Re: What's the Story with Grande Cheese?

[GotRocks]

I'd venture it safe to guess that their max baking temp in a gas oven does not exceed 650 degrees. I may be way wrong too!

back 20 some years ago when I was working in an Italian restaurant that did Pizza, we ran our top oven at 600'ish, and the lower oven around 400 for doing calzones & the stuffed pies.
But I plan on running my WFO between 800-900F or higher, but I may also end up running it colder than that, it depends on how it performs with the products I want to do.
 If I need to bake at a lower temp, I'll reformulate my dough to bake at those lower temps and it'll still be good.

If things go as planned, I'll have 2 weeks to nail down our formulations and procedures before we open to the public. In that experimental time I can try several different options to see what works best with the oven we choose.
What I want to do, and what I might end up doing could be totally different, or they may be right where I want them to be. I just do not Know at this point in the game. And that is what makes this so fun<<<<< sarcasm

[SusieQ]

I also grew up in the area where Grande Cheese company waslocated, along with other dairy facilities. I never realized the quality of cheese they produced and never appreciated it.  There was always talk about Grande being owned by the Mafia, at least that is what my Dad told me. Possibly he told me that because he was a competitor of them!  I am a pizza lover and have had a hard time finding Grande cheese, but I now have found a cheese shop that special orders a bag of 50/50 and I LOVE it. It can't be beat.

[GotRocks]

I also grew up in the area where Grande Cheese company was located, along with other dairy facilities.

Southeastern WI? or more between Milwaukee & Madison? I remember seeing several Grande milk producer signs in Waukesha county.

those little stickers we saw on products while  growing up that started "Something Special From Wisconsin" don't mean much until you try things produced in other places and realize how good that WI product is compared to the others.

Who was the competitor G-G, Kemp's, or who?

[SusieQ]

I grew up in a small town in Dodge County called Waupun. The Grande cheese plant was in Brownsville. My Dad was president of a dairy facility called Alto Dairy. He has now passed away, but he was there for a very long time. They didn't market cheese under their name but for distribution under other labels, Kraft, Sargento, it's a big big cheese factory.
Grande would truck milk from quite a distance. They may have other cheese plants in other places too.
We lived in Pewaukee for some time, now out in the boon docks of Northern WI. There was a wonderful pizza place in Waupun called Tony's Pizza, the owner was from Italy. He used Grande cheese and the pizza was awsome. He got me hooked on pizza.
I'm making Steve's recipe for cracker think crust today, dough should be ready for supper
Where did you grow up? Are you a restaurateur?

[GotRocks]

Northern WI, Where in northern WI?
Because that is where I am, and I plan to stay here until my end days. I am in the Minocqua area, and we are in the process of expanding our catering biz into a restaurant situation. A restaurant has ultimately  been in the plans from the start, but we wanted to start smaller to see if our concept and signature items would work in this area first by doing catering only.
The restaurant will be getting a WFO as part of our expansion plans. I think most of the restaurant up here suck because se cannot get decent product from any local distributors without major difficulty. All my stuff is special order through Sysco Baraboo.


I grew up in the northwoods, but at about age 12 I ended up in unincorporated Waukesha County, I know of Waupun because some people I knew got to visit the area and stay there for a while (like 3-5 years, or more) against their will.
I also know of Alto, Don't they represent the very last Limburger maker in existence in the entire country (Chalet Cheese)

[SusieQ]

Small world. We moved up here 6 years ago, bought a resort and restaurant on a beautiful private lake north of Tomahawk. We turned the property into condominiums and are in the process of selling the cottages as separate units. The restaurant (traditional supper club)sold first , then a few cottages. We ran the restaurant until we sold it. It's a tough business, people want cheap food. We still operate a resort, with the remaining cottages. It's a seasonal business, the cottages are not winterized. We also have another small business in the area that I am totally frustrated with. It's so hard to make a living up here! We get to Minocqua quite a bit in the summer. The restaurants in Minocqua are better than here! We've been to Monicals, Norwood Pines, Mama's, the new brew pub,Bosaki's and places downtown, bar and grills. There is a shortage of good restaurants around the area. I'm so sick of the traditional supper clubs here, there is nothing new. That is why I do a lot of cooking at home. I do a lot of baking of breads and my ongoing love of pizza keeps me in search of the perfect pizza.
Alto dairy only made cheddar cheese when I was growing up, now they make mozzerella too. Alto is the largest dairy producer east of the Mississippi. They used to sell to Kraft and then Sargento and now it has been bought out by a Canadian company, Saputo.
Good luck with your catering biz and with the future restaurant, we need some good places to eat!

