Today it was Monterrey Jack - but I think (no, I KNOW) I screwed it up.
See, all hard cheeses start out the same: heat your milk to x*, add your starter and hold at x* for y minutes. Add your rennet and hold for another y minutes (might be the same, might be longer/shorter.) Cut the resulting curds into various sizes, let set for yet another y minutes, then heat to x*. Usually stirring. Let set another y minutes. Drain whey, add salt (sometimes), then put in mold and press. Simple, right?
Only some cheeses add steps. Like Monterrey Jack, for example - you raise the temp, then drain off HALF the whey (which I did), then you ADD COOL WATER to drop the temp from 100* to 80*-ish, hold for 30 minutes, then drain for 20 and then press.
I....didn't add the water, so I held the curds at 100*. :sigh: Still – it looks normal, tastes OK, so I'm gonna keep on and age it. We'll see what the difference is in 4 months or so. (Cheese is cheese is cheese, and it'll be edible. Just...might not taste like it's supposed to. :lol:
I used 2 gallons (to get 2 pounds of cheese)...I need to do a soft cheese too. That'll use up another gallon.....and it looks like I need to make cheese tomorrow, too. Our r
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