Hoop cheese
Template:Short description Hoop cheese refers to two different cheeses: a hard cheese similar to cheddar, and a crumbly cheese similar to dry-curd cottage cheese.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The hard version is a traditional cow's milk cheese that was common in the Southern United States from the early to mid 1900s. It is still available today, although it is much less common. The crumbly version is a simple cheese prepared by separating the whey from curds. Today, the American Dairy Association has no criteria in place to classify hoop cheese, although it has sometimes been referred to as a type of pot cheese.
OverviewEdit
Hoop cheese is a simple, traditional fresh cow's milk cheese, prepared by pressing curds until the whey is entirely pressed-out, leaving the final cheese product.<ref name="Thomas 2014"/><ref name="Roy Roy 2016"/><ref name="Kosak 2019"/> This involves the use of a cheese hoop, a ring of wood used to press out and separate the whey from the completed cheese, typically with cheesecloth, whereby the whey drains out through the cloth and the hoop cheese remains atop.<ref name="Leverentz 2010"/> Using this preparation method, the cheese is typically pressed into rounds and then wrapped in cheesecloth or parchment paper or sealed in wax.<ref name="Kosak 2019"/><ref name="New York (State) 1915"/> Hoop cheese has been described as a "truly low-fat" product.<ref name="University of California 1995"/> It has a firm, but not hard, consistency, and has been described as being similar to farmer cheeseTemplate:Efn and as having a creamy texture.<ref name="Roy Roy 2016"/> In contemporary times, it is sometimes packaged with a coating of red wax.<ref name="Roy Roy 2016"/>
Hoop cheese can be difficult to find commercially in some areas of the United States,<ref name="Thomas 2014"/><ref name="Bon Appétit 1986"/> due to the difficulty of automating the manufacturing process and because it has a short shelf life.<ref name="Kosak 2019"/> It used to be a common cheese product in the Southern United States in the early to mid 1900s.<ref name="Kosak 2019"/> Today, it can still be found at some roadside stands, small restaurants, grocers, farmers markets and independent gas stations in the Southern United States.<ref name="Roy Roy 2016"/><ref name="Poland Rogers 2018"/><ref name="Kosak 2019"/>
ClassificationEdit
Today, the American Dairy Association has no criteria or standards in place to define what specifically constitutes hoop cheese.<ref name="Vegetarian Times 1993"/> A 1915 Department Reports of the State of New York entry characterized hoop cheese as a type of pot cheese.<ref name="New York (State) 1915"/>
HistoryEdit
As an example of its commercial production, hoop cheese was mass-produced in the 1910s in Otsego County, New York and shipped along with farmer cheese to New York on the New York Central Railroad.<ref name="New York (State) 1915"/> During this time period hoop and farmer cheeses were packed in cans and boxes in 100-pound increments.<ref name="New York (State) 1915"/> Hoop cheese was also packed for commercial transport in this manner through the 1920s in New York state.<ref name="Butter Ahmad 1929"/>
Hoop cheese was once so common that a device called a hoop cheese cutter was manufactured and used in general stores during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name="Fox 1998"/> The hoop cheese cutter was patented in 1905 in the United States and resembled a turntable with a knife blade suspended above it.<ref name="Google Patents 1905"/> It was built by scale companies of the period to cut to order the exact amount of cheese a customer wanted.<ref name="Colorado Historical Society 1965"/>
Similar foodsEdit
Hoop cheese is different from farmer cheese in that farmer cheese is made with milk, cream, and salt, while hoop cheese is made from milk alone.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Hoop Cheese. Cook's Info.
- Hoop Cheese. Vaya.in.
- The Computing Cheese Cutter Template:Webarchive. Bobpritchett.com.