharp Cheddar. I really like the flavor of that one. It’s an English import that I found at Walmart, and it’s fairly inexpensive. I also noticed the Walmart is carrying Cathedral City Mature English Cheddar. I’ve bought that and Cathedral City Extra Mature at Safeway and enjoy those, too.
My latest purchase from Safeway is Snowdonia Black Bomber, another cheddar from the UK. I haven’t tried it, yet. It’s more expensive than the others I’ve mentioned. Hope it’s worth the $.
I just got the extra sharp For my husband and he loves it.
Cathedral City Extra Mature is always in our fridge. We use it as a cheese to cook with, rather than eating on its own.
Black Bomber is probably the best known of the Welsh Cheddars. They do a range of cheeses which include different flavourings. They are not an improvement on the basic, unadorned, cheese.
FWIW, my favourite “eating Cheddars” would, in order, be Montgomery, Keens and Quickes. All farmhouse cheeses and all from the West Country
Yes indeed. I’m a fan of Tillamook’s grated cheese for baked mac and cheese.
I haven’t seen Montgomery or Keens here. I’ve had three Quicke’s cheeses: Devonshire Red, a mature clothbound cheddar, and elderflower cheddar. I liked Devonshire Red best of those and elderflower cheddar the least. The elderflower cheddar was okay, but I’m not generally fond of cheddars flavored with things like that.
Green Thunder is the other Snowdonia cheese available to me. Garlic and herbs in that one. I might try it if Black Bomber suits me. Interesting that you say that BB is the best known Welsh cheddar. Collier’s is what I see most often here. I really like that one, too.
Devonshire Red is a Red Leicester style. The best Leicester I know is Sparkenhoe. If that’s available where you are, grab it. Actually made in Leicestershire.
Agree. I recently tried their mozzarella shredded cheese. It melts so well. Had it today atop a meatball sub. Perfecto!
Is this the one wrapped in black?
Cheese is such a personal thing… so many types and flavors, and I am definitely not a connoisseur. Our local Safeway has few spectacular cheeses but my best results have been their Primo Taglio brand in the deli, as well as Black Diamond 2yr sharp white cheddar, and their parmigiano regiano.
But for those of you buying pre-grated/shredded stuff… I’d recommend grating it yourself. The pre-done stuff has anti-caking agents such as cellulose, which affects the overall meltiness of it and texture in sauces. Not only are you “usually” paying more by the pound, it is polluted with non-cheese additives.
Not all shredded cheese has the fillers. But yes, read the label.
Hmmm… wasn’t aware of that. Everything I’ve seen up here has it, but again our selection isn’t great. Definitely check the label.
The Cabot brand has zero fillers. Tillamook shredded has a minuscule amount and doesn’t affect melting at all. I shred from block too. Sometimes, a sale makes pre shredded a cost savings.
Whole Foods 365 brand is also very low on fillers.
I tried the Black Bomber, and it’s one of the best cheddars I’ve ever had. It’s not super sharp, and it’s not as dry and crumbly as some aged cheddars I’ve had, but it has nice depth of flavor.
I picked up some Tillamook Extra Sharp Ceddar at the store yesterday but haven’t tried it yet. Tried to find the Tillamook 2018 cheddar I’ve seen at Safeway before, but I may have dawdled too long because they were out. I hope it comes back into stock.
The block of Coastal cheddar they sell at Costco is mighty tasty, if you like sharp and aged (i.e. crystals rather than waxy).
