'Secret Tips' for Winning a Gold Medal

Winning our Contest requires sending your cheese and entry forms in the best possible condition:

• Complete the enclosed shipping tags at the same time that you fill out your entry forms. This will assure that your entries match your forms.
• Protect your cheese entry: use shredded paper "fill" in your shipping container. Avoid using foam pellets or "peanuts" as these materials can dent or mottle the surface of the cheese.
• Use shipping materials that keep your entry cool and dry. Mark your package in bold letters: "Refrigerate: Do Not Freeze"
• Package your entry in sturdy packaging. Shipping and stacking can be hard on your United States Champion cheese.
• You have two shipping tags for each cheese. One is placed inside, with the cheese, in an envelope. The other should be fastened to the exterior of the shipping container. Make sure the correct shipping tags are with the correct cheese.
• Be sure to allow adequate shipping time so your cheese entries arrive no later than March 11, 2009. Specify your arrival date or your cheese may spend a Sunday on a warm shipping dock.
• Print or type information on your entry form. Illegible handwriting can handicap your entry.
• It is imperative that you thoroughly describe all cheeses that have unique characteristics or do not have a standard of identity. To be blunt, the more these judges know about your nonstandard entry, the better judging you will receive. Consider enclosing sales materials that describe your nonstandardized cheese or unique characteristics.
• Remember, we need at least ten pounds of product for each entry. Exceptions: manufacturers may send at least two pounds of an entry in the Contest if each fully formed piece of cheese in that entry is 8 ounces (226 grams) or less. (No cut cheese allowed per Rule 5!) Manufacturers may send four pounds of an entry in the Contest if each fully formed piece of cheese in that entry is 1 pound (454 grams) or less.
• You cannot enter a cheese that is cut from its larger originally formed size. Exceptions: a.) cheeses formed in 40 lb blocks can be cut down into 40 lb. blocks; b.) cheeses cut during manufacture, e.g. Feta in brine and Swiss block (prior to curing); and c.) cheeses cut for smoking. These exceptions must state "Cut Cheese" on the Describe entry line on your product entry form.
• Select a winner. Appearance is a minor consideration, but it's the little things that make a winner. Look at your entry in a well-lit room. Check for defects, specks of material under the wrap, unattractive surface. A well crafted cheese is not necessarily as flat or square as granite, but it should not be lopsided, covered with wrinkles or dented.

Good luck in the 2009 United States Championship Cheese Contest!