After studying several recipes for Jack I finally decided to do a Garlic Jack, mostly based on the recipe in Home Cheese Making. I will post the make with pH markers in a few months if it comes out well. Sure is nice to smell! :)
That looks very nice! Well done.
- Jeff
Eureka! This is a keeper! Great texture and taste. Melts beautifully. I like this recipe exactly as it is! As promised, here is the make with pH markers.
Garlic Jack – 2nd try, #32
4 gallons Swiss Brown cow milk 4%, pH 6.4
3/8 tsp MM100
1/8 tsp TA
¼ tsp x3 rennet
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons crushed garlic and water used to boil garlic.
Warmed milk to 86 degrees, added cultures and let sit 5 minutes. Stir cultures in and let ripen 30 minutes. Don't forget to add water from garlic.
Added rennet and let sit for 40 minutes and checked for clean break (goofed the floc test). Cut curds into ½ inch cubes and let rest 10 minutes.
Raised temp to 100 degrees over 40 minutes, on target. ☺ pH 6.3
Stir 30 minutes at 100 degrees. Let settle 5 minutes and drain to level of curds when pH is 6.2 (took 20 minutes to reach 6.2).
Stir another 30 minutes or until whey pH is 6.0 (took 15 minutes).
Drained and stirred in salt and crushed garlic
Hooped and pressed at 50 pounds for 1 hour. Redressed and pressed at 90 pounds for 4 hours, pH 5.5
Ripen in cheese cave for 2 -3 months
OOOhhh, now I wanna make MJ!
How does the garlic taste evolves over time?
Boiled garlic usually doesnt taste very good.
I can suggest you try to roast a whole head in a hot oven, It will soften the garlic into puree and add a sweet nutty charecter to it. just use push the cloves and the puree comes out.
This is how you make the base for french garlic soup. (soup a' lail) ^-^
Hi ellenspn! Hi Tomer1! Happy New Year! :)
I find that any type of cooking diminishes the flavor of garlic, boiled or roasted. I totally prefer raw! For my tastes I need to find a way to sanitize it with very minimal heating. The garlic flavor did come out good and would have been better if I had remembered to put the water from boiling the garlic into the milk before setting curd. I'll remember next time, as it makes a difference in the final intensity. The last garlic jack I made, the garlic was more pronounced and held up fine, but the texture and flavor of the cheese was totally wrong. I don't think I'll ever find out how the garlic taste evolves over time. I only age Garlic Jack cheese 2 -3 months. I don't normally flavor cheeses that age a long time. I would hazard a guess that garlic could become bitter or off flavored in some other nasty way!
If anyone has any bright ideas about how to sanitize garlic without cooking... I'm all ears!
Here's a thought... If I boil the equipment ( knife, garlic press) and briefly the garlic before crushing it, so the interior of the garlic is not cooked, would that be sanitized enough??
Now that I have a good recipe for Jack, I am quite excited about doing a Dry Jack, or Pepper Jack! ^-^
Quote from: anutcanfly on January 01, 2012, 07:48:00 PM
If anyone has any bright ideas about how to sanitize garlic without cooking... I'm all ears!
I've used pickled garlic in pesto that was bottled. Not tried it in cheese, but in other recipes where it needed something sanitized, pickling worked for both garlic and ginger.
I've had the bottled garlic and ginger and I used to use it all the time, but there's an off flavor that I've become sensitive to... not in a good way! I think I will just take a chance at parboiling it whole next time. I think my taste buds are changing. There are a lot of things I use to love that I can't abide these days. Processed foods, fast foods, beer :'(, and worse yet, frequently wine!
Ah Anut, surely not wine??
Yes, looks like wine too... somedays it's still good and some days it's bad. Hard cider is still great, and expresso... knock on wood! :)
What a idiot I am! A strong solution of absorbic or citric acid should do quite well and not impart any off flavors! :-[
What are you going to do with the absorbic or citric acid?
