Monterey Farmstead Jack Cheese by Schoch Dairy
Cheese Wedge (6 oz)
1 Month and 3 Month Subscription available.
A more robust version of industrial Jack cheese, our Monterey Farmstead Jack, derived from fresh raw milk, has a lactic quality that reflects its farmstead origins – rugged yet complex, with flavors that continue to speak to you after every bite. It is aged four to six months in small, hand-crafted batches, with a natural rind. This is one of the few truly American cheeses!
Please place your order by Tuesday for delivery sometime between Friday and Monday (depending on your area).
FREE HOME DELIVERY IN THE BAY AREA.
Enjoy Free Delivery Throughout the Bay Area:
- Fridays: Milpitas, Santa Clara, and San Jose (Eastern and Southern).
- Saturdays: Milpitas (Northern), Fremont, up through San Ramon, and Dublin.
- Sundays: Morgan Hill, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Palo Alto up through San Francisco.
- Mondays: Cupertino, Saratoga, San Jose (Downtown and Western).
- Deliveries included in subscription:
1 month: 4 deliveries
3 months: 13 deliveries
You may request pausing/postponing deliveries for any personal reasons for up to 8 weeks.
Note:
There may be some natural variation in the weight of individual cheese wedges. The price is calculated at $20 per pound. If you’d like, you can share your Zelle handle in the order notes, and we will refund any applicable difference based on the final weight via Zelle.
About Schoch Dairy
Established in 1944, Schoch Dairy is located on the famed El Camino Real in the fertile Salinas Valley. Brothers Adolph and Ernest emigrated from Switzerland and found their way to California, establishing a family farmstead where they could continue the work they knew best: dairying. At that time, hundreds of small dairies dotted the Salinas Valley, where rich soil and the temperate coastal climate provide ideal conditions for grazing and milk production.
Over the years, not much has changed on Schoch Dairy. The morning milking still starts before the sun rises over the Gabilan Mountains, and the cows still graze on pastures dampened by fog drifting east from Monterey Bay.
FAQ
Are your cheeses made from Raw Milk?
Yes. In fact, when I start culturing the milk as part of the cheesemaking process, my dad is still milking and the warm milk from those cows is gently flowing into the cheese vat…you can’t get any fresher than that! Using fresh raw milk, still warm from the cow, is a very traditional practice that is very rare nowadays and only possible on a Farmstead operation. Legally, all raw milk cheeses have to be aged a minimum of 60 days, whereas most of our raw milk cheeses are aged well beyond the minimum requirement. On occasion, I will make some fresh cheeses which are meant to be consumed quickly, and the milk for those cheeses legally needs to be pasteurized. If/when I pasteurize milk for fresh cheeses, the milk is heated slowly and gently using the vat pasteurization technique.
What kind of cows do you milk?
Our milking herd is a mix of Holstein, Brown Swiss, and Jersey – some purebreds and some crossbreeds. We select for genetics that favor quality over quantity – richer milk with higher fat and protein.
Are your cows pastured, grass-fed, free-range? It’s all so confusing – what do they eat?
Although our cows spend a lot of time on our seasonal pastures, the bulk of our cows’ diet is a mix of alfalfa hay and locally grown fresh salad greens from the Salinas Valley. Yes, it’s true… fresh salad greens! We are blessed with access to fresh salad greens, considering we are located in the Salad Bowl of America! The milking cows are also fed some non-corn/non-soy grain while they are being individually milked. We are actively renovating our existing irrigation system to improve pasture production throughout the year so that the cows always have a nutritious, palatable, and varied diet, allowing them to produce the most flavorful and nutritious milk possible. Our pastures have never been sprayed with any chemical fertilizers or pesticides/herbicides. We practice rotational grazing, proper pasture recovery, and amend the soils with composted dairy mulch.
Are you certified organic?
No, we are not certified organic; however, it is important to note that we do not use hormones, steroids, or corn- or soy-based feed. Also, our pastures have never been sprayed with any chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Our animals are raised with respect and treated with dignity. An animal on rare occasions can get sick, at which time we feel it is our responsibility to treat them with approved antibiotics, during which time they and their milk are kept separate from the regular milk supply, so that none of our milk contains antibiotics. In order to maintain an organic certification, we would be required to remove that cow, which might otherwise live for another decade on our small family farm, rather than simply treat that animal for a week with approved antibiotics. We, as 3rd generation dairymen, could not with good conscience send off a good animal for the sake of keeping a certification. We are proud of the viability of our milking herd and the health of our animals, which typically live 50% longer than the average CA dairy cow.
Is your milk A1 or A2?
Mostly A2. We have not tested individual cows; however, since 2013 we have only used bulls (for breeding purposes) that have the A2/A2 genotype. The bulls, therefore, only pass their A2 genetics on to their daughters – which at about 2 years of age will be our next freshman class of milking cows. Our milking herd is therefore predominantly A2/A2, if not already producing 100% A2 milk.
Products: Raw Milk, Yogurt, Cheese.
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