Author Topic: Chipotle PepperJack  (Read 2919 times)

DoctorCheese

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Chipotle PepperJack
« on: February 19, 2017, 02:25:14 AM »
I wanted to make this cheese for a while and finally had a bonus day off from school so I busted it out. The make went really well and I am super excited for the end result. I don't feel like typing out the recipe, but it is basically a cooked curd mesophilic cheese with chapotle and red peppers added. Any questions let me know. This is also my first waxed cheese; a process that was much easier than I expected!
« Last Edit: April 07, 2017, 10:10:50 PM by DoctorCheese »

Tea

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Re: Chapotle PepperJack
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2017, 09:41:30 PM »
Hey this looks great.   How long are you hoping to age this for before cracking it open?

DoctorCheese

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Re: Chapotle PepperJack
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2017, 10:29:35 PM »
Hey this looks great.   How long are you hoping to age this for before cracking it open?
The ideal range would be between 2-4 months. For myself, I was planning to see how it tasted at 60 days from the day I put it in the cave. If it needs more aging I would just try to vac pac it for longer.

Duntov

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Re: Chapotle PepperJack
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2017, 10:45:06 PM »
Looks great Jobe!  Have a cheese on me.

The Ancho Cheddar I did didn't have any heat.  I could taste the Ancho but missed the warmth.  Add the red pepper was a good idea!

DoctorCheese

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Re: Chapotle PepperJack
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2017, 10:10:40 PM »
Hey everyone, just giving an update. My girlfriend and I got impatient and cracked this open today to "inspect" the flavor... you know, for science. Anywhoo, it tastes wonderful! The chipotle adds a really nice smokey finish and the pepper flakes I put are just the right amount of heat. The blend of cultures I used replicates the taste of Monterrey jack well and I think this cheese is one I will repeat in the future changing very little.

If I were to alter the recipe, I would use more chipotle peppers when I boil the water, but reduce the total plant matter to about 1/2 what it was for this make. This would leave me with a better consistency and possible make it less crumbly. I ended up vacuum bagging 3/4 of the wheel for further aging and will eat the other quarter. This is the first cheese that I would deem worthy of sampling out to my friends and family.

I realize now actually that I cooked the curds too long which made it too acidic. So I would change that next time as well.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2017, 10:20:12 PM by DoctorCheese »

Offline awakephd

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2017, 12:20:27 AM »
Jobe, it looks and sounds good. AC4U!

Crumbly usually means the pH got too low, not necessarily that you cooked the curds too long. The latter will make the cheese drier, but cheese can be quite dry and yet still not crumbly. It's all about the pH!
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DoctorCheese

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2017, 01:13:19 AM »
Jobe, it looks and sounds good. AC4U!

Crumbly usually means the pH got too low, not necessarily that you cooked the curds too long. The latter will make the cheese drier, but cheese can be quite dry and yet still not crumbly. It's all about the pH!
I guess I didn't represent my thoughts properly. I cooked the curds too long, which made the ph too low. I was intentionally lowing the ph, but I have no measuring device and must have gone too long. I wanted less moisture and more acid, which I got, just too much of one.

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2017, 03:55:28 PM »
Outstanding result! AC4U!  I've also found that pressing too long with too much weight makes for a crumbly texture.  I've since revised all of my pressing schedules.
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DoctorCheese

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2017, 09:06:12 PM »
I've also found that pressing too long with too much weight makes for a crumbly texture.  I've since revised all of my pressing schedules.

Interesting! I will have to consider that for my next make. It seems counter intuitive because I would think pressing harder would make it mesh better, but there is also the moisture loss... very interesting.

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2017, 02:43:55 PM »
I thought the same thing but the moisture is apparently the key for a good knit.  PH is also greatly affected by the pressing weight and time.
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Offline awakephd

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2017, 04:04:24 PM »
I may be completely wrong - it has happened before, according to my wife ...

But I don't think pressing weight has a significant effect on the moisture level in the cheese. And I don't think the amount of moisture has a significant effect on whether the cheese is crumbly. Very very dry cheese will be harder, more suitable for grating than for slicing ... and if the cheese has aged long enough, it may develop the crystals that give it a somewhat granular character. But a cheese can be very dry, and still have a smooth and relatively flexible character; meanwhile, a very moist cheese such as a Caerphilly is normally quite crumbly.

Parmesans make the case. They are the driest of the dry cheeses ... and yet they are not crumbly in the sense of a Caerphilly or even a cheddar. At least the ones I've made, I can slice a thin slice, or shave off a thin slice with a potato peeler - something that would not work at all on a Caerphilly. Yes, it is so dry that it is easy to break the thin slice into pieces ... but this is a very different effect than the crumbliness that comes with low pH.

And here's the kicker - parmesans take some of the least weight to press. The curds are very warm, and the pH at pressing is relatively high, so they are eager to knit together. In fact, you have to be careful to press very gently and ramp up very slowly, lest you trap whey in the curds as they knit. (That is a different sort of "moisture" problem - but note that it is made worse, not better, by pressing at higher weights!)

Certainly the length of time pressing, if the cheese has not yet been salted, will affect the pH, simply because it will allow the pH to continue to develop. I would contend that the amount of weight during the pressing does not affect the pH in the slightest - unless it traps whey, which will allow the cheese to get sour. Definitely it is important, with any cheese that is salted after pressing, to remove from the press at the right pH - usually around 5.3-5.4. Otherwise, you WILL get a more crumbly cheese.

By contrast, a cheese that is milled and salted before pressing can be pressed as long as you want. And here the problem is to persuade the curds to knit, because generally these cheeses are milled when pH has reached 5.3-5.4 - and at that pH, the curds don't particularly want to knit together.

Again, I may be complete wrong ... the above reflects what I have come to understand by reading (especially Caldwell) and by making about 85 cheeses, but that makes me still a rank amateur next to Sailor or others with far more expertise.
-- Andy

DoctorCheese

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2017, 08:46:17 PM »
Thank you for your insights!

Offline Gregore

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2017, 02:20:31 AM »
I am going to stand on the other side of the fence and say that pressing "will " have an effect on  how fast ph drops when the pressure is high and the curd is not salted .

I seem to remember reading that , but I can not remember where.

I think expelling more whey sooner in the ph curve should have an effect on that curve . 

Offline awakephd

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2017, 03:08:24 AM »
Uh-oh. The gauntlet has been thrown down ... help me remember the protocol; is it goudas drawn at 10 paces at dawn, or do we just get in the ring and Havart-it? Either way, I cheddar to think of the outcome -- the needless whey spilled just to satisfy our honor.

:):):)

Gregore, you could well be right. I'd be interested to read more on this, and/or get one of our experts to weigh in on this pressing problem.
-- Andy

Offline Chetty

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Re: Chipotle PepperJack
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2017, 03:03:30 PM »
Recently in the class I took at Utah state university, the professor taught us that the final ph is more directly related to the draining of the whey and the size of the curd.  It all comes down to the amount of lactose the bacteria can get ahold of.  While stiring in the whey the lactose are going in the curd where the bacteria are trapped.  When drained the curds only have the whey left inside them( curd size).  As far as pressure goes I'm not sure it has much effect on ph but I'm not the professor i just know what I learned.