SEATTLE — For more than two decades, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese has been entertaining visitors in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, with their glass-walled kitchens where you can watch the cheesemaking pros at work.
“The original idea for Beecher's was to demonstrate that to people, [to] show them how cheese was being made,” said Kurt Beecher Dammeier, owner of Beecher's Handmade Cheese.
Without a doubt cheesemaking is a process that fascinates people. It starts with their fresh, pure milk from local farms and they apply the traditional methods used by cheesemakers for thousands of years. These steps are what make this award-winning cheese so unique and special.
“To take something that I think is just liquid milk that everybody's accustomed to, to all of a sudden to this, you know, salty goodness of a firm product,” said Jordan Espinoza from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. “It kind of amazes everybody.”
A cheese lover since childhood, Beecher Dammeier remembers encouraging his mother to buy premium cheese at a time when processed cheese was overtaking the market.
In 2002, Kurt was walking through Seattle’s Pike Place Market and noticed that a long-time tenant had closed up shop. He quickly realized this was the perfect time to open a business. The desire to open a cheesemaking company and his love for Pike Place Market was the perfect combination to create Beecher's Handmade Cheese.
“People always ask me, 'how did you come up with the idea for Beecher's Cheese?,'” said Beecher Dammeier. “I knew that people in Seattle would embrace the cheese. I did not imagine we'd be where we are today.”
Today Beecher’s has several awarded winning products:
Their Flagship Cheese is made from semi-hard cow’s milk carefully aged for 15-month cheese to create a uniquely robust, nutty flavor. Other award-winning cheeses are Flagship Reserve Cheese, 4-Year Aged Flagship Cheese, Cheese Curds, Marco Polo Reserve Cheese, and more.
The art of making cheese is a journey that begins with fresh, locally sourced milk and adding the passion and skill of artisans.
Once the milk has set into this loose curd, the cheesemakers use square, metal wireframes to cut the curd, draining from the Make Vat. The curds and whey are moved onto the cheddaring table, a process to remove as much whey as possible. The next steps are salting, hooping and pressing, affinage - and voila you have cheese.
“The best way to level up your dinner parties was to serve fancy cheese to people, putting in little spikes of things that all work together to create a great flavor,” said Beecher Dammeier.
Today, Beecher’s produces more than just cheese, they have a lineup of frozen foods that you can find in your favorite grocery outlets, like their extremely popular Mac & Cheese, the gluten free cheese curd lasagna, and the tomato cheddar soup.
Beecher's is a Seattle landmark when it comes to authentic and original deliciousness food.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.