Gardner's Garlic & Dill, reviewed.
Fresh dill added at vat stage, roasted garlic underneath, squeak intact. Our highest-scoring flavored curd, period.
Cover Story
The Science · Long Read · 14 min
Why a fresh curd squeaks against your teeth
and why it stops.
A protein-by-protein account of the window in which a cheese curd does its most distinctive trick. Plus the ten-second microwave that buys you another four days.
Read the story →
A weekend driving the Door County curd trail.
Eight stops, four flat tires of disappointment, and the one stand worth the four-hour detour.
How to fry a curd at home without ruining it.
A short, evidence-based guide. Oil temperature matters more than batter. Most recipes online get this wrong.
The Reviews
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The right curd for every occasion.
The quiet standard for mail-order curds.
No marketing claims. No social-media presence. Just a fourteen-hour squeak window and a $24 shipper that almost always shows up cold.
A century-old curd, in a grocery aisle near you.
The most widely available high-quality curd in the Upper Midwest.
The curd built for gravy.
Wisconsin and Quebec curds aren't interchangeable. We tested both, in gravy.
The sweet-savory curd worth the detour.
The best sweet-savory curd we've tested. Restrained maple, a smoky backbone, squeak intact.
The flavored curd that actually works.
We tasted twenty-eight flavored varieties. Most failed. Three were extraordinary.
The dependable shipper from Pierce County.
A solid mail-order option that almost never disappoints. Almost.
The plain curd we measure others against.
Award-winning Door County yellow. 3rd at the 2017 ACS, our top plain pick, best-in-class squeak.
The Test Kitchen
All recipes →
Five recipes that start with a curd.
22 min
No. 01
Beer-battered curds, fried at home.
The fryer-temp graph that separates good from forgettable.
Fried · Beginner · Serves 4
35 min
No. 02
Honest poutine, the Quebec way.
A gravy you can actually pour. No xanthan, no shame.
Classic · Quebec · Serves 2
28 min
No. 03
The curd-stuffed burger.
Melted from the inside. Two ground-beef tricks worth keeping.
Burger · Stuffed · Serves 4
45 min
No. 04
Skillet mac, broiled with curds on top.
The crust that holds because we stopped overthinking it.
Comfort · Family · Serves 6
12 min
No. 05
A cold-curd salad for hot weather.
Tomato, cucumber, dill, mustard vinaigrette. Lunch in twelve minutes.
Cold · Summer · Serves 2
The Atlas
All flavors →
An atlas of every flavor we've tested.
No. 01 · The Original
Plain.
The control variable. The one against which every other curd is judged. If a brand can't do plain, the rest doesn't matter.
No. 02
Yellow Cheddar
No. 03
Garlic & Dill
No. 04
Jalapeño
No. 05
Maple Bacon
No. 06
Pizza
No. 07
Hot Honey
All 24
View the
full atlas →
The Field Notes
All guides →
Guides for the curious eater.
Guide No. 01
What is a cheese curd, exactly?
The fifteen-minute window between curd and cheese — and why most people have never tasted the difference.
9 min read→
Guide No. 02
Why a fresh curd squeaks.
A protein-by-protein account of the squeak — and the microwave trick that brings it back from the dead.
14 min read→
Guide No. 03
How to fry a curd at home.
Oil temperature matters more than batter. Most recipes online get this wrong. We tested.
11 min read→