cheese cave tour missouri

The Missouri Cheese Caves That Once Held 1.4 Billion Pounds Of Cheese Is A Truly Fascinating Story

Beth Price-Williams

A professional writer for more than two decades, Beth has lived in nearly a dozen states – from Missouri and Virginia to Connecticut and Vermont – and Toronto, Canada. In addition to traveling extensively in the U.S. and the U.K., she has a BA in Journalism from Point Park University (PA), a MA in Holocaust & Genocide Studies from Stockton University (NJ), and a Master of Professional Writing from Chatham University (PA). A writer and editor for Only In Your State since 2016, Beth grew up in and currently lives outside of Pittsburgh and when she’s not writing or hanging out with her bunnies, budgies, and chinchilla, she and her daughter are out chasing waterfalls.

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Missouri’s known for its many caves – more than 6,000 by some accounts. Our favorite commercial caves – Fantastic Caverns and Meramec Caverns , among them – draw visitors from all over with guided tours. Lesser-known, nameless caves dot Missouri’s state parks and landscape, discovered as we hike along scenic trails. However, did you know there are also underground cheese caves in Missouri – aptly named Springfield Underground? Yep, and they’re just what they sound like. Read on to discover more about these unique caves in Springfield Missouri .

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Have you heard of these unique caves in Springfield, Missouri before? Let us know in the comments! While you can’t visit the cheese caves in Missouri, you can visit Fantastic Caverns, the only ride-through cave in America .

America’s Only Ride-Thru Cave Is In Missouri And You Have To Visit

Or here’s another unique adventure in Missouri that’s an experience unlike any other.  

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Caves and hidden gems in missouri.

Aside from the MO cheese cave, what are some more unique caves in Missouri?

Here are some more of the most unique caves in Missouri that belong on your list:

• Marvel Cave, Branson
• Onondaga Cave , Leasburg
• Meramec Caverns, Stanton
• Fisher Cave, Sullivan
• Bridal Cave, Camdenton
• Fantastic Caverns, Springfield
• Crystal City Underground , Crystal City
• Cave Vineyard, Ste. Genevieve
• Cave Spring, Johnson Township

Learn more by reading our article featuring some of the best caves in Missouri . 

What are some more unique places in Missouri?

Springfield Underground is one of the most unique places in Missouri but it’s not the only one. Here are some more unique attractions in MO that will blow your mind.

• World's Largest Rocking Chair, Cuba
• Jesse James Home, St. Joseph
• Bonne Terre Mines , Bonne Terre
• Ha Ha Tonka Castle Ruins, Camdenton
• Giant Bookshelf, Kansas City Library, Kansas City
• Devil's Icebox, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Columbia
• World’s Largest Shuttlecocks, Kansas City
• Glore Psychiatric Museum, St. Joseph
• City Museum , St. Louis
• World's Largest Ball of Twine, Branson
• The Awakening - The Buried Giant, Chesterfield

We recommend that you read this article telling you more about these unique places in Missouri .

What are the best hidden gems in Missouri?

From state parks to historical sites to scenic rivers, and more, here are some of the best hidden gems in Missouri. 

• Bennett Spring State Park, Lebanon
• Mastodon State Historic Site, Imperial
• Castor River Shut-Ins , Fredericktown
• River of Life Farm, Dora
• Prairie State Park, Mindenmines
• Boathenge, Columbia
• Roaring River State Park, Cassville
• Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, Springfield
• Mark Twain National Forest , Rolla
• Precious Moments Garden, Carthage
• Rocky Falls, Eminence

Check out our previous article to discover more about these hidden gems in Missouri.

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Exploring the Delights of Cheese Caves in Missouri: Your Ultimate Guide

Table of Contents

Cheese Caves in Missouri: A Hidden Gem

In the heart of the Midwest lies a hidden gem for cheese lovers – the cheese caves of Missouri . While Missouri might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of cheese production, it is home to some of the most unique and delicious artisanal cheeses in the country.

Discovering the Caves

The story of Missouri’s cheese caves begins with a rich history dating back to the 1800s. Immigrant cheese makers from Europe discovered that the natural limestone caves in the area provided the perfect environment for aging and storing cheese. This tradition has continued to thrive, and today, visitors have the opportunity to explore these fascinating underground caves and witness the art of cheese aging firsthand.

Cheese Tasting Tours

One of the highlights of visiting the cheese caves is the chance to participate in cheese tasting tours . Guided by knowledgeable experts, visitors can sample a variety of cheeses, each with its own distinct flavor profile and aging process. From sharp cheddars to creamy bries, there is something to satisfy every palate.

The Science of Cave-Aged Cheese

What sets cave-aged cheese apart from other varieties is the unique environment in which it is aged. The consistent temperature and humidity levels found in the caves create the perfect conditions for the development of complex flavors and textures. It’s a marriage of nature and science that results in truly exceptional cheeses.

Furthermore, the natural molds and yeasts present in the caves contribute to the cheese’s distinct characteristics, giving it a depth of flavor that simply cannot be replicated in a standard aging room.

Preserving a Time-Honored Tradition

Visiting the cheese caves of Missouri is not only a culinary experience but also a journey through history. The dedication to preserving the time-honored tradition of cave-aged cheese production is evident in every aspect of the process, from the meticulous aging techniques to the commitment to maintaining the integrity of the caves themselves.

For cheese enthusiasts and food aficionados, a visit to the Missouri cheese caves is a must. It’s an opportunity to savor the rich flavors of artisanal cheese and gain a newfound appreciation for the craftsmanship behind each wheel.

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Yes, the Government Really Does Stash Billions of Pounds of Cheese in Missouri Caves

The USDA has kept cheese and other dairy products in cold-storage caves for decades. But their purpose has shifted over the years.

If you had millions of pounds of cheese—along with butter and dry-milk powders—where would you keep it? If you’re the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the answer is obvious: in a series of caves outside Springfield, Missouri. 

It’s not as wacky as it sounds. The USDA has a large presence in Kansas City, Missouri, and when it found itself with millions of pounds of surplus dairy and needed a safe, climate-controlled place to put it all, it started to search locally. A set of caves along Interstate 435 offered a convenient cold-storage option. 

But still, caves aside, why is the government in the decades-long habit of hoarding cheese in the first place?

The answer to that question has two parts: why it started; and why it’s still doing it. 

It all starts with milk. The price of milk has always been volatile, jumping up and down based on limited supply and fluctuating demand. It also doesn’t help that milk production naturally rises in the spring calving season, but demand for milk is generally at its highest in the fall, when the school year starts again. To help, the government looked for ways to step in and calm the market. But because milk has a pretty short shelf life, it couldn’t do much with the actual liquid product. 

So, the government turned to cheese. 

In 1949, the USDA introduced the Dairy Product Price Support Program , later known as the Milk Price Support Program. When the price of dairy products sunk too low for farmers, the USDA would offer to buy up the excess at a stable rate. It bought millions of pounds of cheese, butter and dry milk from producers who would otherwise have lost a lot of money if they only relied on their regular retailers. The result? The dairy market would stabilize, producers would have steady income and prices for the products would eventually rise. Then, once the prices of dairy products hit 125 percent of the support price, the USDA would start selling off its stash in bulk. 

That wasn’t so great either. The USDA buying up cheese prevented the prices from dipping too low—but the department also put a ceiling on how high the prices could climb. “This is especially true during the 1980s. You ended up with prices not able to move out of either end of the spectrum,” explains Scott Brown, an agricultural economist at the University of Missouri. “It did create very stable prices. But most folks weren’t very happy with that kind of operation, and it was costly [for the government].”

RELATED: Why Seasonality Matters for Cheese

Now, the USDA had to pivot. It started reducing the support prices and buying less stock, but that didn’t have a huge impact. So it moved to the next phase: getting rid of the automatic sell triggers. Instead of selling out its stores of dairy products when market prices climbed to 125 percent of the support price, it would leave it up to the secretary of agriculture to decide when to release the product. “That became a political football, how to handle the release of stocks,” Brown says. Not only that, but if the secretary of agriculture decided to hold on to stores past the previous 125-percent cutoff, stocks would keep accumulating. The cheese and butter and dry milk would pile up, and then the USDA would have to scramble to deal with them before they spoiled. 

It was a tricky balance to strike. Eventually, the USDA decided it had had enough, ending the price support program in 2014. But it kept hoarding cheese and still does so to this day. Only now, it’s for use in food assistance programs. In the latest cold storage report , the USDA shows a little less than 1.5 billion pounds of cheese in storage, along with 355 million pounds of butter, 211 million pounds of pecans and just less than a billion pounds of french fries (it stores a lot of stuff!).

Although the current iteration of cold storage isn’t intended to stabilize market prices, it can still have that effect. First, there’s the theory of displacement. If the USDA purchases cheese to give out to Americans in need via food banks and food assistance programs, does that replace a purchase of cheese someone might have otherwise made?