[GotRocks]

There is at least one place in Tomahawk with edible food, I have heard bootleggers is decent but I have never been there. And if you want an OK burger or a pizza, Billy Bobs isn't bad. and on Thursday nights RR-Gators has a decent pork-chop special, but it is still bar food!

The only restaurant in the entire northwoods what I would claim is only above "Mediocre at Best" is the rusty putter on 70-W by wildwood golf course, And they are moving to Hazelhurst real soon due to impassable lease changes by the buildings owner.

Maybe we should take this northwoods discussion to PM's to keep this thread on track? I'll start by sending you one first.

[fireman117]

Hi SuzyQ,
Did you say there is someone in WI that will sell 5 lb. bags of Grande cheese. I'm having a hard time finding it in Milwaukee. And when I do find it it only comes sliced and is very$$$, like $8/lb.

Thanks,
Eric

[gabaghool]

Personally....I think there is some truth to people hating grande because they are so expensive.  But, if money was the only concern, why so much less hate for stanislaus??

IMO, its because stanislaus is SO MUCH BETTER THAN 99% OF OTHER TOMATOES.  Grande on the other hand, again, IMO, is much more expensive and NOT that much better, if at all.  To me, its simply to salty.  I shred a log of grande, hold a handful up to my nose....and nothing....I smell very little of that "popcorn" smell.  I shred a local cheese, one that I prefer, melts perfectly, has a creamy taste AND smells like fresh buttered popcorn, is way less salty AND far cheaper.

I will pay extra, always for a product I see as superior...I use Stanislaus Valoroso, the most expensive they make, and will NEVER change....but I will NEVER use Grande, simply because I cannot see how spending the extra money will improve my product.

Again, MOO.

[johnnytuinals]

I guess 90%of places that make pizza in NYC are wrong and you are right?.................................JT

[Essen1]

I guess 90%of places that make pizza in NYC are wrong and you are right?.................................JT

JT,

I know you love Grande but there are a couple of good alternatives out there such as Lugano or Dragone mozzarella. And they are less expensive.

However, Grande has also a retail label out called "Piacci". It's available here in Cali but I don't know the price on it. Yet.

[Jackie Tran]

Nick I agree with you.  I have tried many different local cheeses that in my opinion was better than Grande.  I have bought a few pounds about a year ago to do some test between Grand and Stella (shredded cheese from Sam's Club).  

I posted about it here. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,12032.0.html  

I know there are many Grande devotees here.   I hope to give Grand another try in the near future to see if I haven't changed my mind.  In the end,  we are all lucky to be able to have options and use what we like.  

Chau

[gabaghool]

I guess 90%of places that make pizza in NYC are wrong and you are right?.................................JT

OHH-KAY THERE......I think I wrote it in my post.....MORE.....THAN.....ONE.....TIME.  Its MY OPINION ONLY.

IF, by some chance, I DIDNOT make that PERFECTLY clear, because of my poor writing skills, I APOLIGIZE.

However, I apoligize THIS ONCE.  I get crap EVERY SINGLE DAY , in this business, and I WILL NOT put up with sarcasm, personal attacks....ANYTHING that is NOT a civil exchange of ideas on this board.

Again, MY apologies if my  writing led you to believe that what I was saying was a FACT and not an opinion.

I hope we can start over.

[johnnytuinals]

Essen1 I know there are many great chesse out there lol.......................JT

[Essen1]

OHH-KAY THERE......I think I wrote it in my post.....MORE.....THAN.....ONE.....TIME.  Its MY OPINION ONLY.

