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Hello everyone,

I've been off the forum for a long time, after my cheese fails of 2017, I nearly gave up! But...I'm back and already had a few successes with Chevre, American Cheese and Jarlsberg. I opened my Jarlsberg (ripened for 6 weeks) a few nights ago. It looked, smelled and tasted PERFECT, I was so proud:



So last night I grated it (grated very well)...



...and tried to make it into a fondue. I have fondue monthly and have used store bought Jarlsberg before, melted well. Mine melted, but it sort of looked like a melty cottage cheese and never fully and smoothly melted. It tasted fabulous, but the texture was a slight turnoff.



(I hope the images show how I described it)

Any ideas about that? Thanks so much!!
Rain

Hi...that Jarlsberg looks so fantastic!  AC4U!  If it doesn't melt well, perhaps it is destined to be a fabulous deli/sandwich cheese!

Caldwell, in her book "Mastering Artisan Cheese Making", has a brief discussion about melting properties and while I don't yet fully understand the concept, it sounds like there's an association with calcium levels, pH, fat content and maybe other things that affect melting quality.

I've had issues with mozz not melting well and I finally figured out at least one of the problems with that, was too high of a pH.

Hopefully a more experienced cheese maker will chime in with more ideas...

That is a lovely looking Jarlsberg, and worthy of a-cheese-for-you! I too don't fully understand all the dynamics in what makes one cheese melt well and the next just blob up.

Do you happen to have any pH measurements from the make? I suspect maybe the pH dipped a bit too low and the lumpy strech is the result.

Thanks so much Susan, Andy and River Bottom Farm! I wish I could transmit the fragrance, it's unbelievable!

Susan, I actually have Caldwell's book on order, it should be in the mail today, I hope so, I want to read her book front to back. I also have another book that just arrived "The Cheesemaker's Manual" by Margaret Peters. That arrived yesterday so I'm going to delve into that today too. I tried internet searches, but all I could find was that it might be too "acidic", with no suggestion otherwise. I've tried Mozzarella a total of 9 times I think. 8 times I had a nice curd cheese, ONE time I actually got a Mozz, and it barely melted!

Thanks for the cheese Andy!

River Bottom Farm, I didn't measure PH for this cheese. I didn't have a working meter, but I have strips. When you say the PH may have dipped a bit low, during what stage of the cheese making do you think this happened? I'm making a Colby today, do you suggest checking PH levels too?

I do suggest checking pH during the make yes especially if you have pH markers in your recepie. I would suspect the pH dipped a little too low in the press before brining.

Do you use homogenized milk ? If it is the case, it could be part of the problem. In top of other factors affecting cheese meltability like moisture content, fat content, pH, extent of proteolysis, milk homogenization also interfere with the melting properties of cheeses made from it.

Other tips from this article: https://www.finecooking.com/article/the-science-of-melting-cheese

Dos and Don'ts for Smooth Melted Cheese

• Do bring cheese to room temperature. This gives the cheese a head start toward reaching its melting point. It prevents a sudden temperature change that could cause the protein to coagulate too quickly and squeeze out the fat, resulting in clumps, a greasy texture, or both.
• Do grate it. Finely grating the cheese creates more surface area, allowing heat to permeate quickly for even melting. Large or irregular chunks of cheese melt at different rates, can melt first on the outside and then overcook, or become clumpy or oily before the inside of the chunk starts to flow.
  
• Do use low heat. Gradual temperature changes and relatively low temperatures overall will prevent the fat from separating out of melting cheese. Adding cheese to boiling liquid can cause the protein to coagulate too quickly, turning it clumpy or stringy and squeezing out the fat into a greasy mess. For best results, add cheese at the end of the cooking process so that it can just reach but not exceed its melting point.
  
• Do add acid. When making fondues, sauces, and soups, adding white wine or lemon juice helps keep cheeses melted and smooth. The added acid in these ingredients binds to the calcium in the melted cheese, preventing it from cross-linking with the proteins and keeping them separate instead of clumped together. Wine and lemon juice also contribute some water to dilute the proteins and keep them flowing.
• Do add starch. Flour or cornstarch is like insurance against clumping and stringiness in a cheese sauce. The starch coats the proteins and fats in the melted cheese, keeping the proteins from clumping and the fats from separating out.
• Don't stir too vigorously. Overstirring encourages the proteins to clump and could create a stringy or lumpy texture.
• Don't cool the cheese before serving. As it cools, melted cheese begins to get firm again and is more likely to clump.
  
• Don't use stringy cheese. Mozzarella will melt but won't make a smooth and creamy sauce like a well-aged Cheddar or a high-moisture cream cheese. Save the mozzarella for pizza.

Thanks River Bottom Farm Honestly I'm not that advanced a cheese maker to be able to test the PH during pressing! The recipe I used didn't have PH markers, so I didn't even think of it. I need to read up more on PH and all that.

Thanks Stephmtl222 Yes, I have to use homogenized milk unfortunately. I don't have access to any other type. And thanks for the do's and don't's list!! I follow all of those suggestions when making my fondues so I'm guessing it's not the method, but the milk or like River Bottom Farm mentioned the PH.