Brown argues that it’s not a one-to-one equivalence but that there might be a spectrum of displacement. For instance, if a person with a lower income were to receive a pound of cheese for free, that might not have any impact on their planned grocery purchase, as they might not have been able to afford cheese at all without help. “Maybe the next person comes along, and they could have afforded half a pound. But they didn’t buy that half a pound because the government gave them a whole pound,” Brown explains. The commercial displacement with government cheese is somewhere between zero and one. “The less it displaces, the more it helps market prices. Dairy farmers do get help from today’s government purchases; it’s just hard to quantify that help.”

RELATED: The Great Cheese Emergency

And as with calming market prices, government cheese can also shoot prices up. During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in May 2020 and running over the next year, the USDA created food boxes to distribute to families struggling in a tight economy. A portion of those boxes included—you guessed it—cheese and other dairy products. As a result, the government “spent billions of dollars,” says Brown. “It was a significant enough purchase that it drove cheese prices higher.” The wholesale prices of cheese jumped dramatically, which Brown calls an “unintended consequence” of the government’s food assistance efforts. 

Despite that, the USDA continues to hold millions of pounds of cheese and other food resources in cold storage, although it’s not quite as it seems. That nearly 1.5 billion pounds of cheese? Only about 300 million pounds of it belongs to the USDA. The rest is owned by private companies and stored by the USDA. 

So, yes, the government really does hoard billions of wheels of cheese in caves underneath Missouri. And, at least for now, the goal is to help people—both farmers and low-income consumers—with that stash.

Should the government ever need to get rid of its stores quickly, perhaps stocking up on some sourdough bread and nice butter would help. Grilled cheese party in Missouri, anyone?

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So Biden’s tapping the strategic oil reserve and doing nothing with the strategic CHEESE reserve? I think it’s time for the rest of the country to get introduced to (deep-fried) cheese curds! (and beer-cheese soup!)

I happen to live in an area where the majority of the residents’ income falls more on the lower end of the income scale. I can tell you firsthand that there are so many families here that would be extremely grateful to receive some of the governments surplus dairy products that they’re hoarding. I really had no idea that this was talking place, and I appreciate the information. However, now that I know about it, it really pisses me off that so many people in this country (especially the children), go to bed hungry or are eating out of dumpsters …  Read more »

As a Louisiana foodie, all I know about the topic is that if anyone got t heir hands on government cheese, it was a celebration, because it was so tasty.!!

Springfield and Kansas City are not even near each other, and 435 is no where near Springfield, this article is quite confusing. The caves in Kansas City are well known storage depots but Springfield? Please explain. Thank you.

I remember the British egg marketing board years ago when the same thing happened with eggs. All eggs produced by private farms etc, had to be sold to the government who stockpiled them. They ink stamped a lion on each egg they sold. Unscrupulous people bleached the eggs to remove the lion and sold them on the black market. The gov. finally dumped millions of eggs in the landfill. Check it out and report on it Dr Mercola.

This is our cheese, our money! The Gov has no money of it’s own

The U.S. has a NAFTA trade dispute ongoing with Canada because of the limited export. Canada doesn’t want a lot of U.S. dairy because they don’t use hormones and the difference in quality. The U.S. contends the market isn’t fair.

Interesting data, I did not know that cheese was so regulated and taken care of.

It is actually a reserve for a nuclear apocalypse. Selected ppl will hude in the caves and eat cheese untill the fallout is over.

Sounds like the days of the Canadian Egg Board with Max Roytenberg sorting it out.

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Exploring The Cheese Cave Of Missouri

Wondering about cheese cave Missouri? Check out our most recent post to learn more about the unique underground caves used to age and store cheese, and the artisanal cheeses produced in the state.

Cheese caves are an increasingly popular way to store and age cheese, and Missouri is no exception. The Cheese Cave in Missouri is a unique facility that has been around for decades, providing locals with delicious cheeses from local farmers.

In this article, we’ll explore the history of the Cheese Cave in Missouri, what kind of cheese is stored there, the benefits of having a cheese cave, how it helps local farmers, how it has evolved over time, and its impact on the economy of Missouri.

We’ll also discuss the different types of cheese that are produced in Missouri’s Cheese Cave. Whether you’re a cheese connoisseur or just curious about this unique facility, this article will provide you with all the information you need to know about the Cheese Cave in Missouri.

Table of Contents

What is the History of the Cheese Cave in Missouri?

The Cheese Cave in Missouri is a unique destination that has been around since the late 1800s. The cave was originally used as a cheese storage facility by local farmers, who would store their cheese in the cool and damp environment of the cave. Over time, the cave became a popular tourist destination, with visitors coming from all over to experience its unique atmosphere. Today, the Cheese Cave is still a popular tourist attraction and is home to a variety of artisanal cheeses.

The Beginnings

The Cheese Cave was first discovered in 1883 by a farmer who was searching for an ideal location to store his cheese. The farmer found that the cool, damp environment of the cave was perfect for storing cheese and he began to use it as his own personal storage facility. As word spread about the cave’s unique qualities, more farmers began to use it as their own storage facility and soon it became a popular tourist attraction.

Modern Day Cheese Cave

Today, the Cheese Cave is still a popular tourist destination and is home to a variety of artisanal cheeses. Visitors can explore the cave’s winding passages and sample some of the delicious cheeses that are stored there. The Cheese Cave also offers educational tours where visitors can learn about the history of cheese making in Missouri and get an up-close look at how cheese is made today.

The Cheese Cave in Missouri has been around since the late 1800s and has become one of the state’s most beloved attractions. It offers visitors an opportunity to explore its winding passages and sample some delicious artisanal cheeses while learning about its fascinating history. Whether you’re looking for an educational experience or just want to enjoy some delicious cheese, the Cheese Cave in Missouri is definitely worth visiting!

What Kind of Cheese is Stored in the Cheese Cave?

The Cheese Cave in Missouri is a unique cheese storage facility that offers a range of different types of cheese. The facility stores over 200 varieties of cheese, including cheddar, gouda, brie, blue, and more. All cheeses are stored in the optimal temperature and humidity to ensure they remain fresh and flavorful. The Cheese Cave also offers a selection of specialty cheeses such as truffle cheese, smoked gouda, and sheep’s milk cheese.

The Cheese Cave also offers a variety of aged cheeses. Aged cheeses are left to mature for several months or even years before they are ready to be consumed. These cheeses have a bold flavor and can be used as an ingredient in many dishes or enjoyed on their own. Some popular aged cheeses include Parmigiano-Reggiano, Manchego, and Gruyere.

The Cheese Cave also stocks artisanal cheeses that are produced by small-scale farmers using traditional techniques. These cheeses often have unique flavors due to the terroir and the aging process used by the farmers. Artisanal cheeses include goat cheese, feta cheese, and Roquefort blue cheese.

The Cheese Cave also offers a selection of specialty cheeses such as truffle cheese, smoked gouda, and sheep’s milk cheese. These types of cheese have unique flavors that can be used to enhance dishes or enjoyed on their own. Specialty cheeses are often made with high-quality ingredients and aged for longer periods of time than other types of cheese. [1]

Overall, the Cheese Cave in Missouri offers a wide variety of different types of cheese from around the world for both chefs and consumers alike to enjoy. From cheddar to blue to truffle cheese, there is something for everyone at this unique facility!

What are the Benefits of a Cheese Cave?

Cheese caves provide an ideal environment for aging cheese, allowing it to develop its flavor and texture. By controlling the temperature, humidity, and air flow, cheese makers can create the perfect conditions for their product to mature. The most common benefits of a cheese cave are that it helps maintain the quality of the cheese, provides an ideal environment for aging, and allows for more efficient production.

Maintaining Quality

A cheese cave helps maintain the quality of the cheese by providing a consistent temperature and humidity level. This helps prevent spoilage and encourages optimal flavor development. It also helps prevent mold growth which can ruin a batch of cheese.

Ideal Aging Environment

The temperature and humidity levels in a cheese cave provide an ideal environment for aging cheese. This allows the cheese to develop its unique flavor profile while maintaining its texture. The consistent temperature also prevents large fluctuations that can cause problems with the aging process.

More Efficient Production

A cheese cave allows for more efficient production since it eliminates the need to move batches of cheese between different storage locations. This saves time and money since there is no need to transport or store multiple batches at different temperatures or humidity levels.

How Does the Cheese Cave Help Local Farmers?

The Cheese Cave in Missouri is a unique facility that helps local farmers in a variety of ways. The facility provides a space for farmers to age and store their cheese, allowing them to produce high-quality products with consistent flavor and texture. The Cheese Cave also offers educational opportunities for farmers, teaching them about the process of aging cheese and helping them to develop new recipes. In addition, the facility provides marketing support for small producers, helping them reach more customers and increase their sales.

