One of the difficult things about identifying cheeses is that the same name can represent a different cheese in various regions. Today I wanted to talk about farmers cheese. So when I talk about this cheese, I am referring to the farmers cheese that I purchase here in the midwest region of the United States. This cheese is a soft, white cheese. No coloring is added. The cheese is not aged, it is ready to eat when finished. Famers cheese is similar to cottage cheese. The process to make it starts out the same, but as where the whey is keep in traditional cottage cheee making, the whey is discarded for farmers cheese, creating a solid block of cheese. Just as cottage cheese is mild so is farmers cheese. But just as with cottage cheese, farmers cheese can have some tanginess to it. The among of tang depends on the maker.
Farmers cheese is a good straight up eating cheese. It's nice on a cracker. It's a good choice for kids because it's soft and not too strong. I don't think it's a good cooking cheese as you want something with a little more punch.
As for the shelf life, I would eat it pretty quickly after you buy it. It's not going to last as long as an aged cheese. The cheese can be found in most grocery stores. You typically find it in the specialty cheese section, not with the standard 8 oz factory produced bar cheeses, although some companies do make a standard 8 oz farmers cheese, but it's not all that common.
My favorite farmers cheese is made by Guggisberg. Check out my review of their cheese.
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