A Pepper Jack is Born

[nccheesemike]

Spent my New Years Eve day making more cheese. This make was a Pepper Jack. I added dried chili flakes to the curd. The make went well and the cheese is currently air drying till later this week when I plan to vacuum bag it to age. I went for a moist cheese in my curds and plan to age this for 3-4 months. Happy New Years all

[tashad]

looks good!  I've never tasted pepper jack, but my son loves it so it's on my to do list for someday.  Did you add the chili flakes dry or did you boil them first?  I've read that people boil some other additives like caraway seeds, and wonder if the same is done for chili flakes.

[Danbo]

It looks very nice. I look forward to hear much more about it in 3-4 months...

[nccheesemike]

Thanks Tashad! I am a chili Pepper fan myself so I may be the only person here to eat this cheese but I'm not complaining.
I did in fact boil the dried flakes in 2 cups of water for 15 mins. I strained the flakes, added that water to milk before culture then added flakes to curds before pressing. I learned that boiling dried spices is better safe than sorry as I lost a MJ cheese when I added Sundried Tomatoes and Basil without boiling first.

Thanks Danbo yes expect follow up pics in spring