Aging and Storage Space

The Cheese Cave provides an ideal environment for aging cheese, with temperatures ranging from 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity levels between 85 and 90 percent. This allows the cheese to age properly, resulting in a consistent flavor and texture. The facility also provides storage space for farmers, allowing them to keep their products safe while they are aging.

Educational Opportunities

The Cheese Cave offers educational opportunities for local farmers, teaching them about the process of aging cheese and helping them to develop new recipes. This knowledge can be invaluable for small producers who are looking to expand their product offerings or create new flavors.

Marketing Support

The Cheese Cave also provides marketing support for small producers, helping them reach more customers and increase their sales. The facility works with local restaurants and stores to promote the products of small producers, giving them access to larger markets that they would not have been able to access on their own.

Overall, the Cheese Cave is an invaluable resource for local farmers in Missouri. It provides a space for aging and storing cheese, educational opportunities, and marketing support that can help small producers grow their businesses.

How has the Cheese Cave evolved over Time?

Cheese caves have been around for centuries, but they have come a long way since their early days. The traditional cheese cave was a simple underground chamber, often made of stone, used to store and age cheese in cool temperatures. Today, modern cheese caves are much more sophisticated and provide an ideal environment for aging cheese.

Temperature and Humidity Control

Modern cheese caves are equipped with temperature and humidity control systems that allow for precise control over the aging process. This allows cheesemakers to create a variety of flavors and textures in their cheeses. The temperature and humidity levels can be adjusted to create the perfect environment for the specific type of cheese being aged.

Advanced Refrigeration Systems

Another major advancement in modern cheese caves is the use of advanced refrigeration systems. These systems allow for precise temperature control and ensure that the cheese is stored at a consistent temperature throughout the aging process. This helps to maintain the quality of the cheese as it ages and prevents spoilage or off-flavors from developing.

Computerized Monitoring Systems

The latest development in modern cheese caves is the use of computerized monitoring systems. These systems allow cheesemakers to monitor the temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors within their cave in real time. This allows them to make adjustments as needed to ensure that their cheeses are aging properly and producing consistent results every time.

Overall, modern cheese caves have come a long way since their early days and now provide an ideal environment for aging high-quality cheeses. With precise temperature and humidity control, advanced refrigeration systems, and computerized monitoring systems, today’s cheese caves offer cheesemakers an unprecedented level of control over their aging process.

What Impact Has the Cheese Cave had on Missouri’s Economy?

The Cheese Cave in Springfield, Missouri has had a major impact on the state’s economy. The cave is home to one of the largest cheese-making operations in the United States, producing over two million pounds of cheese each year. This has created jobs for local residents and generated revenue for businesses in the area. In addition, it has helped to boost tourism in the region, as people from all over the country come to experience the unique atmosphere of this underground cheese factory.

Increased Employment

The Cheese Cave has created numerous jobs for locals, including cheesemakers, packers, and delivery drivers. This has provided a much-needed economic boost to the area, as these employees are able to spend their wages at local businesses and help stimulate the local economy.

Boosted Tourism

The Cheese Cave has also been a major draw for tourists from around the country. Tourists come to experience the unique atmosphere of an underground cheese factory and sample some of its delicious products. This influx of visitors helps to generate revenue for businesses in the area, such as restaurants and hotels.

Increased Local Businesses

The success of The Cheese Cave has also led to an increase in other local businesses related to cheese production. For example, there are now several small artisanal cheese shops in Springfield that specialize in locally produced cheeses. These businesses have helped to create additional jobs and bring more money into the local economy.

Overall, The Cheese Cave has had a positive impact on Missouri’s economy by creating jobs, generating revenue from tourism, and encouraging growth in related industries.

What Types of Cheese are Produced in Missouri’s Cheese Cave?

Missouri’s Cheese Cave is a cheese-aging facility located in St. Louis, Missouri, that produces some of the finest artisan cheeses in the country. The cave is home to a variety of traditional and unique cheeses, including blue cheese, cheddar, gouda, and more. Each cheese is carefully crafted using only the freshest ingredients and aged to perfection in the cave’s special climate-controlled environment. The result is an array of delicious and unique flavors that can’t be found anywhere else.

Blue Cheese

Missouri’s Cheese Cave produces some of the best blue cheeses in the country. Their blue cheese is made from raw cow’s milk and aged for six months or longer in the cave’s cool temperatures. This aging process gives the cheese its characteristic flavor and aroma, making it perfect for salads, sandwiches, or as a stand-alone snack.

The cheddar produced by Missouri’s Cheese Cave has a rich and creamy texture that makes it ideal for melting on top of burgers or grilled sandwiches. It is made from raw cow’s milk and aged for at least six months in the cave’s special climate-controlled environment. This aging process gives it its distinct flavor and texture that will make your taste buds dance with delight.

Gouda is another type of cheese produced by Missouri’s Cheese Cave. This semi-hard cheese has a nutty flavor with subtle hints of sweetness that make it perfect for snacking or adding to recipes. It is made from raw cow’s milk and aged for at least six months in the cave’s climate-controlled environment to give it its unique flavor profile.

Other Cheeses

In addition to blue cheese, cheddar, and gouda, Missouri’s Cheese Cave also produces other types of specialty cheeses such as brie, camembert, havarti, gruyere, raclette, fontina, and more. All of these cheeses are crafted with care using only the freshest ingredients and aged to perfection in the cave’s special climate-controlled environment to give them their unique flavor profiles that can’t be found anywhere else. and https://www.missourilife.com/cheese-caves-missouri/.

Closing Thoughts

The Cheese Cave in Missouri has been a part of the state’s history for centuries, and it has evolved significantly over time. It is now an important part of the local economy and provides a variety of benefits to local farmers, cheese makers, and consumers. The Cheese Cave stores many different types of cheese, from traditional cheddar to more exotic varieties like brie and gouda.

The Cheese Cave in Missouri has had a positive impact on the state’s economy by providing jobs for local farmers and cheese makers and by creating unique products that are enjoyed by many people around the world. It also serves as a great example of how sustainable agriculture can be used to create delicious food products that benefit both the environment and local communities.

We hope this article has provided you with some insight into the fascinating history of cheese caves in Missouri and their current role in the state’s economy. We thank you for taking the time to read our article about cheese cave missouri and invite you to share any thoughts or additional information about this topic in the comments below.

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Feast Your Eyes: Kraft's Massive Underground Cheese Cave Photo: Kraft's Massive Underground Cheese Cave in Springfield, Missouri

400,000 square feet of Velveeta, buried deep within the earth.

Unlike traditional cheese caves, which can impart the particular flavors of time and place—the unique combinations of bacteria, yeast, and mold that cheese makers call terroir — Wired magazine explains that in the case of Kraft's cave:

It’s not about aging, it’s about cheap storage: Moving refrigeration underground saves massive amounts of energy, since the temperature 100 feet down is a constant 58 degrees Fahrenheit. An above-ground pump sends 13,000 gallons of chilled brine through the system every day, keeping the warehouse at a cool 36 degrees. \n

Photograph by Christoph Morlinghaus (who also explores parking lots and greenhouses ), via Wired .

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Inside Missouri’s Infamous Cheese Caves

Deep within the heart of the Ozarks settled under Springfield, Missouri , is an old urban legend: caves filled with cheese. As the story goes, back in the eighties, the subterranean spot housed enough surplus cheese — some 1.4 billion pounds — to wrap around the U.S. Capitol . That heyday fizzled out in the nineties, when the federal government got rid of it. But like any good folklore, the mystique lives on.

The mere existence of cheese caves sounds like the plot of a, well, cheesy sci-fi flick. One that begs a lot of questions: How did this all start? Where did the cheese come from? Where did it go? And what’s stored in those caves now?  

Let’s start at the beginning, in the seventies, when the United States experienced an unprecedented dairy shortage . The decade’s energy crisis tanked the economy, sending dairy prices soaring. To address the issue, President Jimmy Carter set a new subsidy policy in 1977 that dumped $2 billion into the dairy industry over a four-year period. But by the eighties, America had gone from too little milk to too much of it.

The solution? Turn lemons into lemonade. Or, in the government’s case, turn milk into cheese. The U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased the surplus milk, processed it into blocks of cheese, and tucked it away hundreds of feet below Springfield in 3.2 million square feet of former limestone mines. An elaborate cooling system regulated the warehouse’s temperature (around 36°F) and relative humidity to help preserve the goods.

Illustration by Frank Moth

“The U.S. government owned so many stocks of cheeses, butter and nonfat dry milk, they were running out of places to put it,” explains Cornell Agricultural Economics Professor Andrew Novaković . “So, they used this underground storage facility — think Indiana Jones and the final home of the Ark of the Covenant .” By 1981, the government had a treasure trove of aging cheese — and no idea what to do with it. A USDA official even told the Washington Post that “probably the cheapest and most practical thing would be to dump it in the ocean.”

