Author Topic: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1  (Read 2126 times)

Spoons

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Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« on: November 24, 2013, 07:17:24 AM »
I made my first Monterey Jack. It's a washed curd version. I added some chilies to it. I mainly used Dixon's recipe, but my starter acted differently. Maybe it has a different acidification curve?

8L Skim milk P/H
820ml Unhomogenized 35% cream
1/8tsp MM100
1/2tsp CaCL2
1/2tsp liquid single strength rennet
1.5 tbsp red chili flakes, boiled in 1/2 cup water (PH level of water was adjusted with baking soda)

Heat to 88F
PH 6.74
add culture, ripen until 0.1 drop
add CaCl2
add Rennet, floc 3.5 = 52.5 minutes (a bit long)
PH 6.63
cut 1/2 inch
bring to 102F in 40 mins (did it in 43 mins)
settle 25 minutes
Stopped the movie because it was stupid.
Switched to some "Modern Family" episodes.
remove whey to curd and replace with 60F water until 86F
Stir 5 minutes
Drain
PH 6.15
Added peppers with water and waited to drain
Salt 2.75%
Press 1 15 mins 0.78psi
Press 2 15 mins 1.25psi
press 3 1 hour 1.57psi
press 4 1 hour 1.57psi (a bit of sticking, sprayed no-stick solution on cheese and netting)
press 5 2 hours 3.13psi
press 6 3.5 hours 5.49psi (spray was giving a bad PH reading, so I trimmed a bit for accurate PH reading)
Final PH 5.11 (Peter Dixon recommendation : 5.10 - 5.20)

All-in-all, I'm satisfied with how it went. Peter Dixon'sPH markers and time steps were different than mine. He suggested using MA011, I used MM100. I wonder if there's a difference in acidification curve. Maybe that's why my PH targets were higher than his. I found it was the same when I made my two caerphillys, the acidification started out slow, but really picks up later on. It's always at the RENNET PH marker that I'm off.

Anyways, still satisfied. Hope it turns out well in 3-4 months!


« Last Edit: November 24, 2013, 07:29:06 AM by Spoons »

Spoons

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2013, 10:13:08 PM »
As of now the jack cheese is air drying next to a caerphilly. The texture or the body of the jack cheese feels softer and springy as opposed to the caerphilly that feels solid and stiff. Is this normal? is this a difference in characteristics of a hard cheese body vs washed curd cheese body?

Geodyne

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2013, 12:46:50 AM »
Quote
Stopped the movie because it was stupid.
Switched to some "Modern Family" episodes.

You put that in there to make sure someone was reading, didn't you?  :P

Spoons

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2013, 12:50:49 AM »
Just being very thorough in my record keeping  ;)

Spoons

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2014, 05:47:45 AM »
I opened my jack cheese tonight. For some reason I thought aging a jack was around 3-4 months. It's more around 6 weeks and doesn't keep well after 90 days.

All I have to say is... wow! What a tasty, creamy, smooth, tangy and hot cheese! It really took me by surprise! I was originally worried about the effect of the no-stick spray I used. The rind felt very dry immediatly after pressing, the funny thing is there's no rind on this cheese at all! This cheese also melts very well. the amount of peppers is just right. All-in-all, a very good table cheese.

I'll certainly make this cheese again.

GlennK

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2014, 11:33:23 AM »
That's a great looking cheese!  A cheese to ya!

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2014, 02:18:48 PM »
Nice lookin pepper jack Spoons  :) I can almost taste it yum yum ^-^
a cheese to you ;D
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jwalker

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2014, 02:53:24 PM »
A cheese to you for that !

How spicy is it with the amount of chilis you used ?
Just wondering , I like it fairly hot , but the wife doesn't , so i need to allow for that.

Thanks , Jim.

Spoons

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2014, 04:43:04 PM »
Thanks guys!

jwalker, on a scale of mild-to-hot, I'd say this is medium-hot. I'm not one that likes food that's too spicy, I usually stick around the "medium" spice blends. The cheese is pretty full (saturated) though, I don't think I could add much more chillies if I wanted it "hot". For a "hot" blend, I would suggest maybe a different pepper blend such as habanero or scotch bonnet.

Although the taste is perfect in this one (for me anyways), I researched the best tasting pepper jacks and see that most award winning jacks have blends of chillies, garlic, parsley, rosemary and such.

All-in-all, I don't want to change the make of the cheese. It's perfect, I just want to explore more spice and herb blends.

cowboycheese

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Re: Spoons' Monterey Jack #1
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2014, 07:51:27 PM »
Congrats on the success and a cheese for you. The colors are quite impressive.

I've tried the same recipe a few times and yes, at 90 days you have a dry jack. My recommendation is to vacuum bag right after drying to avoid any further moisture loss at all (or cream coat and wax).