Wisconsin Dominates New Cheese Curd Category at World Championship Cheese Contest

Friday, March 4th, 2022 -- 9:01 AM

(Green Bay Press Gazette) If you want the best cheese curds in the world, grab a bag of Muenster curds from Decatur Dairy Inc. in Brodhead.

According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, if you want the best flavored cheese curds, snag a bag of hickory bacon curds from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery in Ellsworth. So say the judges in the World Championship Cheese Contest.

Wisconsin cheesemakers swept both categories in the debut of cheese curds in the world championship. Curds made from Muenster may have been the only bit of surprise when it comes to the winners, but they delivered the squeak and salt with clean, mild flavor.

Cheese curds from Arena Cheese (Arena) and Nasonville Dairy (Curtiss) rounded out the unflavored category. Hot Buffalo curds from Ellsworth Cooperative and horseradish cheddar from Cedar Grove Cheese (Plain) clinched the sweep for the state that made these cheese curd categories necessary.

Cheese curds were judged in their own categories in 2022 for the first time since the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association started the World Championship Cheese Contest in 1957.

Flavored and unflavored cheese curds categories each received about 30 entries. It's not that cheesemakers haven't been submitting cheese curds to the contest, but they've been judged as part of the natural snack cheese category.

Getting flooded with curds in that category in 2020 led to the contest committee adding the curd classes.

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