It took several tries to get this recipe right, but I’m finally satisfied: the cheese is hot enough to get a whoo-whee kick, but not so hot that it deters you from eating it. In other words, it’s perfect! (For me, anyway.) We like to eat it melted over tortilla chips, tucked into a bacon burger, grated over taco salad, or plain, with crackers.
LINKS
Vacuum Sealer: https://amzn.to/3KG4N5R (Amazon)
8-gallon soup pot: https://bit.ly/3zONbAq (Webstaurant)
Cheese Press: https://bit.ly/3BjMSP1 (New England Cheesemaking)
Rennet: https://bit.ly/3AZldBT (New England Cheesemaking)
Cheesecloth: https://bit.ly/3evpHIM (New England Cheesemaking)
Bamboo Mats: https://amzn.to/3qkEQ24 (Amazon)
Read my blog: jennifermurch.com
Recipes: https://jennifermurch.com/recipe-index
Email me: jennifer@jennifermurch.com
CHAPTERS
00:00 Pepper Jack Cheese
00:10 Tasting a previous wheel
00:50 Heat milk to 90 degrees
01:00 Sanitizing equipment
01:35 Mesophilic Culture: adding flora danica
02:39 Steeping red pepper flakes
03:02 Adding red pepper broth and rennet
03:46 Checking for a clean break
04:17 Cutting the curd
05:00 Gently stir the curd for 10 minutes
06:19 Heat the curd to 100 degrees over 25-40 minutes
08:16 Strain off the whey
09:06 Add the red pepper and salt, and mill the curds
11:14 Pressing
13:50 Air Drying
14:12 Vac-packing and aging
Disclaimer: This video may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
31 Comments
Very impressive! Keep up your good work… thank you again, subscribed!! 🙏🥰
new sub. you're currently doing a live interview with Gavin Webber, the Curd Nerd. i am stricken by your beauty which shines from within.
I’d love a follow up video to show us what it tasted like and how it turned out. I’ve only made fresh cheese with mediocre results. It’s tough to find the right milk for cheesemaking. I used to live in Arlington, VA and we could only use pasteurized milk from MOM market or Whole Foods. I can get raw milk where I am now (Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan) but I’m not confident in myself. Hopefully your videos will inspire me!
Hi Jennifer! I really enjoyed your video. You are fun, helpful, and real. It's so refreshing! I'm so glad that my search for making my own calcium chloride solution lead me to your channel.
Honestly, I have had more failures than successes with the 20ish cheeses I've made so far. The pigs have been happy about that. lol But I just don't know what went wrong. So may variables with cheesemaking! I use raw milk because I have my own milk cows and am learning how to roll with the differences that brings.
I look forward to making your recipes "with" you.
My joal was to retire with about 15 acres and have hogs and a couple of Jersey cows to produce high cream content milk to make cheese with. But due to being rear ended sitting at a red light my back will not allow me to do that. I think it is great that someone else has been successful doing just that. I enjoyed watching you make the cheese. Thanks
Would you have pressed at 40lbs if you had a smaller batch? Like a cheese made from 2 gallons of milk? For some reason, this cheese has different times in the 100F whey and different weights/times in the press with every recipe I find. So, I'm trying to piece together everyone's recipes to come up with something for myself. So, I'm curious about your 40lbs pressing.
PS I just love how you take us through all the ups and downs of your cheeses! You make me feel so much better about my own differing results! And, yes! Lactation period, time of year, etc, can affect the milk. I have goats, but I assume it's the same for cows, too.
