This is actually my second Monterey Jack cheese, but it is my first straight Jack. My objective was to see if I could avoid the problems I ran into before when I made a Pepper Jack recently. Here is the thread on my first make:
Pepper Jack #1 - poor knit, fissures.
2 gallons low-temperature pasteurized non-homogenized Jersey milk
3/8 tsp CaCL
3/8 tsp Rennet
1/4 tsp MA 011
1 tsp salt
saturated brine
Added milk to vat and tested pH of 6.6. Warmed the milk to 88°F, sprinkled on culture and let rehydrate 5 minutes, then stirred and allowed it to ripen for 45 minutes. Measured pH at 6.45, then added CaCl diluted in 1/4 cup water, stirred, then added rennet diluted in 1/4 cup water. Set a bowl on top, covered, and began testing for flocculation after 10 minutes. Flocculation time was 15 minutes. I used a multiplier of 3 for this cheese, so 45 minutes total time needed before cutting. After 30 more minutes, I tested for clean break, and it was.
I cut the curds, let them heal for 10 minutes, then measured a pH of 6.33. Temperature by now was 85.3°F. I started cooking slowing to 100°F, reaching it in 43 minutes. I measured a pH of 6.21. I then held at 100°F for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I stopped stirring and waited 25 more minutes, then performed a texture test. It didn't mat completely, so I waited another 10 minutes and checked again, and the curds matted and separated nicely.
I removed whey down to the level of the curds, then drained in a colander, and measured the pH of the last bit of curds and whey in the vat. It was 5.49. I let the curds drain for a couple of minutes, then added 1 teaspoon of salt and mixed it in. This was a totally arbitrary amount of salt, not based on any calculation, recommendation, or experience. My thought was that a little salt at this point might slow down the acidification of the cheese while being pressed until I could get it in the brine.
I put the curds in a 4.5 inch diameter cheesecloth lined form, set it in a pot of warm whey, and pressed at 20 lb pressure for 10 minutes, then flipped, redressed, and pressed under whey again for another 10 minutes. Then I discarded the whey, flipped and redressed and pressed with the same 20 lb for 30 minutes. Then flipped and redressed and pressed at 50 lb for two hours (I took a break to go smoke a cigar outside owing to the beautiful weather, else it would have been just one hour at 50 lb). Then I flipped, redressed, and pressed at 100 lb for 12 hours. After removing it from the press, I weighed it at 2 lb 4 oz, about 1 kg. I am brining it now, for 12 hours total.
The pH 5.49 at hooping is the last pH measure I could make, as I don't have a way to take a measurement after the cheese is hooped.
This make went much better than my previous Pepper Jack, but I still had a couple of problems. A couple of times when flipping and redressing the cheese, my handling of it resulted in the opening of a crack on the side. The height of the wheel is a little greater than its diameter, and I think that holding it off center in one hand while peeling cheesecloth off put too much stress on it. It was just a little crack, but I did it again when removing the wheel at the end of pressing, so there will be a little crack or two when it's all said and done.
The other problem was far more severe. The cheesecloth stuck to the very bottom of the wheel quite badly. I pulled off most of the bottom surface when I removed it. I pulled and plyed as gently as I could, but it was very stuck and it just didn't come off cleanly. You can see in one of the photos. I have since searched the forum and found the answer to this problem. Here is a thread on that describes the solution, which is to soak in whey before removal, or spray with vinegar, use a denser cheesecloth such as butter muslin, or use plyban.
Cheesecloth - Cheese Sticking ProblemThis cheese is not rock hard like my previous Pepper Jack. It is softer and more springy. The pH dropped a bit faster than I wanted, but the pH at hooping was OK, judging by posts I've seen elsewhere on the forum. I have higher hopes for this cheese as compared to the Pepper Jack.