But President Ronald Reagan had a better idea. Spurred on by public criticism, in December 1981 he announced his plan to give it away. He debuted the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program , which ultimately distributed some 30 million pounds of cheese to elderly and low-income individuals.  

For some people, the handouts brought joy. “The kid generation had these really fond memories of the cheese,” says University of Louisville Associate Professor Kristen Lucas , who interviewed families of this generation to understand how they remembered the 1980s recession ; every single person brought up the cheese. “One woman remembered how her brother kept the cheese boxes because he stored his baseball cards in them. Even years later, they had these moments of nostalgia.”  

Reagan’s program was alive and well in places like Ishpeming and Negaunee in Michigan . During the recession, countless men in these remote mining towns were out of work due to the suffering auto industry. “For them, the cheese tasted like shame,” Lucas adds. “They couldn’t provide for their families. For them, there were no happy memories about it.” A clear theme surfaced: The cheese was more than just cheese, representing both hardship and resilience.

But even Reagan’s TEFAP program didn’t deplete the stockpile. So in the nineties, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board created Dairy Management Inc. to empty the caves once and for all. Its prerogative? Squeeze as much milk, cheese and yogurt into big-name brands as possible. Bloomberg went as far as calling DMI the “Illuminati of cheese,” describing it as “a secretive, government-sponsored entity putting cheese anywhere it can stuff it.”

And stuff it they did. This cheesy Illuminati is to thank for food phenomena like Domino’s seven-cheese and stuffed-crust pizzas, Taco Bell ’s Quesalupa, Yoplait yogurt chips, and even the celebrity-studded “ Got Milk ” ad campaign. DMI’s hard work paid off, and soon enough the cheese caves were effectively emptied. In fact by 2000, Americans were eating 32 pounds of cheese each — four times what we consumed in 1970.  

“An ill-fated attempt to prop up the farm price of milk got out of hand in the 1980s, but that problem went away in the 1990s,” explains Novaković. “The government ratcheted down its price support policy until the program became all but meaningless. These days, programs enable the government to buy food for donation purposes, including dairy products.” Essentially, the USDA decides what food will be sent to hunger-relief organizations like Feeding America , then it gets delivered to their warehouses for distribution — no caves necessary.

And yet the rumors persist. “Folks are still trying to sensationalize these numbers by suggesting that the cheese stockpile is still bigger than the Capitol building,” says Mark Stephenson , director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison . “Now, the caves are primarily used for cold storage for all kinds of products, not just dairy.”

So are the cheese glory days behind us? It depends how you look at it. Today, Americans consume more cheese than ever, with each of us eating about 40 pounds per year. For the families who experienced the government cheese handouts of the eighties, like the miners of Michigan, those memories are visceral. The legendary Missouri caves still hum just above freezing, but not for a mountain of cheese (more like a molehill). Despite that, the mystique remains. After all, who doesn’t love a good tale about hidden treasure ?  

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

Tags: Adventure , cheese , Culture , food , Michigan , Missouri , Missouri cheese caves , Ozarks , Spring 2023 , Springfield , U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Can you visit the Missouri cheese caves?

Exploring the hidden gem: missouri cheese caves.

If you’re a cheese lover, chances are you’ve wondered about the mysterious Missouri cheese caves. Located deep underground, these caves house some of the most exquisite and sought-after cheeses in the world. But can you actually visit these caves? The answer might surprise you.

Uncovering the Mystique of Missouri Cheese Caves

Missouri cheese caves are a well-kept secret in the world of artisanal cheese. These caves provide the perfect environment for aging and storing cheese, with their cool, damp conditions. What makes these caves truly unique is the natural resources that contribute to the distinctive flavors and textures of the cheese. But can you explore these caves as a cheese enthusiast?

Exploring the Missouri Cheese Caves

The answer is yes! In recent years, some of the Missouri cheese caves have opened their doors to the public, allowing visitors to tour the caves and learn about the cheese-making process. These tours provide a rare opportunity to witness firsthand the aging and maturing of some of the finest cheeses in the world. You’ll have the chance to taste and purchase these exclusive cheeses, gaining a deeper appreciation for the craftsmanship and dedication behind each wheel.

1. How can I visit the Missouri cheese caves?

Visiting the Missouri cheese caves is a unique experience that requires advance booking. Some caves offer guided tours and tasting events, so it’s best to check their websites for availability.

2. What types of cheese can I expect to find in the caves?

The caves are home to a variety of artisanal cheeses, including aged cheddar, creamy brie, and tangy blue cheeses. Each cheese has its own distinct flavor profile, reflecting the expertise of the local cheese makers.

3. Are the tours suitable for children?

Some caves offer family-friendly tours, while others may have age restrictions due to the nature of the environment. It’s essential to check with the cave’s guidelines before planning your visit.

4. Can I purchase cheese during the tour?

Most caves have on-site shops where you can purchase the cheeses you’ve sampled during the tour. This is a great opportunity to bring home some unique and delicious souvenirs.

5. How long do the tours typically last?

The duration of the tours can vary, but they usually range from 1 to 2 hours. It’s essential to check the tour details when making your reservation.

6. Are there any food and wine pairings available during the tours?

Some caves offer special events that include cheese tasting paired with local wines or gourmet snacks. These events provide an excellent opportunity to explore the flavors of the cheese in a curated setting.

7. Can I take photographs during the tour?

Photography policies may vary, so it’s best to inquire with the cave staff before your visit. Many caves allow photography for personal use but restrict professional cameras and tripods.

8. Are the caves accessible for individuals with mobility issues?

Accessibility can vary depending on the cave’s location and structure. It’s advisable to contact the caves in advance to discuss any mobility concerns and ensure a comfortable visit.

9. Are there any restrictions on sampling the cheese?

While most tours include cheese tasting, there may be limitations on the quantity of cheese offered. Some caves may also have restrictions on outside food and beverages.

10. Can I arrange private events or group tours in the caves?

Many caves offer private tours and events for groups, providing a unique setting for special occasions, such as birthdays, corporate gatherings, or team-building activities.

11. Are there any precautions I should take before visiting the caves?

It’s essential to dress appropriately for the cave environment, as temperatures can be cool and damp. Comfortable footwear is recommended, and it’s advisable to follow any guidelines provided by the cave staff.

12. Can I bring my pets along for the tour?

In consideration of other visitors and the cave environment, pets are generally not permitted on the tours. It’s best to make suitable arrangements for your pets before planning your visit.

By exploring the hidden gem of Missouri cheese caves, you’ll embark on a journey that tantalizes the senses and ignites a passion for artisanal cheese. Whether you’re a seasoned cheese connoisseur or a curious food enthusiast, these caves offer a captivating and immersive experience that will leave a lasting impression. So, don’t miss the chance to discover the allure of Missouri cheese caves and savor the flavors of this exceptional culinary adventure.

About Julie Howell

Julie has over 20 years experience as a writer and over 30 as a passionate home cook; this doesn't include her years at home with her mother, where she thinks she spent more time in the kitchen than out of it. She loves scouring the internet for delicious, simple, heartwarming recipes that make her look like a MasterChef winner. Her other culinary mission in life is to convince her family and friends that vegetarian dishes are much more than a basic salad. She lives with her husband, Dave, and their two sons in Alabama.

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Springfield, MO’s underground cheese caves

I’ve spent the last several months visiting family and enjoying the Ozarks. The things I enjoy most about this part of the country is that there is a sense of being close to the land and nature. Hay bales, livestock and barbed wire fence means someone works with their hands, uses what they have to get the job done, and knows something about nurturing. It seems down to earth ethics also brings processes that are closer to common sense and practices mostly forgotten and abandoned.

I came across a peculiarity-a common sense solution that I’m sure saves tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for Kraft Foods and other local manufacturers. The company, Springfield Underground owns the 3.2 million square foot underground warehouse, originally opened in 1946 as a limestone quarry, now sees more than 500 trucks daily and employs 600 workers. It remains a consistent 60 degrees Fahrenheit, protects products from natural disaster and provides a environment favorable for aging cheese and storing dry goods and raw materials. Tunnels run beneath 2 highways, several city streets and encompasses 3.5 miles of roadways suitable for 18-wheeler maneuverability.

Warehouse tours are off-limits to the public but Springfield Underground group tours are available by calling:  You can take a virtual tour with “Crazy  trucker posted a video as he made a delivery. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtQRi8QSQ3I An interesting video about how railway collaborates with underground storage can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhFzzrbp-4E If you are really curious and want to dig deeper, here’s a video about how and why it all came about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCNpcmxi6Q&t=114s

Author: Margaret

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Murray's Cheese Cave Experiences

Want to go behind the rind? Head to our cheese caves! Whether you're looking for a tasty tour or an enriching internship, we offer opportunities to learn all about the art and science of   affinage.