IF, by some chance, I DIDNOT make that PERFECTLY clear, because of my poor writing skills, I APOLIGIZE.

However, I apoligize THIS ONCE.  I get crap EVERY SINGLE DAY , in this business, and I WILL NOT put up with sarcasm, personal attacks....ANYTHING that is NOT a civil exchange of ideas on this board.

Again, MY apologies if my  writing led you to believe that what I was saying was a FACT and not an opinion.

I hope we can start over.

Don't blow a coronary and keep your blood pressure down, bro. It's healthier.

Btw, what's up with all those caps?

[gabaghool]

My blood pressure is fine.....but I'll DISCUSS ANYTHING.  Pro and con....AND listen to the other side.......an answer like I recieved......I simply told him that I don't sign on here to get sarcastic remarks...I even apoligized IF I had misread it.

My caps are stressing a word, not yelling.  If THAT was misunderstood, again I apologize. 


You will never ever read a post from me being sacrastic....I may not agree, and I will be respectful......and I'd like to be treated the same way.  Its simple as that.

Thanks.

[communist]

I love Grande because the taste and it has been the only cheese that does not brown on top in my quick 4 minute bake.  Mark

[Nonya]

I know what the story is because I used to work there.
The code that you see on the box and 5 lbs. bags is not an expiratation date. It is a "quality code". It is eight didgits long. The first two are the month, second two are the day, the fifth number is the plant number, and the last three are the lot number. Line 1 has lots 001-016 and line 2 has lots 031-046. Line 4 starts at 090. Line 1 and 4 does shredded cheese and line 2 does diced, except on Fridays it does shred as well because Grande sells more shred. So if the cheese blocks were processed on 2/27/2013 on line 1 the code might read 02235001. The "23" instead of the "27"is because the cheese was made 4 days ago. So the product you ordered will always arrive with a code you think is past or bad, but really isn't. Don't ask me why they do what they do, I never made any of those types of decisions. I was stuck at the bottom. Grande fills the bags with nitrogen gas to prevent the cheese from going bad. Oxygen will make food go bad and Grande has less than 2% in the 5 lbs. bags. The FDA only makes food companies have less than 5% oxygen in each bag. Grande does not add an anti-caking powder to the di/shred bags. Other companies do and do you know what it is called? Cellulose. If you look it up you'll find out it is sawdust. You know the stuff from trees. Do you really want to eat trees? Of course nothing will stick together if you just coat it in sawdust. EEEWWW! If you don't believe me read the packages you buy in the store and look it up. Humans don't eat trees and that is why Grande does not put it in their product.

By the way Grande Cheese was started by the late Fillippo Candela and now his son John Candela owns it. Wayne Matzke is the president. He named it "Grande" which means grand in Italian which is where he was from. So the woman you dated with the last name Grande probably wasn't related to them at all and just lied to seem rich/important/better than everyone else.

I love their whole milk cheese and yes it is expenisive. Del pastio ricotta is great for cannolis. Grande does do a lot of hand holding.

Piacci is the retail brand of Grande and is sold in high end markets only. They told us that they were marketing the "life savors". The what? I was told this demographic of people make $200k+ range and will spend money on a leather chair instead of a cloth one (analogy). I replied, really? You mean to tell me I don't want to buy a leather chair just because I can't afford it? Sounds to me like the company just wants to sell to a bunch of rich snobs. The supervisor reply to me, no "life savors" because they savor life and want the best things in life. Talk about making me feel like a real turd in a toilet.

By the way, their coming out with an asiago blend in the di/shred department. Still in R&D though.

If your wondering why I left the company its because I was freezing all day and made only a dollar more than the new hires after 5 years. Also there is NO vertical movement within the company unless someone dies or retires. And then someone else gets the job because it was based on senority only-not who was the best fit. Most people I spoke with had worked there for at least a decade and hadn't moved up the ladder.

Their products are good, sales reps great, customer service is great, but unfortunately not much else. Frankly, I don't care if they see this post. My old plant manager can kiss it!