Making SHENK'S Cup Cheese
Step 1
Shenk’s Cup Cheese starts with local Lancaster County skim milk that’s cultured, heated and agitated overnight. Milk arrives from the farm to be processed less than 10 hours after milking.
Step 2
Once the milk is set using legacy cultures, it’s further heated until it forms soft curds. Those curds are then hand cut with a traditional paddle, just like they did back in 1929!
Step 3
When making cheese, time and temperature management are critical to the end result. The heating process separates the curd from the whey. Our cheesemaker then manually drains the whey from the soft curds and transfers the curds to the cheese press.
Step 4
Once the curds are pressed, they are moved to large pans and stored in our aging room.
Step 5
A day or so later, we stir, blend, and add salt to the curds so they can age a little more. This step is all about getting your desired flavor — either mild, medium, or sharp. The longer the cheese ages in the room, the sharper it will be.
Step 6
Once the curds have reached the perfect level of sharpness, the mixture is warmed and packaged into our signature Shenk’s cups. After that it’s distributed to local grocers across the region. Visit our Store Locator to see where you can buy your own Shenk’s Cup Cheese.
Check out where to find our delicious, hand-crafted cheeses.
