True Blue Aggie Cheese
Old Ephraim isn’t just a legendary grizzly.
Now, a smoky-flavored cheese holds the Old Ephraim name. This cheese is sold in the same place on campus as Aggie Ice Cream. And right next to Old Ephraim is Crimson Trail, Old Juniper and Aggiano cheese.
“We wanted to pick names that say Cache Valley,” Donald McMahon, dairy food professor, said.
The names, however, aren’t the only creative things. During the Christmas holiday, Lisa Clawson, sophomore in culinary arts, said the shapes can also get unusual.
“We take some blocks of cheddar cheese and shape them into a Utah that is blue,” Clawson, sales coordinator, said.
A dairy plant located in the Food and Science building on USU campus is where different True Blue Aggie Cheese flavors are made. Every day, a team of researchers help to create, produce and perfect new cheese recipes and tastes for the community to enjoy. Old Ephraim, which McMahon said goes well on hamburgers, is one of the recipes particular to USU.
“The challenge is to make the product consistent so it always has the characteristics you want,” he said.
To teach USU students and the Cache Valley community about how cheese is made, McMahon said a cheese tour has been created which involves a short film. Students can even taste samples of particular types of cheese afterwards.
Part of the Cache Valley Food Tour, this True Blue Aggie Cheese Tour is a way to show people how much work goes into creating a relatively small-sized product.
And since it typically takes five hours to make a vat of cheese, McMahon said the seven-minute movie shown helps speed up the process.
“You can see more in the movie than in the actual day,” McMahon said.
With almost a dozen different kinds of cheese, McMahon said a lot of organization goes into cheese production to produce a good product, specifically understanding the process of cheese aging.
“We need to have a good technical understanding of cheese so there is strong flavor development,” he said.
Taylor Rasmussen, graduate research assistant, said it takes about 15 months for a cheese to be aged. Rasmussen, who is over some of the research, said one of his primary concerns is taste and texture of cheese.
Jeanette Raisor, junior in nursing, said True Blue Aggie Cheese flavors have such a unique taste. Raisor, who has worked at the Food and Science building for more than two years, said the best part about working with cheese is eating it.
“My husband really likes the benefit as well,” she said. “Once I tried the Aggiano cheese on pasta, and now I can’t go back to parmesan.”
McMahon said probiotic cultured research has even been done to improve the health and wellness of the cheese buyer. Squeaky cheese curd, which students can buy, includes probiotics as a main ingredient.
“Probiotic is a good bacteria that promotes good digestion,” he said. “It can have health benefits if consumed on a regular basis.”
Creating different kinds of cheese is one thing McMahon said he enjoys about his job. Another cheese meant to improve the buyer’s health is currently being researched at USU, McMahon said. This cheese has an omega 3 ingredient from fish included into an already 50 percent reduced-fat cheese, he said. A controlled and trained group of tasters, called a taste panel, is able to give proper feedback concerning the omega 3 taste consistency.
“So far it has not tasted fishy,” he said. “If recipes are not technically correct, the flavor is not very nice or consistent. Technical aspects are taught and then artistic variations can come into the mix.”
McMahon said an example of artistic variation comes from the Beehive Cheese in Ogden, which he helped to get started.
“We helped design their plant, gave them some recipes, and they won an award from American Cheese Society by rubbing a cheddar cheese surface with a coffee lavender flavor blend,” McMahon said. “It was good to see them so successful at adding the artistic touch.”
True Blue Aggie Cheese tours are at 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding university holidays. Anyone is welcome. The Nutrition and Food Sciences building is located on USU campus. Free 30-minute parking is located at the southwest end of the building. For more information, call 797-2112.
-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu