A Closer Look at Utah’s  ‘Udderly’ Delicious Natural Cheeses

By Alex Frisch

When Alan and Debbie Gold stepped foot onto the 130- acre, forty-plus-year-old dairy farm in Woodland, Utah, their eyes lit up; filled with history and beauty, the couple knew they wanted to honor the land’s previous use to create an artisan-cheese making facility. Not wanting to tear down the existing structures, the Gold’s completely renovated the dilapidated milk barn and converted the open-air hay structure into an enclosed hay barn and stable—a place where the cows could come in during the cold Utah winters.

The next stage of development was creating a central barn. The Golds spent countless hours and teamed up with many skilled and devoted workers to build an entirely new barn from the ground up. In keeping with the classic farm appeal of the property, the Golds decided to give the barn a vintage look and feel, settling in quite nicely with the rest of the aged property. This picturesque barn holds the cheese-making facility along with a tasting and demonstration kitchen available for tours.

page180All of GOLD CREEK FARMS’ cheeses, soaps and lotions are handmade using the milk and cream from Gold Creek’s own Brown Swiss Cows—a cow specifically chosen for the buttery richness of its milk. It’s the milk produced from these specialty cows that makes the cheeses taste so delicious! About 450 pounds of cheese are made each week and pressed into 20-pound rolls or 40-pound blocks. Some are sold to part-owner Cecil Duvall for his Café Galleria pizzeria in Midway while others are cut and packaged into eight-ounce blocks. The small blocks are sold at farmer’s markets, including the Park Silly Sunday Market and the Downtown Salt Lake City Farmer’s Market.

Gold Creek Farms cheese maker, Fernando Chavez-Sandoval, has a background as a gourmet chef and brings these skills to his cheese-making craft; he is constantly experimenting and creating new and classic recipes. In 2012, his smoked cheddar won Best in Class and his smoked parmesan won Second in Class at the World Championship Cheese Competition. This year, Gold Creek Farms is proud to announce that Fernando also won Best of Class, smoked parmesan and received Second Award for his smoked Romano in the United States Championship Cheese Contest.

There are not many places in the world more scenic and natural than Midway, Utah. This beautiful valley is home to Canyon View Farm, a four- generation family dairy farm raising Holstein cows and supplying HEBER VALLEY ARTISAN CHEESE and KOHLER CREAMERY with some of the finest quality ingredients available for their deliciously renowned cheeses and milks. Kohler Creamery also sells mozzarella, Swiss, a medium-aged cheddar called “Old Juniper,” several varieties of ice cream, custard, sherbet, Winder Dairy butter and cottage cheese made from milk from the Kohler dairy cow herd.

CANYON VIEW FARM
works hard to make sure all of the cows are well taken care of, even pampered. The cows graze in pastures rich in grasses; they are fed a healthy and natural diet, drink cool artesian well water rich in minerals, and are cared for every step along the way. Heber Valley Artisan Cheese recognizes how unique and advantageous it is to have the entire dairy process—from raising the cows, to harvesting their milk, to making the artisan cheese—happen right there within their family farm.

Heber Valley Artisan Cheese and its products are among the best all-natural, local cheeses. Kohler employees and family members control every aspect of the cheese-making process and ensure that all products—from jars of jam to wheels of cheddar—are of the highest quality for every cheese lover. Heber Valley Artisan Cheese and Kohler Creamery’s online store offers gift baskets, cheese and the locals’ favorite sweet tooth treat, LuAnn’s Jams. Packaged in nine-ounce jars and coming in an assortment of flavors, these delicious jams make for the perfect gift.

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