{"id":5688,"date":"2025-06-08T22:04:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T02:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snarklesauce.com\/blog\/?p=5688"},"modified":"2026-04-18T14:59:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:59:21","slug":"meister-banana-pepper-jack-cheese-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snarklesauce.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/08\/meister-banana-pepper-jack-cheese-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Meister Banana Pepper Jack Cheese Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author’s Note: Not a paid or sponsored review. These are my own weird little opinions. I have no affiliation with either Costco<\/a> or Meister<\/a>. Nope-nopity-nope.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do happy cows make better cheese?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you see this cheese in your local Costco, you should buy it. Because I said so. Just do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a single person on a budget<\/a>, buying an entire pound of mystery cheese is always a bit iffy. Maybe not as risky as investing in Oil, or playing the slots in Las Vegas. But, a risk none-the-less. A cheese risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is only so much cheese my hobbit-sized stomach can hold. Eating a giant block of cheese before it goes bad requires a substantial amount of cheese enthusiasm from me. Cheesethusiasm. I know some people think “all cheese is good cheese.” But I don’t. This could have gone very, very wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, I actually picked this up in the store, looked at the yellow-galaxy longingly, and then put it back on the shelf. And walked away. It wasn’t on my shopping list, and I didn’t need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought about it, though, while I did the rest of my shopping. The temptation burrowed into my brain, like a hungry termite. I came back later, wriggled my way through a gaggle of loitering cheese shoppers (tsk!), and grabbed my prize. Even then, I stared at it pensively for a few seconds, before slipping it sheepishly into my shopping cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I regret nothing. This is scrumptious cheese. It tastes better than other cheeses, and I don’t know why. It must be the happy cows.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has a mild, buttery flavor, and softer texture than I expected. Slightly sweeter than cheddar. It’s definitely not<\/em> “spicy,” but it has a wonderful mild, peppery flavor that brightens the smoothness of the creamy body. This is very flavorful cheese, but not entirely from the banana peppers \u2014 the actual cheese<\/em> is rich tasting and more satisfying than similar jacks I’ve eaten recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cold texture has a delicate curd structure. I like curds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When hot, it’s fantastically stretchy. Great melting cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(How about a baked cheese you can eat for breakfast? Check out my review of The Big Moo bread cheese<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was delighted to find so many colorful pieces of banana peppers in my cheese. They are thin and delicate fragments. Not an unpleasant texture, or gummy, or too fibrous. But very bright yellow. Very cheerful confetti. Tasty pepper confetti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I also loved this Caraway Cheddar from Meister Cheese<\/a>. Check out my review.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What did I do with my cheese?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I enjoyed this Banana Pepper Jack cold, right from the refrigerator. But I also loved it melted on my egg croissant sandwiches. Behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Broccoli<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, I grated some over my steamed broccoli \u2014 which imparted a fabulous peppery-rich creamy flavor. That’s a filet of Costco’s frozen Mahi-Mahi<\/a> in the background, if you were wondering.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Who is Meister Cheese Company?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I started writing this review, I was only<\/em> planning to babble about how much I liked stuffing this cheese in my gullet. I’d never heard of Meister Cheese before. Apparently, they are a 100+ year-old, family-owned, Wisconsin cheese company located in Muscoda. They are slightly-more-interesting than your average cheese company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Meister website includes information on their “environmental stewardship,” including a “Cows First [TM]” program, an anaerobic lagoon system to reduce natural gas usage, locally sourced wood chips to power their furnace, recycling wastewater, and converting whey into protein products \u2014 so that it isn’t wasted. Cool. Hey, if you have any cheese<\/em> that is going to be wasted, you know where to find me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I peeped around the internet to find other varieties of Meister cheese, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n