The Melty Cheese Calculator: what have you made?

[Tri2Cook]

I'm pretty happy with the flavor and texture of the above posted cheese. Here's rhe problem... since it set up, it's started pushing out liquid. I'm leaning towards the peppers being the culprit. I've used pickled jalapenos before but I pureed them in with the stick blender, I left these diced. I'm thinking the cheese setting up put the squeeze on them. The only other thing I did that I've never done before is the cream cheese but I can't think of any reason that would cause a problem. Any thoughts?

[donk79]

48 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

I'm pretty happy with the flavor and texture of the above posted cheese. Here's rhe problem... since it set up, it's started pushing out liquid. I'm leaning towards the peppers being the culprit. I've used pickled jalapenos before but I pureed them in with the stick blender, I left these diced. I'm thinking the cheese setting up put the squeeze on them. The only other thing I did that I've never done before is the cream cheese but I can't think of any reason that would cause a problem. Any thoughts?

My experience with cream cheese is that it helps with emulsification.  I made pimentoish cheese recipe recently (no emulsification) and had a similar issue.  I think you are on the right track regarding the peppers.

[Tri2Cook]

So, does anybody have a method for devolving the modernist mac and cheese a bit without completely reverting to methods used prior to this one existing? To clarify, I'm 100% onboard with the flavor and texture of the modernist method and have been for many years... with a disclaimer. That disclaimer being the short period of time available to enjoy that texture before it essentially becomes pasta encased in a block of, admittedly tasty, Velveeta. That would be ok except it can happen faster than you can shovel down what's on your plate in a cool room, there's certainly no window for going back for seconds. Anybody foumd a way to slow that process down a little?

[gfweb]

22 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

So, does anybody have a method for devolving the modernist mac and cheese a bit without completely reverting to methods used prior to this one existing? To clarify, I'm 100% onboard with the flavor and texture of the modernist method and have been for many years... with a disclaimer. That disclaimer being the short period of time available to enjoy that texture before it essentially becomes pasta encased in a block of, admittedly tasty, Velveeta. That would be ok except it can happen faster than you can shovel down what's on your plate in a cool room, there's certainly no window for going back for seconds. Anybody foumd a way to slow that process down a little?

 

The Food Lab has several M&C recipes.  One is made with condensed milk all on the stove top in 1 pan.  That one doesn't congeal or break.  Foolproof.  I'll try to find it

 

 

Here it is. The only change I make is cavatappi for macaroni. Its more forkable.

https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe

Edited August 23, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

7 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

The Food Lab has several M&C recipes.  One is made with condensed milk all on the stove top in 1 pan.  That one doesn't congeal or break.  Foolproof.  I'll try to find it

 

 

Here it is. The only change I make is cavatappi for macaroni. Its more forkable.

https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe

Condensed or evaporated milk?   Sweet cheese sauce does not appeal to me.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I will suggest again my stupid-easy workaround.    Not MCC based, but results in silky smooth melted cheese in sauce or soup.    I simply add a bit of white vinegar to the sauce ingredients, heat and whisk -> total integration and a velvety cheese melt. 

[gfweb]

51 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Condensed or evaporated milk?   Sweet cheese sauce does not appeal to me.

Evaporated milk is in that link.

Edited August 23, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[Tri2Cook]

19 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Evaporated milk is in that link.

Thanks! I've tried the evaporated milk version. Ideas In Food had it in their book years ago and honestly, I wasn't a fan of the taste. Works great for the texture and not breaking but for me, the evap milk still adds an unpleasant sweetness. And yep, evap was used, not sweetened condensed.

[gfweb]

10 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

Thanks! I've tried the evaporated milk version. Ideas In Food had it in their book years ago and honestly, I wasn't a fan of the taste. Works great for the texture and not breaking but for me, the evap milk still adds an unpleasant sweetness. And yep, evap was used, not sweetened condensed.

 

I added mustard and sriracha too...not sure if its in the recipe.  Wasn't sweet to my taste but that might vary with the cheese. I used sharp cheddar.

