Cheddar Cheese Powder, 1 lb.

I've been looking for this for 30 years. I boldly assert that this is IDENTICAL, flavor-wise, to the Kraft mac-and-cheese powder. I'm pretty sure I've tried every form of boxed mac-and-cheese and can't begin to count the thousands of boxes that I and my family have gone through so I'm pretty confident in the accuracy of the prior sentence. In our house, whenever we make mac-and-cheese, we use extra packets of cheese, leaving orphaned boxes of uncooked noodles for later use. In the last two weeks, we've burned through three pounds of the Barry Farm cheese and a bunch of boxes of unloved pasta. Here's what I've learned: 1. As other reviewers have mentioned, you really can't use this exactly like you would the real Kraft powder. It will clump into little chewy cheese nuggets that don't quite work like the Kraft powder. You should mix the powder with a small amount of water/milk, making a paste, prior to adding it to your cooked pasta. As the cheese powder rehydrates, it will thicken a bit. If you plan to use it later, make it slightly runnier than you'd like. It'll firm up. 2. You don't NEED salt, milk, or butter. I prefer adding a bit of butter to the cooked pasta, but it's just fine to add the cheese, alone, to the noodles. 3. This is fantastic for leftover mac-and-cheese. Kraft veterans know that leftover Kraft dinner is never quite the same as a fresh pot. The Barry Farm powder, however, completely turns that notion on its head. Add some of the paste to day old mac-and-cheese, reheat, and it's as good as when it was first made. 4. This is great for independent children. :) My 6-year-old can take some cooked pasta (stored in a zip-top bag), stir in some of the cheese-paste and reheat it for a quick one bowl snack/meal, very much like EasyMac, only significantly better tasting. 5. You'll use more of this to flavor your mac-and-cheese than you would if it were the real Kraft powder. Not a lot more, but it doesn't seem to be a 1:1 conversion. Yesterday, I ordered six more pounds of this stuff and will continue to keep it in our pantry for as long as it's available. If it came in 50-lb sacks, I'd buy that, too. It's a fantastic product and I'm thrilled to have found it.

I pretty much agree with all the other reviews, and I am glad I read them before I tried to use this. No, it isn't quite as smooth as Kraft mac and cheese powder, but it's still great for what it is. I put it on steamed veggies, and it is just yummy. I may have to take a little extra time to break up a few little lumps, but honestly, I kind of like getting an extra strong taste of cheese powder with the occasional lump. I use it in a wild rice mix, and it is delish. I found if you mix it in stuff, hot stuff, and let it sit a minute or two, it is sometimes easier to sort of smooth it out. If you really HAVE to eat it lumpless, mix some ahead of time in broth or liquid by adding liquid a little at a time to the powder,and smooshing out the little tiny lumps. It'll probably take you quite a while, but if that is what you want, that is what you will have to do. Any way you cut it, this cheese is great! (pun intended) A tad on the salty side, so don't add salt to whatever you are cooking until you taste this in it first. I bought two bags, and am almost done with the first. Great on popcorn, too. Try it, you'll like it!

It is (at this time) being sold by a company that has listed a somewhat 'optimistic' product description regarding it's 'chessiness' and somehow and CONVENIENTLY the product's barcode sticker got slapped over the ingredient list. Fortunately it's very easy to go to the producer of the product (Barry Farm with the not surprising website of barryfarm dot you-know-what). Here you can see the ingredients, the nutritional content PLUS the directions for making a simple sauce. The PRODUCER of the product is clear that it is a whey based powder made with shelf life and stability products, not unlike the bright yellow cheese that most kids are clamoring for on their commercial mac n' cheese. In other words if you are trying to make a mac n' cheese with a familiar tasting cheesy sauce (yes, I'm looking at you Kraft!) but want to use your own noodles, this is a fantastic product. Definitely passed the offspring taste test even with gluten-free corn+quinoa elbow noodles. My kids thought this was great, and as a rare treat I am fine with the ingredients. If you want a yummy popcorn treat, this will work too. If you are looking for maximal healthiness, then do not buy this and make a real cheese sauce. Those are great too :) Most importantly, do not be fooled by any particular vendor, which can change day to day. Examine the description closely (and perhaps double check the manufacturer's own site for details), and check the shipping fees. If it's an Amazon-sold product then super saver/prime shipping apply. If it's a partner-vendor who stores it's inventory in an Amazon warehouse, then the same applies regarding shipping (and can be factored into costs). If it's a partner-vendor who does not do that, well, then you must double check the shipping prices as occasionally there are some 'interesting' shipping fees to be found out there. Also, for a partner-vendor, do your due diligence regarding vendor feedback and decide if that is someone you want to do business with. I happened to have a happy experience with this product. The price was higher than the producer, but given the shipping etc it was all even. No problem for me. The taste was fine for what I was looking for (again, I'm looking at you Kraft!), and the ingredients are fine on an occasional basis for my family. Your family and taste goals may differ of course. My only quibbles are with the vendor and how the product was described/labeled and that will be feedback left for them, not here on the actual product review. My 1 star off IS for the producer, as I think the directions for a sauce should have been on THEIR labeling which IS part of the product. Recommended, but read the descriptions and check the vendor out! JTG