Hi scasnerkay,
I'm trying to think of a way to sanitize garlic without cooking or using vinager, so that the flavor is as close to raw as it can be. Like any top notch foodie, good is never enough! I want perfection! :)
I been rumaging around since the question came up and I read that if you combine hydrogen peroxide with the citric acid, you get 10x the effect of either by itself. I tasted hydrogen peroxide and I don't think it will leave a bad flavor. I'll have to do some tinkering and see whats works...
What is the TA that you put in 1/8 tsp of?
Hi Scasnerkay,
I used Choozit Thermophilic starter TA 61-62 series. When I want to use MA4001/4002 (which I don't have) I just use MM100 and TA061. Same cultures though the amounts of each are likely different. :)
Yesterday I made a try at this cheese, but not knowing what TA was, I just left it out. I was able to figure out calibration and usage of my new pH meter however, and a new digital thermometer, so here are the notes from my cheese making....
2 gal past/hom whole milk (Clover) pH 6.5
1/2 tsp CaCl diluted in 1/4 c water
1/4 tsp MM100
1/2 tablet vegetable rennet in 1/4 cup water
1 Tblsp salt
1 Tblsp crushed garlic
Warmed milk to 86 degrees, adding garlic water, calcium chloride, and culture, stirring several minutes. Held at 86 degrees for 30 mins.
Added rennet, stirring for a couple of mins, then let sit for 35 mins until i felt I had clean break. I have not yet figured out this whole spinning bowl thing. Cureds were cut to 1/2 inch (or larger) and rested 10 mins.
Raised temp to 100 degrees, taking about 50 mins, stirring frequently, pH 6.3
Held at 100 degrees, stirring frequently, for 20 mins until the pH was 6.2
Rested 5 mins, then drained the whey with a scoop.
Held curds at 100 degrees, stirring frequently, for 15 mins, until the pH was 6.0
Drained the curd, and stirred in salt and garlic. Placed warm curds into hoop which is about 4.5 wide and 6.5 inches tall. The curds barely fit.
I was worried about pressing as heavy as indicated in the original recipe because I have a homemade press which I just stack weights on top of, and I can only come up with about 50 #. It gets precarious. And I read other Jack recipes that pressed under much less weight.
I pressed at 10 # for 15 mins, 30 # for 30 mins, and 42 # for overnight, redressing and turning in between.
This morning it weighed in at 2 #, 4 oz with a very nice, smooth rind.
I usually let the cheese I make sit on the counter in the kitchen with an upside down colander over them for a couple of days, turning, to develop a rind. Then into the "cave" which is my son's dorm frig set as high as it can be. It usually says 50 degrees on the thermometer, and in spite of water dripping and collecting in a pan, from the condensate inside the frig, it says 50 % humidity. I usually rub them with olive oil when they appear good and dry after a couple of weeks.
It will be difficult to wait the 8 weeks to try this my first attempt with the pH meter. Most of my cheeses have been of good appearance and flavor, but too dry and crumbly. I am not sure where I am going wrong, and am anxious to figure this out. I am hoping that paying attention to pH will make a difference.
You must have overlooked it. I told you what TA was short for in the post just prior to this. Look at the post prior to yours on this thread. On a different thread you started, Boofer posted a link for a list of cultures for you (TA among them), and someone else told you the actual bacteria involved. If none of these replies has answered your question you might want to rephrase it. Do you have a book to refer to, if so which one?
I'm sure your cheese will be just fine without it. The use of TA61 is optional.
It looks like your make went well and your pressing weights are fine. I'm using a 6 inch diameter follower which means I need roughly twice the weight you need on your 4.5 inch follower.
I'll be interested to know how this make works out.
I mis-phrased what I wrote... I did get the reply on my question on TA, but not in time for me to do anything about it with the making of the cheese underway already! Thank you for both responses!
Do you have any idea if paying attention to the pH could make a difference on the texture problems I have been experiencing?? (ie dry and crumbly...)
Absolutely! There are other factors you'll learn about as you go, but that is the big one. If you're having trouble with the spinning bowl, you might try inserting your cheese knife into the curd at intervals. At first the milk will drain off in a smooth sheet, but when it begins to flocculate the knife will come out with flecks of coagulating milk. I find that method easier than the bowl or toothpick.