Cave Intern Program

Love cheese? Our cave intern program offers a front-row seat to expert affinage for enthusiastic individuals who want to help us produce Murray’s incredible cheeses.

Take a Cave-Themed Class

Take a class at our Bleecker St flagship to learn about the work that goes into crafting our remarkable cave cheeses (and of course, taste them!).

World of Murray’s

Cheese Caves and Food Surpluses: Why the U.S. Government currently stores 1.4 billion lbs of cheese

Hundreds of feet below the ground in Missouri, there are hundreds of thousands of pounds of American cheese. Deep in converted limestone mines, caves kept perfectly at 36 degrees Fahrenheit store stockpiles of government-owned cheese comprising the country’s 1.4 billion pounds of surplus cheese. How we got to this point is a long story, and it starts during a national dairy shortage in the 1970s .  

In response to this dairy shortage and 30% inflation on dairy products, the government intervened, resulting in prices falling drastically. So, in 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter decided to pour money into the dairy industry to motivate production and alleviate the crisis. The government set a new policy to subsidize dairy, providing two billion dollars to the industry over the next four years. While this plan was welcome to dairy farmers, it also primed them for overproduction.

Farmers who had been struggling were motivated to produce as much dairy as they could, knowing that whatever was not sold on the market could likely be purchased by the government, and it was. By the early 1980s, the government owned over 500 million pounds of cheese. The reason the dairy product was converted to cheese was because it has a longer shelf life than other dairy products as the government searched for solutions to the problem it had created.

This led to Ronald Reagan enacting public distribution of the government cheese in 1981. That year then-Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block showed up at the White House with a molding five-pound block of cheese and told reporters , “We’ve got 60 million of these that the government owns… It’s moldy, it’s deteriorating… we can’t find a market for it, we can’t sell it, and we’re looking to give some of it away.” Thus, “government cheese” was born, and the federal government distributed these cheese blocks through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). It was given away for free by pickup to people at food banks, community centers, and so on. “Government cheese” became a totem of American culture , signaling both class and nostalgia. It is referenced in Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z songs, and in 2017, Snoop Dogg even taught Martha Stewart how to cook with it on their show.

Flash forward to 2019, when the government again found itself storing cheese, this time to the tune of 1.4 billion pounds. Amid trade disputes and declining dairy consumption nationally, the American government has been subsidizing and stockpiling America’s surplus cheese. According to the USDA , American milk consumption has dropped from 275 pounds per capita in 1975 to 149 pounds per capita in 2017.

Though demand is declining, production is not. It has risen 13% since 2010 . In 2016, the American dairy industry dumped a whopping 43 million gallons of milk into fields, animal feed, and anaerobic lagoons. Though this waste is staggering, it is also not representative of the size of the surpluses being run by dairy farms. The dairy industry received 43 billion and 36.3 billion dollars in 2016 and 2017, respectively, from the federal government. In 2018, 42% of revenue for U.S. dairy producers came from some kind of government support. It is important to note that the dairy lobby is largely responsible for influencing politics to dedicate this money for the industry, and the money mostly goes to the big dairy companies that fund the lobby, leaving smaller operations to fend for themselves in the increasingly competitive market.

Additionally, to help move dairy products that are less and less in demand , the Clinton Administration started Dairy Management Inc . in the 1990s. With an annual budget of $140 million, this offshoot of the Dept. of Agriculture works to get Americans to consume more dairy, even though the Dept. of Health and Human Services has conducted studies showing dairy is not very healthy to be consumed regularly, and 36% of Americans are lactose intolerant . This intolerance has been proven to be significantly higher for minority groups, with 75% of African Americans experiencing lactose intolerance, 51% of Latinos, and 80% Asian Americans, contrasted by just 21% of Caucasians. Dairy Management Inc. nonetheless launches campaigns like the infamous “Got Milk?” ads, Taco Bell cheesy crust, Taco Bell double steak quesadillas, and milk as part of the federal school lunch program. They even bailed Domino’s out after the 2010 recession as part of an attempt to keep Americans eating cheese.  

It seems that we should not be asking people if they “got milk?” and instead think about how to use up the existing cheese supply without adding to it. The funds used to subsidize the overproduction of dairy and maintain “cheese caves” may be better spent elsewhere. Smaller farms should be included when the government does subsidize dairy, and there may be creative solutions to avoid maintaining caves of cheese below ground. It is important that special interests do not acquire billions annually for an industry that knowingly overproduces, not to mention pollutes the environment, in the face of declining consumption. Instead, the government should help these farmers transition to more in-demand crops instead of pushing less healthy ones into the stomachs of Americans.

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Cheese caves: Tour this mysterious Missouri business

keckcaves Caves

Cheese caves in Missouri offer a fascinating and mysterious experience for visitors. These caves are not just ordinary caves; they are specifically designed to age and store cheese. The caves maintain the perfect temperature and humidity levels to create the ideal environment for cheese aging.

Located in Missouri, these cheese caves have become a popular tourist attraction. Visitors can take guided tours to learn about the cheese-making process and witness the stages of cheese aging firsthand. The caves are a maze of tunnels and chambers, where different types of cheese are stored and aged.

One of the key features of these caves is their ability to maintain consistent temperature and humidity. This is crucial for the aging process, as it allows the cheese to develop its unique flavors and textures. The caves provide a natural environment that is hard to replicate elsewhere.

The cheese caves also play an important role in supporting local cheese makers. By providing them with a space to age their cheese, these caves help small-scale producers compete with larger manufacturers. The caves offer a cost-effective solution for aging cheese, as they eliminate the need for expensive equipment and additional storage space.

In addition to their practical benefits, the cheese caves also add an element of mystique to the cheese-making process. The dark, damp environment creates an aura of secrecy and intrigue. Visitors are often amazed at how such a simple concept can result in such complex flavors.

Overall, the cheese caves in Missouri offer a unique and educational experience for visitors. They showcase the art and science of cheese making, while supporting local producers. Whether you’re a cheese enthusiast or simply curious about the process, a visit to these mysterious caves is sure to leave you with a newfound appreciation for this beloved dairy product.

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The Underground Cheese Caves of Missouri

By jake rossen | nov 27, 2023.

Of the various issues that have raised the ire of politicians over the decades, one in particular prompted a strong rebuke in 1981: Moldy cheese .

That year, Secretary of Agriculture John Block hefted a brick of fungus-infested processed cheese in the hallowed halls of the White House to demonstrate a pressing concern over dairy subsidies and their calamitous effects. “We don’t feel we can keep the oldest cheese much longer,” he said.

Iowa congressman and dairy advocate Tom Harkin cried foul. “Shame,” he said during a House debate on a farming bill. “Shame on Secretary Block for bringing out moldy cheese.”

The bitter cheese imbroglio of 1981 was part of a larger dairy issue, one that drew arguments about government overreach and the economy—and one that resulted in a massive stockpile of hundreds of millions of pounds of cheese being stored 100 feet below the surface in an underground Missouri stronghold. America was in a full-on cheese crisis.

Grilled Over Cheese

To understand why the government hoarded cheese, one needs to revisit 1977, when then-President Jimmy Carter opted to prop up an ailing dairy industry with a cash infusion totaling roughly $2 billion. Thanks to a longstanding government program, the Commodity Credit Corporation, or CCC, the federal government was authorized to purchase dairy products. Farmers could therefore ramp up production without risk; any food that went unsold would be bought by Uncle Sam instead.

Naturally, this resulted in an overrun of milk, much of it being converted into cheese due to its longer shelf life. As more and more processed cheese piled up, the government developed a 500 million-pound stockpile just sitting in warehouses that needed to be offloaded—hence Block’s grandstanding display of holding up moldy cheese.

One idea was to simply dump it into the ocean—but with many Americans experiencing food insecurity, others deemed that solution wasteful. By now, it wasn’t Carter’s problem but Ronald Reagan ’s. His solution was the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, which allocated the orange bricks to those needing food assistance. But as Block had cautioned, the cheese was indeed often moldy. For that reason and others, the concept of so-called “government cheese” became synonymous with subpar quality and was stigmatized in society.

Even though the cheese was being rehomed, the Department of Agriculture still needed to store it. And that’s where the cheese caves came in. While a lot of the cheese was stored in warehouses across multiple states, a series of limestone mines underneath Springfield, Missouri, proved particularly useful and contained most of the cheese surplus. They were naturally climate-controlled at roughly 60 degrees and therefore required less energy to cool, and they offered millions of square feet in storage. It was an ideal location for the toppling towers of cheese grabbed by the government.

Springfield wasn't the only cheese hotspot. By 1981, dairy surplus—cheese, butter, powdered milk—lurked under Kansas City and other locations. In the caves, one could find barrels of cheese weighing 500 pounds, “free” cheese in 5-pound loaves, and 50-pound sacks of dry milk. Kansas City alone was home to 161 million pounds of the stuff.