[lemniscate]

I had a collection of parm rinds languishing, also had cheese ends that I tossed in the freezer for when an idea might hit.   Well, it hit.  I made Melty Cheese Sauce in the Blendtec.   Advantage:  1 container/appliance, just add hot water, cheese pieces and sodium citrate and turn on.  Noisy, but done in about 2 minutes.   I have a smoked parm sauce for over eggs today.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, lemniscate said:

I had a collection of parm rinds languishing, also had cheese ends that I tossed in the freezer for when an idea might hit.   Well, it hit.  I made Melty Cheese Sauce in the Blendtec.   Advantage:  1 container/appliance, just add hot water, cheese pieces and sodium citrate and turn on.  Noisy, but done in about 2 minutes.   I have a smoked parm sauce for over eggs today.

 

What were your amounts?

 

[lemniscate]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What were your amounts?

 

 

You'd think I'd have an exact answer to that, but that's not how the cheese sauce was created.   No weights.

 

In the fog of the morning, I believe I had about 1.25 to 1.3 cups of hot water (just enough to cover the blades in the Wildside blender jar).   The cheese chunks were probably 1.5 cups by volume.

About 1/3 tsp of sodium citrate.   That gave it a pourable sauce consistency.  I changed my mind and added 1/8-ish tsp of xantham to give a more dippable texture.

 

I have been tasked (challenged) to clean out the fridge and freezer and pantry of my eclectic collections of minor odds and ends.  This was the first repurpose of about 4 bags of "stuff".    That's why the measurements are on the fly.

[Smithy]

4 hours ago, lemniscate said:

I had a collection of parm rinds languishing, also had cheese ends that I tossed in the freezer for when an idea might hit.   Well, it hit.  I made Melty Cheese Sauce in the Blendtec.   Advantage:  1 container/appliance, just add hot water, cheese pieces and sodium citrate and turn on.  Noisy, but done in about 2 minutes.   I have a smoked parm sauce for over eggs today.

 

What did you use to get the smoky flavor?

[lemniscate]

59 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

What did you use to get the smoky flavor?

 

Some of the bits of cheese were smoked cheddar or something like it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As I've probably overshared already, in the grip of the pandemic when many of us were hoarding, I craved a bit of Gruyere to play with melty cheese.  I rather fancied a fondu.  However amidst the panic and pandemonium, the only choice available was a single whole uncut block of Gruyere, at a cost of $50.

 

It still lives in my refrigerator.  And I still would like to make fondu.

 

[lemniscate]

To followup my use of the parm ends and pieces sauce, I made a mac n cheese, but I used cheese tortellini (Barilla 3 cheese dried, Amazon had a deal) as the mac.   So decadent.   Very much need to watch portion control on this one.

[lemniscate]

It's been a while since I had cheese ends and pieces to make some more melty cheese.  I had about 250g of cheeses (gruyere, cheddar, gouda) and a can of PBR (someone included in a Christmas food gift).  So I made a fondue type sauce, added lots of cracked black pepper.   We just did a bit for appetizers with sourdough toast soldiers.   

[blue_dolphin]

18 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

It's been a while since I had cheese ends and pieces to make some more melty cheese

Thanks for the reminder. I usually lean towards fromage fort but I should consider melty cheese in these situations!

 

[Kerry Beal]

I've got an outlet in Hamilton where I can get cheese ends for a somewhat reasonable price (cheese is expensive in Canada).

 

So I picked up about 600 grams of 3 year old cheddar ends and made this block yesterday.

 

This morning I pulled out the wire cutter and made it into slices. Thick slices!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TdeV]

On 2/16/2023 at 5:30 PM, lemniscate said:

It's been a while since I had cheese ends and pieces to make some more melty cheese.  I had about 250g of cheeses (gruyere, cheddar, gouda) and a can of PBR (someone included in a Christmas food gift).  So I made a fondue type sauce, added lots of cracked black pepper.   We just did a bit for appetizers with sourdough toast soldiers.   

 

Sorry about my lateness. Leminiscate, please tell me what PBR is.

[TdeV]

Looks delicious, @Kerry Beal. How did you make the block?

[Kerry Beal]

51 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Looks delicious, @Kerry Beal. How did you make the block?

Molded my melty cheese in a plastic wrapped lined mini pullman pan - mini pullman

[Dave the Cook]

56 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

Sorry about my lateness. Leminiscate, please tell me what PBR is.

 

Not @lemniscate, but I believe "PBR" is Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.