Author Topic: Monterey Jack salt content  (Read 2296 times)

tnbquilt

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Monterey Jack salt content
« on: February 09, 2013, 01:04:57 AM »
I made a monterey jack and a pepper jack from the same batch of curds. Now that it is ready to eat it is obvious that it does not have enough salt. There is a faint bitter flavor to it, and one of the first things that I thought when I tasted it was, it needs more salt.

I used 4 gallons of milk and 2 tbs of salt. I checked several recipes and 2 gallons of milk with 1 tbs of salt seems to be normal for this kind of cheese, but cheddar has 2 gallons of milk and 2 tbs of salt. I also found a couple of recipes that call for 1 gallon of milk and 1 tbs of salt. That would be more along the lines of cheddar.

Any thoughts on the proper salt content for Jack cheese?

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Monterey Jack salt content
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2013, 07:45:17 AM »
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

mjr522

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Re: Monterey Jack salt content
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2013, 05:08:16 PM »
I have a monterey jack that also is low on salt.  From what I understand, you want about 2.2-2.5% by weight salt.  So, if your 4 gallons made 4.5 lbs, you'd want 4.5 lbs x .025 = 0.1125 lbs of salt.  I don't know how much that is, but if I convert it to grams, I know I get about 20 grams of salt per tablespoon.  So, 0.1125 lbs x 450 grams/lb = 51 grams.  So, you would need about 2 1/2 Tbsp, if you also get about 20 grams of salt per tablespoon.

The cheese I made with low salt, though, I think happened because a lot of the salt got washed away in the whey.  In the future, I'll be a lot more careful to add the salt slowly, and to try to ensure not too much gets in the whey.  Good luck!

linuxboy

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Re: Monterey Jack salt content
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2013, 05:53:13 PM »
If 2 tbs isn't enough, try 3. If not enough still, try 4. Or go the other way and try 4 and then cut back. You might be losing too much in the whey, depends on your process, salt type, and application.

tnbquilt

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Re: Monterey Jack salt content
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2013, 11:39:50 PM »
Thanks. I have recently been trying to be careful about letting the salt absorb into the curd so that it doesn't wash away with the whey, but this was made before that.

That recipe that is referred to uses 1 tbs of salt for 1 gallon of milk so that would be 4 tbs of salt.

Is that percentage typical of hard cheeses that are dry salted, or is it typical for a Jack cheese?

bbracken677

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Re: Monterey Jack salt content
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2013, 12:02:43 AM »
That is about what you would use in a cheddar, I think...I go by weight, so not totally sure. Most non-cheddar semi-hard or hard cheeses take their salt via brining.

The main question I have had about the linked recipe is the addition of salt with rennet.  One day I will give monterey jack a go, but will skip the salt at rennet step.