4/29/09 First Hard Cheese - Monterey Jack with dill and onion

Started by mightyjesse, April 30, 2009, 02:09:54 PM

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mightyjesse

I'm so excited. I fixed my cheese press with advice from Wayne and last night put together my first hard-cheese using this recipe. I originally intended to just make plain Jack, but then I got to the part where it says you can "add your other ingredients" and happened to be staring at a jar of dill... In it went along with a pinch of onion powder.

I will have pictures when I get my cheese out of the press this afternoon/evening after work. (Hopefully pressing it for an extra 5 hours won't hurt it.) I followed the directions very closely, with my only problem getting my curd up to 100 in the right time frame... I think it took me 10 minutes longer than it was supposed to to get my curds to temp. after cutting them. The curds that came out of the press at the flip were a bit squeeky and very tasty.

mightyjesse



Here is my cheese fresh from the press and drying after a brine wash... Can someone explain that procedure to me? I just used clean cheese cloth dipped in brine to pat down my cheese... is that right?

Frumunda

Wow!That's a good lookin' hunk of cheese you got there!I thought about putting some dill in my herb cheese,but wasn't sure how well it would go with the cheese's natural flavors.let us know how it tastes when it matures!

mightyjesse

I got the idea from the dill Havarti that they make up the road at the University Creamery. (I work for the University of Wisconsin... Yay cheese development!)

The curds from it taste fantastic and it smells really yummy. I am optimistic!

DeejayDebi

It looks wonderful Jesse! I love to add dill and basil to my cheese (and alot of other things).

Tea

When I do a brine wash I just use a pastry brush.  I don't really think it matters how you do it, just as long as all surfaces have had the brine water on them.

Good looking cheese too.  Herb and garlic Jack has become one of my favourite cheese.

Rich

For brine wash I usually use a clean cloth dampened with brine.  As I understand it, the method of application is not that important, but you don't want to leave the surface wet when finished.

Cartierusm

Interesting combo but looks good, let us know how it tastes when it's cut open.