We’re all experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store these days. Prices are nuts. Plus, we have December to pay for. So it’s a good time to prowl the cheese counter for selections that over-deliver for the price. Bargains do exist, and here are three that you ought to find easily. I’m so grateful to these producers for making cheese that we can enjoy and afford.

Pavino (pictured above) is an alpine-style cow’s milk wheel produced by the magicians at Roth Cheese in Wisconsin. I have no idea how they deliver this level of quality for $13.99 a pound. That’s the price I paid recently at Whole Foods, which has an exclusive on Pavino. Roth is Swiss-owned (the parent company makes Kaltbach Le Gruyère and Le Crèmeux), so it’s safe to say that nobody has more expertise in making cheeses of this type. Pavino is brine-washed and matured for at least nine months. The texture is firm and crystalline, the flavor concentrated, with aromas of caramelized onion, roast beef and barnyard. It won its category at the 2018 American Cheese Society competition.

Grand Cru Reserve, also from Roth, is half-again the price of Pavino (about $19.99 a pound) but still a great value. Like the Swiss Gruyère it resembles, the cheese is made in a copper vat, brine-washed repeatedly and matured on spruce planks for a minimum of six months. It is silkier than Pavino, less intense in flavor, with aromas that suggest toasted nuts and warm cream—a great choice for fondue. I often see it at Whole Foods.

People’s choice: Milton Creamery’s Prairie Breeze

Prairie Breeze from Iowa’s Milton Creamery, has to be one of the most successful new American cheeses of the past decade. “If you put it in front of 100 people, at least 100 will definitely like it,” says Jeff DiMeo, a sales and marketing consultant for the creamery. I’ve experienced this phenomenon myself when I’ve served Prairie Breeze. It’s a reliable crowd pleaser, a fruity, mellow block Cheddar packed with crunchy protein crystals. Its sweetness comes from the cultures, an unusual blend including some cultures used in Gouda and Swiss cheeses. Personally, I prefer a tangier Cheddar, but it’s hard to argue with the popularity of Prairie Breeze.

DiMeo told me that the pandemic hit Milton Creamery particularly hard. Launched by the Musser family 15 years ago to support local Amish farmers, the creamery had just completed a major expansion when Covid sent sales tumbling. True to their mission, the Mussers continued to take their suppliers’ milk and make cheese even as inventory backed up. The business was severely strained.

I’m seeing Prairie Breeze at a range of prices, but mostly around $20 a pound. It’s matured at warm temperatures to develop flavor and crystals quickly and is released at about nine months.

I was surprised to learn from DiMeo that Prairie Breeze and Milton Creamery’s Flory’s Truckle are basically twins separated at birth. The culture cocktail is the same, but Flory’s is a cheesecloth-wrapped cylinder, matured longer at a cooler temperature. Try these two side by side sometime to see how aging methods affect texture and flavor.