It has been 2 months since I made the garlic jack, and it seemed a good time to try it for St. Patrick's day guests....! I am so pleased!! Cheese that melts and is smooth and has a great garlic flavor! Wow, Anut, thank you for the recipe and the pH guidelines! This was the first cheese I made using the pH meter and I think it really helped.
Congratulations! It's nice when things start to come together. A cheese for your diligence! :)
What about using a garlic salt or garlic powder during salting?
Anut -
Have you considered trying doing a fine chop and a quick broil of the garlic? Makes for a wonderful flavor. Sam with onion a quick broil before adding makes a lovely flavor and adds coloras well. Never tried it in a Jack but it's very good in a cheddar.
Some of those roasted smoked peppers would be lovely in this. I think jack is a great cheese for adding things to! It would be easier to add garlic power to the curds, but I'm really particular when it comes to garlic and only raw garlic appeals to me these days. I still saute it for soups and what not, but by itself no. I roasted a hand not that long ago and most of it hit the trash. My taste buds are changing. I'm finding I don't like a lot of things I used to enjoy. Hope cheese and bread never hits that list!
Hello anut. I am planning a pepper jack for my next cheese (it will be my third cheese). Yours is lovely (garlic jack, 2nd try, #32, pictures with the wheel and the melt test), and the description makes me want to try a garlic jack too.
In the first post you said you usually oil your cheese. Is that what you did with the 2nd try cheese that you posted the pictures of?
Right now I am planning on waxing since it will enable me to age my cheese without having to worry too much about the humidity in my cave (which I don't have yet, coming next week). But I'd like to know what technique you used on yours. I can't tell for sure from the pictures, but it looks really clean, no visible mold. Thanks. I'm just trying to understand and learn the techniques that I most want to emulate.
Hi Caseus,
??? I didn't oil this cheese, I rarely oil cheese? I vacuum packed it after drying it a few days. Good luck with your make. This is the one cheese I love with additions of garlic or pepper.
I did oil mine, and you can see from the March 17 picture, that the rind is a bit thick. I did not use a vacuum bag on the cheese, only oil, and aged 2 months. This is a small (2#) cheese, so the rind being thick uses more of whole cheese, but the rind was all edible and tasty.
I know I love dry jack, so I can imagine have that much rind was not loss! :P
Quote from: anutcanfly on April 04, 2012, 05:02:32 PM
Hi Caseus,
??? I didn't oil this cheese, I rarely oil cheese? I vacuum packed it after drying it a few days. Good luck with your make. This is the one cheese I love with additions of garlic or pepper.
Oh yeah, I'm sorry, it was scasnerkay who said that he (oops, could be she?) normally oils his(her) cheese.
Thank you for the clarification. The cheese is just lovely, and I like the fact that it is solid cheesey cheese to the very edge of the edge. Have to think about vacuum bagging though. I'm OK with it for excess coffee or my dry-aged steaks, but when it comes to cheese I'm feeling like a mud-hut groveling aboriginal luddite. Silly, I know, I'll get over it.
Quote from: scasnerkay on April 05, 2012, 12:28:47 AM
I did oil mine, and you can see from the March 17 picture, that the rind is a bit thick. I did not use a vacuum bag on the cheese, only oil, and aged 2 months. This is a small (2#) cheese, so the rind being thick uses more of whole cheese, but the rind was all edible and tasty.
What does the thick rind taste like, feel like? Can you describe the sensory attributes scasnerkay? Will it melt, or is it hard to the bite? Your cheese is lovely.
The thick rind was chewy, but tasted the same as the body of the cheese which was very good. Everyone who tasted the cheese was not bothered by chewing on the rind. I did not try to melt any of the cheese. We just ate it!!
Susan (Casner-Kay)
Update on this cheese. I made this cheese 5 months ago and it has been in my fridge for the last 3 months. I was surprised to find out that it has gotten stronger (not the garlic, it's still the same). It's no longer a mild cheese with garlic. Now it's says HELLO, and I couldn't be happier! ^-^ I had worried that the garlic might cause problems as it aged, but not so.
some cheeses will do that - good thing too!