Once upon a time, I spent two years volunteering in a country without cheese. This is as real as Kraft cheese, and infinitely cheaper than buying little packets. It also stores for a long time without any refrigeration, though be sure to seal it properly, because moisture in the air can cause the powder to clump and solidify over time. If I had a basement or a bomb shelter, this would be in it. This something you can keep around as an alternative to freezer food or ramen for those days when there's nothing in your house. A pound of this is just the thing to send an American abroad, particularly one of limited means. Now, I also wanted to make mac and cheese in the only pot I had, so this is what brought me the best results: cook your macaroni in water, but over salt it significantly. I find that this cheese needs salt to simulate sharpness when using milk to thicken. When the pasta is practically done, drain the water and replace it with enough whole milk to come halfway up the macaroni. Spoon in as much cheese as desired. Stir until the milk comes to a simmer, stopping when the thickness is just slightly more watery than you want. As it cools, it will thicken, though you may notice that half of it is already in your belly.

BE AWARE... Wincrest Bulk foods is no longer shipping the BARRY FARMS brand of cheddar powder. Order arrived today and was two pounds of Wincrest Bulk branded cheese powder. I compared with a little bit of the Barry Farms powder that I had left over. There were minor differences, but the Barry Farms product has been in a sealed coffee can for the last two months. Wincrest bulk is brighter orange (not in a good way) and lists Blue cheese as it's second ingredient. It also has a few ingredients in a different order than Barry Farms, so no idea if they are significant. Taste of Wincrest is decidedly sharper, but Barry Farms has a creamier flavor. I will give them both the popcorn test later today and see if there is a real difference. Rate down to three stars for the unannounced brand switch.

I use this as an ingredient in my dehydrated meals I prepare for backpacking. When it hits the food, it becomes this delicious gooey coating that is great on pasta, potatoes, rice, eggs, or anything you would prepare with cheese. Perfect cheddar flavor! I've vacuum-sealed little packets that I include in my "surprise camping bag" as well as in complete meal packets that I make (I call them MRRs...Meals, Ready to Rehydrate) to take backpacking and camping. It also works pretty good (without reconstituting) sprinkled on bread and toasted (the escaping moisture from the bread rehydrates the powder), and on hot popcorn. It also has a very long shelf life, and I've augmented that by keeping it in a vacuum-sealed container in the pantry, sitting right next to the butter powder and egg powder. If you have a need for lightweight backpacking food flavorings, or just like having emergency cheese on hand, this is the deal for you. Highly recommend!

This is the best powdered cheese we have found so far and we just ordered some more. I haven't made any sauces out of it as we only use it to make tacos like one of our favorite taco joints here in KC. Nice sharp flavor. The bag looks small when you receive it but there is quite a bit in that little bag. Edit to add to my original review - We absolutely love this cheddar cheese powder! Since Jan 2012 we have ordered 7 bags from this company. Sometimes the color is lighter or darker than the previous batch but it always tastes the same. It is strong and delicious. It doesn't take much to flavor something and is excellent for making mac & cheese. We mostly use ours on tacos though. There is a taco place that my husband and I have been going to since we were both kids and they use powdered cheese on their tacos. For the last 4 years (ever since we found this here on Amazon) that is how we've been doing our tacos at home. We both like a lot of the cheese on ours so we put as much on as we want and enjoy them so much! Even though we do use a lot, a pound goes a long way. Unless this company stops making it, we will always order Barry Farm.

For many years we'd buy several boxes of whatever store brand mac and cheese and use the power packets in double, triple, or quadruple portions. We got some of this from a friend and find it excellent to add in to make things MEGA cheesy. All you need to do is add butter and milk/cream. (Sorry for you margarine/oleo etc people who also buy skim milk too but that just isn't the same). It also works great on other items. If you look at the ingredient list on your mac/cheese boxes you will see more ingredients like flour before the cheddar cheese. You can't find this hardly anywhere else. It's a a great product they repackage in smaller portions. With the shipping it's best like others mentioned to order 2-3 pounds minimum. We just made our first batch we bought that was delivered today. It's soooooooo wonderful (two kids approval). We will be ordering much more soon I know.