Squeaky Curds

[Poorboy]

OK, I will write more about this soon however I wanted to say that I never knew what anyone was saying when they referred to "squeaky" curds.
I was driving toward a place (heading North on 38) north of Kingston called Sharbot Lake when I had to stop off in a place called Parham (or was it Verona?) that had an Esso filling station on it.
As I went into the General Store attached to it, he had a few baggies of cheese curds on the counter. They were there near the cash register.
"What the heck" I said to myself, I need a snack along along the way and I picked up a little baggie of them.
I have had cheese curds many times and they were OK.
Yet, there are a few on this board that that would ask:
"Were the curds squeaky?" And I would think this odd as I have enjoyed cheese curds many times and not known what all the fuss was about.
Well, I had a few curds from this pace and the curds actually squeaked with each bite.
Awesome.
So, where can we by squeaky curds in Toronto?
TIA

[tochowchick]

I love the squeaky curds from the Wilton Cheese Factory just north west of Kingston...yummmmmm

[DockPotato]

If they're squeaky, then the curds are no more than two days old. Maybe three by which time the squeak is faint. A "mute" curd is till a good thing as poorboy cited.

If you're passing this way, new Pine River curds are placed for sale on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - both white and orange. I'm thinking that other cheese makers also follow regular production schedules with their curds.

Recently their retail shop offered flavoured curds - i thought they would be regular but they were one-offs. I had ranch, vinegar, herbed and sun dried tomato and herb versions. Takes curds to a new level.

Next step is to explore on our own. I'm thinking finely chopped onions or chives are worth exploring, or salsa verde.

[Wahooty]

Oh, which reminds me...we picked up some lovely squeaky goat cheese curds from the Ewenity Dairy folks at SLM North last weekend. I think they were a garlic and herb flavor, and while the flavored curds don't generally float my boat, these were quite enjoyable.

[kjw46]

Maple Dale has been mentioned above. Maple Dale factory is located approx. 8 minutes north of Hwy. 401 ( 37n. Tweed) at Belleville. Fresh, squeaky curds every day. GARLIC flavour available and absolutely out of this world. Sorry not in Toronto but certainly worth a short detour from the 401.

[Lefty]

curds become squeeky when they are at room temperature, it;s not by accident that they are on the counter. try taking curds out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature or microwave for a few seconds and you will have squeeky curds.

[merlot143]

I've had some tasty squeaky curds from Fresh from the Farm. They buy their products from Mennonite farmers.

[CoffeeAddict416]

I know metro sells a brand that is brought in from quebec. I forget the name of dairy but it was very familiar to my gf who is from northern quebec. These were indeed squeeky.

What I have NEVER seen in toronto is blocks of squeeky cheese. Has anyone seen these for sale in town?

[vorpal]

LOVE those blocks! I never had them until I went and bought one directly from St. Albert, and it was amazing.

[theresah]

I am a huge fan of squeaky curds and I must say that the best place to get them is a roadside gas station. I have bought several from supermarkets and other cheese shops and nothing compares to a gas station curd. I think you have to leave them out on the counter for days to get the best squeak. Yuk, gag, I know!

[mamavh]

Actually, my experience has been that the squeakiness relates to the age in that the fresher they are the squeakier. We used to always go to Balderson cheese factory and would check to make sure that the curds were from that morning. Gas stations with good curds are likely close to local cheese factories.

[toveggiegirl]

Yes, the key to squeaky curds is freshness (even more so than quality of production, etc). So, the closer the curds to the source, the squeakier they are likely to be.

[Wahooty]

In my opinion, they're actually best at approximately body temp - at the factory, freshly salted and still warm, or at least kept in your lap in the car to warm up from room temperature. Gas stations do often have good ones, if they're near a factory (I actually once got some really good ones at the Green Bay, WI airport where the woman working the souvenir shop was kind enough to tell me which brand had just been dropped off and were still warm) and have high enough turnover that there's no point in refrigerating them. The Maple Dale curds I've gotten at the White Feather Country Store in Raglan were pretty squeaky. The ones I get at my NoFrills in Scarborough, less so, but do in a pinch if properly warmed up to lap temperature. I have gotten both squeaky and highly disappointing non-squeaky curds at Olympic Cheese in St. Lawrence Market - I don't know if there's a particular day they get them in every week, but I have been disappointed too many times to continue trying.