I'm all for 5 lbs of cheese, especially Tillamook. What's not to love? There is not much that we eat around here that we don't put cheese on; a cheese-loving family we are indeed.That's is why I typically buy the 5 lb Tillamook Medium Cheddar Loaf from CostCo, which tends to last us an entire month.
My challenge with this bad boy comes from attempting to store it. First thing I do when I go to use it is to get the biggest, sharpest knives in my house and lop that sucker in half. Since it's over a foot long, it will not fit inside a gallon-sized Ziploc bag without being cut in half. But I am terrfied every time I go to do it that one of these days I'm going to hack off one of my fingers or impale the palm of my hand in the process. Tillamook Cheddar is very solid so it takes some serious muscle to carve all the way through it.
I know, I know, I don't really have to cut it in half to store it in the fridge after it's been opened, but it really is the simplest way I've found. I have tried just wrapping the open end with cellophane but I have ended up with a dried out end on more than one occasion as my children (and *ahem* husband) are less than thorough on making sure the end is covered. Also, have you ever tried to grate cheese from a block that's a foot & a half long? Nearly impossible. Much easier to hang on to a block that's half as long.
Tillamook does make a loaf that's just 2 lbs that easily fits inside a Ziploc, but pound for pound the 5 lb loaf is a much better value. Maybe the money I save is not worth the future loss of my fingers? I will have to think on that one. I'm always looking for a way to save a buck. Or maybe I could petition Tillamook to package their 5 lb loaf as two 2 1/2 lb loafs? Whatever the solution, I will continue to carefully lop my cheese in half as I am very fond of my fingers.