Hello Jennifer, I have been making cheeses for about 3 years now and just found your videos. I love that you show the ups and downs that we all can learn from. I've ordered a larger pot (30 quart) and when it comes in I'm going to make this cheese. I've been using a 24 quart for all my cheeses and cant wait to try the larger size. Please keep up the videos because they are really good. Thanks
I've only tried this once with so so results. I opened it when some friends were over and one remarked I should name it "Old Gym Sock". Granted, it was my third make ever so I've learned much since then. One question – my biggest challenge is getting a consistent curd set. Too often, I think I'm good and the curds immediately break down to cottage cheese size. I don't have access to raw milk but use a local dairy sourced non ultra high pasteurized milk. Am I cutting too soon? I'm using the New England Cheese animal rennet. Any guidance is appreciated.
Wonderful 😊
Hi Jennifer,Do you pasturize your raw milk before you use it ,Thankyou Nigel.
Can you use goats milk in place of cow milk?
I love your video n how you share your cheese journey
I use your recipe but use clabber and the secondary culture you recommend.
Using 7.5 gallon raw milk & 0.5 gallon raw cream.. my cheese came out huge
It was 10.94 pounds after I took it out of the press .
At approximately https://youtu.be/3e_d1vo_DU4?t=395 you mention that your kettle is an excellent soup kettle. Can you provide the make/model (do kettles have make/models?) for it, maybe even a link?
Thank you
What does "backpacking" the cheese mean? I've searched, but all I get is about hiking! 🙂 Thank you.
Watching on repeat. I’m making my first aged cheese today! ❤️
I wonder if you are aware of any changes needed to use your recipe with raw goat milk?
I am aware that rennet should be reduced by 25%, but that’s the extent of my knowledge there…
Great video again, love your kitchen too – thank you!
You are adorable…love the literal hands on approach. That's my kinda Makin. I'm new to cheese making and trying my hand at it today…I will give this a shot. I am going to make mine with black garlic. After that will be caramelized onion perhaps. Thank you for sharing your hard work and skills.
Is the water you used out the faucett tap water or well water…just curious
I made this cheese yesterday and didnt mill in salt..i dont know where the hell i was at that part of the video but nevermind that part. Will brining the cheese add the proper salt content and how long( 3.17lbs) or should i dry salt
I made this cheese I made this cheese using buttermilk instead of dry culture and I couldn’t be happier. I made a little video doing a taste test. Thank you! https://youtu.be/o52QGj9Wq-Q?si=5aP9iIvpU1IIiWEH
Where did you get a pot that big?!
I have a pig named Petunia also! hahahaha
Made this recipe this was my 2nd cheese
Tried it today and brought me to tears so good…Thank you Jennifer. Now to figure out why its dry🌻
Please make a Bel Paese
Ok, gotta tell you…this was the first ‘aged’ cheese I tried. Didn’t have a press yet so I weighted something down on a poked plastic cottage cheese container. I didn’t have cultures so I tried yogurt. It was all by the seat of my pants and with ZERO cheese making background. Today…for our anniversary, we opened and tried the cheese. After a couple months of age 🎉 😮❤ what a surprise. The extent of flavors!!! What a trip. Amazing how cheese can change. It’s fantastic and we both love it. So freakin cool 😎
I recommend saving the peppery whey for your next batch of pepper jack cheese to add more heat spicyness to your cheese
sorry for my question: are the temperatures in °C or in fahrenheid? Sorry, my English is not very well 🥴
I sit my pot in a sink of water with my sous vide controlling the temperature and the time- it makes it a bit too easy lol, so sometimes I check back too late and end up with cheeses I hadn't planned. Loving your videos Jen, I think you're just ahead of me in terms of experience, so your explanations are always just what I need. I'm not one to follow recipes and I love your lack of discipline 'cause that's the way I work (I'm also incredibly imatient lol, so I get that you need to taste them early). At the moment I'm hanging on your every word re aging, have bought the dedicated cheese fridge, have been waxing, but will do a cloth wrapped soon. I'm also wanting to make a Brie from a medieval recipe just out of interest. Keep up the great work xx I'm looking forward to tasting this Pepper Jack
Thank you for the complete walk-thru. If I were you, I could not resist finding out why such a large difference in yield though. 🙂