Cheese Wheels

According to cheese critics, harboring such massive cheese reserves was costing the government upwards of $1 million a day . There was also pressure to hasten distribution, as storing the cheese was expensive and its potential for spoilage created a ticking clock. Not only that, but there was only so much storage space to devote to the overflow. America was facing a cheese emergency.

Criticized over such expense, the government began to throttle its financial support to farmers, though it couldn’t cut it off entirely. Worse, there was really no limit to how much product farmers could off-load under the CCC program, which paid them a better-than-market rate. And so the cheese reservoir just kept growing —to about 1.2 billion pounds by 1984.

Help arrived in the form of marketing. In the 1990s, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board made it part of their mission to help reduce the cheese stockpile, pushing extra-cheesy fast food menu items and organizing the Got Milk? ad campaign. Though their efforts were not solely designed to empty cheese caves, demand for dairy spiked. That, combined with easing government aid, helped turn the cheese tsunami into more of a cheese ripple.

The government still buys cheese, primarily to strengthen school lunch and other food assistance programs, but doesn’t do much hoarding of it. The Missouri cheese caves persist, though the Department of Agriculture owns only a portion of the estimated 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in underground cold storage across the country. Their stock is primarily used for military sustenance.

Instead, food manufacturers like Kraft Heinz lease the underground spaces for storage and to age cheese. It’s all in the service of satiating America’s appetite for the stuff: We consume roughly 13.5 billion pounds of cheese annually. Unless that changes, we'll probably be maintaining underground cheese bunkers for some time to come.

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Food and Travel Nation – DESTINATION – UNDERGROUND CHEESE CAVES IN MISSOURI with Elizabeth Dougherty Broadcast Date:  6/4/22

Elizabeth takes us to Springfield, Missouri where deep under the streets of the city lies a big, enormous, almost unbelievable stash of CHEESE!

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Explore crystal cave, springfield, missouri, a fantastic underground experience for the whole family.

Crystal Cave's guided tours will take you into our naturally preserved historic cave, which first opened to the public as a commercial show cave in 1893. You’ll enter this spectacular cave through the old iron gates from the original Springfield jail and walk into the cool underworld. The temperature inside the cave is a constant 59° fahrenheit. Once in the cave you will see many fantastic geological formations including stalagmites, stalactites, flowstone, and the rare helictites formations.

Crystal Cave boasts many one-of-a-kind underground rooms that your tour guide will share with you, including where one of the original owners cultivated their mushroom gardens back in early 1900s.

• The Ghost Room – featuring 13 pure white stalagmites that are over 2 feet tall
• Rocky Mountain Chamber – featuring the Washington Monument. This famous natural formation has been replicated by Smithsonian curators and is showcased in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
• Concert Hall – measuring over 100 feet long and features hundreds of soda straw stalactites.
• Cathedral Chamber – featuring evidence of the earth’s movement 6,000 years ago.
• Chimes Room – with its natural dome ceiling some of the stalactites will produce a musical tone when gently struck.

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The Secrets of Aging Cheese: A Tour of Murray's Cheese Caves

If you look at most of our favorite cheeses , they have one thing in the common: They tend to have some age. While some cheeses are best eaten the day they're made, others take time. And mold. And the right temperature and humidity. And a bat cave to linger in until they're ready to emerge fully formed.

Murray's, the iconic Greenwich Village cheesemonger, has been aging their own cheeses since 2004 when they first built a modest 600-square-foot aging facility under their Bleecker Street store. In 2013, Murray's built a new set of caves, twice the size of the Manhattan facility, in Long Island City, Queens. The caves are part of an all-encompassing, state-of-the-art enterprise that combines Murray's aging, distribution, R&D, and administrative functions under one roof, and they're home to a lot of cheese.

In Europe, cheese was traditionally aged and preserved in actual caves before the advent of refrigeration. (Several styles are still produced this way, most prominently Roquefort, which according to EU law must be aged in southern France's Roquefort-sur-Soulzon caves.) Modern aging caves are what you see in the US, and excluding those built by cheesemakers solely to age their own products, there are only a few caves in the U.S. devoted solely to aging cheese. Some caves take entirely fresh cheeses from cheesemakers and age them from start to finish; other cheesemakers start aging cheeses themselves and let the caves finish them off.

Murray's caves are the oldest in the country. 2007 saw the opening of Greensboro, Vermont's Cellars at Jasper Hill , and two new caves opened last year: Crown Finish Caves in Crown Heights, Brooklyn distributes primarily to New York-area retailers, and Western New York supermarket juggernaut Wegmans has a massive 12,300-square-foot Rochester facility.

Cheese Aging 101

The overall guiding philosophy at the Murray's Caves, as described by Cavemaster Brian Ralph, is to take cheeses that arrive with "one note" and impart them with considerably more depth of flavor, like curing fresh pork legs into ham or fermenting grape juice into wine. Inside the lime-washed cinderblock caves, bacterial cultures accumulate in visible lines, not unlike the decades-worth of soot and spice that line old meat smokers.

And like smoking meat and making wine, aging cheese is no cakewalk. It's a time- and labor-intensive process that demands fanatical devotion to detail as well as considerable skill and patience. Brian's a former neurobiologist, and his assistant, Peter Jenkelunas, has a master's in food science.

Brian explained just what happens when a cheese ages in a cave. Some cheeses are aged externally, meaning bacteria and mold cultures on the surface of the cheese age it "from the outside in." Others age internally, meaning cultures directly inside the cheese age it "from the inside out."

With externally ripened cheeses, "mold or bacteria that cover the surface of the cheese digest their food by breaking down proteins and fats with enzymes," Brian explains. Different molds and bacteria use different enzymes and release different flavors and aromas into the cheese.

It's a similar story for internally ripened cheeses, but instead of enzymes being released by external molds and bacteria, here the enzymes are residual from the starter bacteria (the bacteria that begin the initial fermentation of the milk) and/or rennet."

Entering the Caves

Brian first leads me to a room replete with cleaning supplies and white clinical clothing that wouldn't look out of place in a hospital. To enter the caves, employees and guests must wash their hands, don lab coats, rubber boots, hairnets, and beardnets (most fashionable item of all); thoroughly scrub the boots with soap and solvent; and sign a form agreeing to the guest policy, which is mostly a list of personal hygiene regulations. All the fuss is to ensure that the cave aging process, which depends entirely on a tightly-controlled microbial ecosystem, isn't contaminated in any way. Among the instructions:

• "Visitors must be accompanied by a staff member at all times. You may not choose which one."
• "Tell your guide if you have any illness or disease that could present a food hygiene risk, no matter how embarrassing it might be."
• "Please wear the protective clothing given to you at all times when in the aging facility. Don't worry, it looks cool."

The facility is generally not open to the public, and the strict rules are only in place for employees and the rare occasions when visitors are allowed in.

After a brief trip through the load-in and packaging/prep rooms (both with characteristically tight entry/exit procedures for humans and cheeses alike), Brian and I head into the caves. Murray's has four separate caves onsite: the Washed Rind Cave, the Bloomy Rind Cave, the Natural Rind Cave, and the Alpine Cave. Different styles of cheese require vastly different mold cultures, temperatures, amounts of time, and moisture levels to age properly; you can't age a month-old Brie in the same room as a year-old Cheddar.

The Bloomy Rind Cave

The Bloomy Rind Cave is for soft-ripened cheeses like Brie that age from the outside in . Mold cultures from the cheesemaking process develop and mature on the rind of young, or "green" cheeses, then work their way inward. Highlights of the Bloomy Rind Cave include Selles-sur-Cher , Valençay , and Sainte-Maure de Touraine , all French goat cheeses aged for three to five weeks.

Given the short aging period and fragile nature of soft-ripened cheeses, Brian pays special attention to the temperature and humidity inside the Bloomy Rind Cave, which is kept slightly cooler and drier than the other caves. Lower humidity and cooler temperature ensure that the mold cultures don't Hulk out and grow too quickly. If they do, the cheeses will overripen and fall apart in a catastrophic process known as rind slippage, where the cheese slips off its rind like a snake shedding a layer of skin.

You can tell a properly aged bloomy rind cheese by the presence of a distinct creamline: A thin, gooey layer between the rind and the cheese that oozes just slightly when you cut it. That creamline is the result of enzymes on the rind digesting the proteins that bind the cheese's fat together, leaving a looser layer of dairy behind.

You can see that creamline in a slice of Saint-Maure, along with a lovely tang and a hint of lemon, all thanks to the work of Geotrichum candidum , a yeast-like mold also found on the Selles-sur-Cher.

