Hook’s Cheese

I’m not a big fan of most American Cheddar unless it’s old. At least 4 years. I tried some of Hooks 15 year Cheddar at a local store. I bought it right then and there. I don’t like the yellow color but I’ll get over it.
This cheese is top notch. Wonderfully sharp, melts in your mouth with lots of little protein crystals. I’m hoping my store will get in more varieties of their products. I can’t imagine any of them being bad.

Cheese is one of my most favorite things. I love popping it into my mouth and biting into the fantastic texture! Recently enduring a dietary restriction of cheese, the withdrawal became too great. So why not make a quick two hour day trip to Mineral Point Wisconsin and visit Hooks Cheese Factory!
Hook’s has won several awards for their different cheeses, and several were purchased, this is how we used a few:
Baked Mac & Cheese is always delicious. For this batch I wanted the color to be white and not too sweet so I blended ¾ block of Hook’s World Champion Colby and a ¼ block of the Two Year Cheddar which is a sharp. Both cheeses melted easily into the béchamel to create the mornay. The sauce is creamy yet still maintains some of the delicious crystal texture of the cheese in the bite.
We also enjoyed Hook’s award winning EWE CALF to be KIDing as small appetizer bites. This is a blend of creams with a blue and has a mild firmness and went well with the beer while things were cooking.
Finally, another award cheeses purchased was Hook’s Little Boy Blue. This one we used as a slice on top of a grilled steak. The cheese softened into a delicious thick cream just from the heat of the steak, rich and creamy along with the delicious grill on the steak, perfect complement.
You can purchase the cheese from the Factory for less than the cost at the Farmer’s Market or retailers and they like visitors!

This review is not about the cheese, which is very good. Yet the experience of visiting the facility at Mineral Point is awful.
You walk into the dairy and are immediately asked what you want. Well, there are a large number of cheeses listed on a white board above a rudimentary counter. How are you to know which one? Even if you have eaten Hook’s cheese before, and done research, tasting is everything. But here, there is NO TASTING, which, at $ 12+ for some of the aged cheeses, is not good if you get it wrong. No help or advice was offered when I was there. Cash only as well.
Oh. if you want to taste .wait until Saturday and drive to Madison at the farmer’s market. Not much help if you live in Chicago and are there on Friday (the only day the Mineral Point shop is open).
I know it’s a small family business, but the prices aren’t and you have to order at least 5lbs if you order online. You can buy limited stock, when they have it in Whole Foods in Chicago. But they really need to improve the experience. I was excited to visit and utterly let down.

Curds are silly good but 6-​Year Cheddar is crazy delicious.
Some serious pride in-​play with these folks and products they produce.
Congrats!

My favorite cheese maker, hands down. Worth the trip.

The cheese is amazing here!
They’ve won numerous awards for the following cheeses: (I got these from their website)
Colby — overall World Cheese Championship 1982
Ten Year Sharp Cheddar — 1^st place @ 2006 American Cheese Society Show
Blue Paradise — 2^nd place @ 2012 American Cheese Society Competition
Little Boy Blue — 1^st place @ 2011 American Cheese Society Competition, 2^nd place @ 2012 American Cheese Society Competition, 3^rd place @ World Cheese Championship 2010
Gorgonzola — 2^nd place @ World Cheese Championship 2010
We were able to stop in here on a Friday when they have fresh cheese curds. Delicious. It was great to be able to see the cheesemaking shop where the magic happens. The one downside was that the woman operating the store wasn’t super friendly. Not unfriendly, but just a bit distant. I would have loved to hear more about their cheeses and how they make them from her. (Hence the loss of one star)

We are so fortunate to have the Hook’s in Mineral Point. Great! Moved back to Mineral Point after being away for decades. Family would ship or bring their cheese when coming to the West Coast. Now we are regulars on Fridays when they are open to the public. Keep up your wonderful work! Thanks.

We agree. This places makes great cheese. Their fresh curds are fantastic. And their Tilston is such a wonderful surprise. Worth going out of your way for!

We make the trek from Chicago several times a year to pick up 20lbs (that’s not a typo) of the 10 year, award winning, cheddar from the Hooks booth at the Dane County Farmers Market. We’re looking forward to visiting the factory in Mineral Point, too. My brother and sister-​in-​law got us hooked (pun intended) and now we’re doing the same for friends and family. You can find their cheeses at some local markets (check their webpage for locations) and restaurants. Highly recommended!

Goooood cheese!
The cheese curds didn’t last more than a couple days, due to their extreme deliciousness and easy-​open package. I can’t recall ever having better cheese curds.
We had their 3-​year cheddar on a breakfast sandwich and it made the sandwich. We have 1-​year cheddar, colby, and constantine (parm/​asiago mix) in our refrigerator that we are looking forward to opening.
We went to their business in Mineral Point. It is where the cheese is made, so we got to see that the staff looked happy (and where partaking of their efforts) and everything looked very clean. There is a small area where they sell cheese to the public, but do not offer any tasting. This place is popular with the locals – people kept popping in as we were eying the offerings. Note that only cash and checks are accepted.
I think the prices were great for such exceptional cheese. The curds were $ 4/​lb, and the 1-​yr-​cheddar $ 4.50 a pound. The aged cheese are more, of course, but way less than the same cheese sold in a fancy cheese shop. Yes, we saw their cheese in a fancy cheese stop for more like $ 20/​lb (it was the more expensive aged cheddar, but still!).
We are talking about a place in Wisconsin that stands out for good cheese. So, I repeat: gooooood cheese!