The Alpine Cave

The Alpine Cave, the largest of the four, is in many ways the opposite of the Bloomy Rind Cave. The cheeses inside are harder, come in much larger wheels, and they're aged for months and years instead of days and weeks . Most importantly, these cheeses are aged internally (the only cave of the four like this), with the rind merely serving as a barrier to keep mold cultures and moisture from escaping.

The long aging time is necessary to "break [down] proteins and some fats which will create characteristic flavors in these cheeses, especially those that tend to be sweeter and nutty," says Brian.To ensure that the rinds don't dry out and crack, they're washed with water several times a week by the staff. (Younger cheeses at zero to five months are often washed with salt brines, which may include cultures, depending on the cheese).

Spring Brook Tarentaise , made in Reading, Vermont on a farm dedicated to teaching skills to inner city youth, arrives at Murray's about five to six months after production, and is sold after about 10 to 12 months of total aging. Brian has two wheels in the cave: a new arrival and a noticeably darker wheel nearing completion. While a sample of the younger cheese was certainly smooth and pleasant, it lacked the tang and spice of the older cheese. Additionally, the older cheese's texture stood out thanks to tyrosine crystals, small amino acid deposits formed by unraveling proteins as part of the aging process; they add a delightful meaty crunch to the cheese.

Marcel Petite Comte , a two-year-old French cheese is the other crown jewel of the Alpine Cave. Produced around the Jura mountains of eastern France and aged in the nearby Fort Saint Antoine, a former military installation with conditions ideal for aging cheese (possibly the most French thing ever described on the internet), this 72-pound behemoth tastes sublime. The flavors are challenging and complex—delicately smoky, sweet, and nutty—but still smooth and comforting. It's a cheese that would be just as welcome on a tasting platter as it would be melted on a sandwich (although at $35 a pound, you may want to go with the former).

The Washed Rind Cave

The Washed Rind Cave is home to many of the stronger-flavored and famously stinky cheeses, which as the name describes, includes many cheeses with water baths and brines . Washed rind cheeses are externally ripened, and the washes, which can include beer, wine, and cider, produce a variety of different flavors independent of the mold or bacterial cultures. Vermont's Barden Blue is aged in this cave, and it owes its strong flavor to its surroundings, as well as holes drilled in the side of each wheel that allow oxygen to creep inside and feed the cheese's defining Penicillium mold cultures.

According to Brian, "Depending how old the cheeses are, they will be washed with a certain percentage of salt water to help initiate halophilic [salt-loving] bacteria to begin ripening on the rind." These bacteria are responsible for the thiol compounds that lend washed rind cheese its signature meaty, pungent bite.

Outside the cave, two workers are carefully scrubbing 10-ounce, spruce bark-wrapped wheels of Greensward with a cider brine. This cow milk, Brie-like cheese is produced by Jasper Hill in Vermont (the same as the Vermont caves), and the wheels at Murray's were designed specifically for the menu at Eleven Madison Park. During the scrub, Brian leans down to smell the cheese, and notes hints of musty, basementy pu-ehr tea in the aroma, before sending it back into the cave. The wash is made using Virtue Cider from Fennville, Michigan.

The Natural Rind Cave

As you might guess from the name, cheeses in the Natural Rind Cave have rinds that form naturally as part of the cheesemaking process, as opposed to rinds added on afterwards for aging and preservation. Most of the cheeses in the Natural Rind Cave age externally like in the Bloomy Rind Cave, but given that most of the cheeses here are somewhat harder and physically larger, they require more time for their flavors and textures to properly mature, and some even feature varying degrees of internal ripening.

Cornelia , a semi-soft, buttery cheese from Point Reyes, California, is aged for about six months total, first in the Washed Rind Cave, then finished here. It's aged primarily using external bacteria, but some natural molds play a role later in the process. Hudson Flower , a sheep milk cheese from Old Chatham Sheepherding in Columbia County, New York, is one of the shorter-aged (three to five weeks) and softer cheeses in the Natural Rind Cave. However, it owes its strong flavor to a coating of hops, rosemary, and thyme, in addition to Penicillium candidum and Sporendonema casei molds.

On the firmer end is Montgomery's Cheddar from Somerset, England, which comes in 50-pound wheels that are wrapped in linen, rubbed with lard, and aged for over a year. But unlike many of the other cheeses in this cave, it's aged internally (hence the long aging time). Its rind forms in a different manner than the Alpine cheeses, which is why the Murray's sorting hat sends it to this cave.

The Cost of Aging

Making cheese takes plenty of work before it spends a day in an aging room. But if you wonder why some complex well-aged cheeses are particularly pricey (in the $30/pound range for several listed here), the answer can be found in the caves.

Running these caves isn't easy work, and the costs of labor, energy, and scientific expertise don't come cheap. But the reward is plain for anyone to see. Nothing tastes quite like a well-aged cheeses, and the only way to do it is the hard way.

• Cheese Guides

More Serious Eats Recipes

Missouri's cheese caves store more than 7 million pounds of dairy. Here's why

Discussion about "Springfield's cheese caves" began circling social media earlier this year, with rumors about just how much cheese is stored underneath the city.

Springfield's "cheese caves" aren't natural caves like Fantastic Caverns or Crystal Cave.  Rather, the "caves" are part of a 3.2-million-square-foot warehouse under part of Springfield. Dairy products, including cheese, make up only a portion of the leasable space known as Springfield Underground.

The underground warehouse, which opened in 1946 as a limestone quarry, is home to 50 different companies, employs 600 workers and sees 600 trucks per day, Erlen Group President and CEO John Griesmer said. Erlen Group is a collective of industrial companies that includes Springfield Underground.

The warehouse's address is 3610 E. Kearney St., but is extends under Highway 65 to the west, Le Compte Road to the east, and as far south as Division Street. It's directly accessible to Interstate 44 and Highway 65.

More: Answer Man: Exactly where underground is Springfield Underground located?

The natural temperature of the warehouse is about 60 degrees, making it energy efficient. Leasers may request refrigeration, ranging from -20 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, Griesmer said. This makes the warehouse ideal for storing food products, including cheese.

What is stored in Springfield's 'cheese caves'?

Due to privacy agreements with individual businesses, Springfield Underground is unable to comment on which companies they house, Griesmer said. The News-Leader contacted regional dairy companies about their potential business with the warehouse.

Kraft Heinz

Many of the social media rumors single out Kraft Heinz as a company storing cheese in the "caves." U.S. Communications Brand PR and Media Director Jenna Thornton confirmed that Kraft does utilize the Springfield Underground warehouse.

"We do indeed age cheese here, and have been for many years," Thornton said. "It’s not a surplus, but it’s essentially a warehousing location that’s close to our Springfield plant."

The Springfield Kraft Foods manufacturing plant is located at 1951 E. Meadowmere St.

Thornton did not respond to an interview request from the News-Leader seeking more information on Kraft's utilization of Springfield Underground.

Dairy Farmers of America

Kraft is not the only dairy company storing products at Springfield Underground. Dairy Farmers of America has stored dry dairy ingredients in the warehouse for about 30 years. DFA's Springfield manufacturing plant is at 800 W. Tampa St.

Specifically, DFA stores milk, cheese, and nutritional powders and nonfat dried milk, President of Ingredient Solutions Martin Bates said. As of February, DFA was storing about 7 million pounds of raw material at Springfield Underground.

These raw materials are made at the Springfield plant, stored in Springfield Underground and then sold to other food companies.

Bates said most of the raw materials have a shelf life more than two years, but he described storing products at Springfield Underground as a "buffer" in the supply chain system. DFA tries not to keep too much inventory in storage for long.

Bates said the location of Springfield Underground and its ambient temperature are key factors as to why DFA uses the space. Underground storage protects products from natural disasters, like tornadoes. And the consistent temperature is ideal for the dry ingredients. 

The News-Leader reached out to Prairie Farms Dairy, associated with Hiland Dairy. The company did not wish to participate in an interview. Hiland Dairy is also associated with DFA.

Why are dairy companies storing cheese underground?

According to Kraft and DFA's sources, the companies utilize Springfield Underground as a space to age cheese and temporarily store dry products.

Utilizing cold storage, similar to Springfield Underground, is popular with dairy companies across the country.

More: Springfield's new giant noodle harbors no self-doubt

As of March 31, more than 1.4 billion pounds of natural cheese was stored in cold storage warehouses in the United States, according to the United States Department of Agriculture .

While checking out the "Springfield cheese caves" is off limits, as company warehouses are privately owned, visiting Springfield Underground itself is not. In the past, Springfield Underground has hosted grade school field trips and public events, like the Caveman 5K in 2014. For more information, contact Springfield Underground at 417-874-1400.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at [email protected]

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Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

9 Amazing Family-Friendly Cave Tours To Explore In Missouri

• Destinations
• United States

The Missouri landscape is dotted with 7,300 documented caves, and more are being discovered. It’s no wonder Missouri is known as “The Cave State.” Caves are particularly popular during hot Missouri summers because their cool temperatures are maintained year round. Most Missouri caves are explored on foot, but some, like Fantastic Caverns, have Jeep-pulled trolleys.

Here are some of the most popular Missouri caves. Check the caves’ websites to verify current opening times, search available tours, and find contact information.

1. Fantastic Caverns

Springfield.

Fantastic Caverns , just north of Springfield, Missouri, is unlike other Missouri caves. Here, you climb aboard a propane-powered, Jeep-drawn tram to roll through the caverns. No stairs, head-bonking ceilings, or crazy climbs; it’s effortless!

Fantastic Caverns lies beneath the rolling Ozarks hills. During the 55-minute, all-riding cave tour, you’ll get an up-close look at giant columns stretching from floor to ceiling, delicate soda straws glowing with minerals, tiny cave pearls hidden in crystal-clear water, flowstones, and drapery formations.

Since the temperature inside the caverns stays about 60 degrees year round, Fantastic Caverns is an all-weather attraction. It’s open 362 days a year (closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day).

2. Marvel Cave At Silver Dollar City

Thinking of visiting Silver Dollar City? A tour of Marvel Cave , a National Natural Landmark, is included in your admission price (a freebie of sorts). This cave, which opened for tours in 1894, lies below the theme park. One of the deepest caves in Missouri, Marvel Cave has one of the largest subterranean entry rooms in the United States. The strenuous, hour-long tour includes nearly 600 stair steps.

Marvel Cave is a wet limestone cave complete with formations that are still alive and growing. First, you’ll travel 300 feet below the surface and enter the beautiful Cathedral Room, which is the largest cave entrance room in the United States. Because the tour is strenuous, it is not recommended for visitors with heart or lung conditions, bad backs, weak knees, or weak ankles. 

After descending nearly 500 feet below the surface, you’ll need to get back up to daylight. Not to worry! In 1957, a cable train was installed to take visitors up the half-mile, 1,070-foot climb back to the surface.

3. Smallin Civil War Cave

Smallin Cave is the first documented cave in the Ozarks, and it holds a wealth of Missouri history. You’ll enjoy the cave’s natural beauty as well as its history, folklore, and geology.

The cave entrance is a jaw-dropping 55 feet tall and 100 feet wide. Hour-long tours travel a half-mile on pathways that are wheelchair and stroller friendly. These concrete pathways have gentle inclines, handrails, and ramps. There are no stairs. Strollers, wheelchairs, and mobility scooters are welcome!

4. Mark Twain Cave Complex

Mark Twain Cave , a national natural landmark located near Hannibal, Missouri, was first opened for tours in 1886. It is one of just a few labyrinth-style caves in the world, where 260 passageways form crisscross patterns. The long-sought signature of a young Sam Clemens was discovered in Mark Twain Cave on July 26, 2019, during the cave’s bicentennial year.

The cave has no stairs, but good walking shoes are recommended for the hour-long tour, which is not wheelchair accessible. This cave is great for a visit during a hot summer day as it is 52 degrees year round.

5. Bridal Cave

See giant columns, delicate “soda straws,” and massive drapery formations during a 1-hour tour of Bridal Cave . Located at the Lake of the Ozarks, near Camdenton, the cave has more onyx formations than any other known cave. Thousands of couples have been married in the stalactite-adorned Bridal Chapel. 

Bridal Cave constantly remains 60 degrees inside, so it’s a great activity no matter what the weather. Guided tours leave every few minutes and last approximately 1 hour. Tours, on concrete pathways, are led by park interpreters.

6. Crystal Cave

Crystal Cave , just 40 minutes north of Branson, Missouri, was probably first seen by prehistoric humans who lived in the region between 8,000 and 1,000 B.C. Tours typically run 80 minutes in the morning. 

You’ll see impressive stalagmites and stalactites in the area known as The Cathedral. At Rainbow Falls, you’ll enjoy the multicolored flowstone formations. You’ll also view ancient Native American carvings and symbols. The Concert Hall is more than 100 feet long; it features hundreds of soda straw stalactites. In the Chimes Room, with its natural dome ceiling, some of the stalactites will produce a musical tone when gently struck. The Ghost Room features 13 pure white stalagmites that are more than 2 feet tall.

Crystal Cave first opened to the public as a commercial show cave in 1893. You’ll enter this spectacular cave through the old iron gates of the original Springfield jail and walk into the cool underworld. The temperature inside the cave is a constant 59 degrees.

7. Onondaga Cave

Onondaga cave state park, leasburg.

Onondaga Cave is one of America’s most spectacular, with 1.5 miles of passages decorated with fantastical deposits like the Twins, the King’s Canopy, the Rock of Ages, the Big Room, and the delicate Lily Pad Room.

Trained guides lead you over electrically-lighted, paved walkways, providing information about the cave’s geologic wonders. With an interesting history and a river flowing through it, Onondaga Cave is a spectacular National Natural Landmark.

Onondaga Cave tours leave from the visitor center. They are walking tours almost a mile long, and they last about an hour and 15 minutes. The cave’s temperature is 57 degrees year round, so bring a jacket and comfortable shoes.

8. Cathedral Cave

Onondaga cave state park.

This is a lantern tour that lasts approximately 2 hours. The Cathedral Cave tour begins at the campground shower house and includes a 0.3-mile walk up Deer Run Trail to the cave’s entrance. The cave tour itself lasts about an hour and 30 minutes. The remaining time is spent traveling on the trail to and from the cave entrance. The cave temperature is 57 degrees, and the tour is limited to the first 30 people.

9. Meramec Caverns

Meramec state park, sullivan.

Reputed to have been used as Jesse James’s hideout, Meramec Caverns is home to some of the largest and rarest formations in the world. The entire cave complex stretches upwards past the height of a seven-story building.

The cavern is Missouri’s largest “show cave” and one of the oldest attractions on Route 66. Tours are 1.25 miles long and take about an hour and 20 minutes. They traverse well-lighted walkways and are conducted by trained rangers. Tours depart every 20–30 minutes starting at 9 a.m. Strollers are not permitted.

Got a hankering to see more caves? Take a look at the following stories:

• Researchers Say The World’s Longest Cave System Is Now Longer
• 10 Key Ranger Tips For Visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park
• Best Experiences At Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Beth honed her writing skills during 40+ years of writing and marketing for professional services companies. Now, as a retiree, she enjoys writing about and visiting beautiful places. She is especially passionate about national parks and seashores, wildlife preservation, animal rescue, art, and history.

cave kayaking in Missouri!

D id you know that you can cave kayak right here in the United States? Crystal City Underground is one of Missouri’s best kept secrets, and an experience worthy of a spot near the top of any bucket list!

underground kayak tour

This adventure can only be undertaken with a guide. Marsan Kayak and Canoe tours will guide you deep into the depths of this enormous cave, one of the largest cave formations in Missouri.

Meander through a seemingly never-ending labyrinth, down to an eventual depth of 400 feet underground. You’ll experience 2.5 hours of unadulterated joy on this expansive subterranean 150-acre lake. So grab a paddle and book a tour now!

Tour participants paddle along at a leisurely pace while exploring all of the nooks and crannies of this extensive cave system.

Cave kayaking Missouri! book a tour!

 *Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. 

Crystal City Underground Mo Cave tours

Gilligan’s Island was my favorite part of the cave. There’s a large hole in the roof of the cave where daylight shines through and it is magnificent! There’s a little trickle of water and you’ll see some daylight, particularly pretty on a sunny day!

experience level for this cave kayaking tour:

The tour is suitable for all ability levels and no prior experience is required. Don says he has had people take the tour who have never been in a kayak. I would recommend that you go at least once prior to taking this tour. You will probably enjoy yourself more if you already have a feel for the kayak.

tight spaces:

Claustrophobic? The majority of the cave is wide open. However, there are some low spots. If you think you may have a problem do discuss it with the tour operator prior to booking.

This article was originally posted at We're Not in Kansas Anymore. You can read the full article at the following address:

https://www.werenotinkansasanymore.com/kayaking-underground-in-crystal-city-cave/

In the full article:

• video of the tour
• full details on how to book a tour (PLEASE please do not call Crystal City Underground, we are not affiliated with them. Marsan periodically updates booking information, hours etc. and we then update the article to reflect the latest tour information)
• Tour prices
• How to get there
• what to bring
• the best time for the tour
• a first hand account of what you can expect to experience on this tour
• what to wear and more!

where to stay

Looking for hotel accommodations?

We stayed at the  Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Festus-South St. Louis, an IHG Hotel.  It’s just 3 miles from the cave and has a 9.0 user review rating!

book it here on  booking.com !

other must see and do things in the great state of Missouri:

Nature Lovers: check out these great hiking options in southern Missouri:

Ha Ha Tonka State Park: recommended hiking trails

Pickle Springs Natural Area hiking Trail