I’ve had problems with Monterey Jack in the past.  It has always turned out dry and crumbly.  The Jack I am familiar with is a moist, and somewhat softer, solid texture cheese.  Well, back in January I decided to try yet another.  Other than using my new lever style press, I can’t for the life of me think of anything that I did differently this time.  When the wheel came out of the press it was a bit more firm than what I had seen in the past.  I’ve always had a lot of dripping during the drying phase, which I did not have this time.  After it was sealed and put in the cave, it did seep whey into the vacuum bag.  I elected to leave it alone rather than drain it and rebag it.  Well, last night I cracked it open and gave it a sample; and to my delight it was much more moist than in the past.  It was a bit sharper than a Jack should be, but that was likely due to the 4 months aging; and the flavor is quite good.  I’m taking a pound of it to work today for some other opinions.

Good to hear it went OK. Could it be that you cut the curd earlier or in bigger pieces?

Excellent

Herman van der Hoek - 07 May 2012 09:36 AM

Good to hear it went OK. Could it be that you cut the curd earlier or in bigger pieces?

Might have been cut just a wee bit earlier, I go by the feel of the curd and look for a good solid break.  As far as cutting size, I use a knife that cuts all the curd at exactly the same size.  It’s a stainless steel rod frame, laced with monofilament fishing line as the cutters.

I’ve had pepper jack that put out moisture in the vacuum sealed bag. I opened mine and dried it and resealed it. I don’t vacuum seal it in the beginning anymore, I wax it. It seems to make a difference in the flavor. The one that was vacuum sealed had a sour flavor to it.

try putting a plastic bag over your head and see how u smell in a few days LOL !!

Did I ever mention something about coating cheeses here? 

That brings a question to mind.  Tammy mentioned her cheese seeped whey while aging.  I’ve had a few do this as well - noticeably the Jacks.  A coating would not be any more effective in such a case because the moisture would still be trapped inside the coating.  BTW, I left one in the vacuum bag with the released whey until it had finished aging, and it did not adversely affect the flavor; nor was the resulting cheese soggy in any way.

I once made a Pepper Jack and coated it as I do with all hard and semi-hard cheeses. With all my pressed cheeses I never had problems with seeping whey, but I once had a Cabra al Vino where I noticed in the first week after coating that when I turned it in the cave, the coating at the bottom side was not transparent and a little damp. I air dry them at least until the Wednesday after the weekend that I make them.
Could it be that with the Jacks the temp in the cave was too high?

Sometimes when their force pressed their are pockets of water inside, other then that some are still too wet and needed more pressing.

Jacks are just moister than other cheeses. They don’t press at such high weights as cheddar.

Herman, you have mentioned your cheese coating here. I bought some and I have cheddar that is waxed and cheddar that has the clear coating on it in my cave. I am waiting to see how each comes out. I think it’s the same sealer as what you talked about.

t beaman - 28 June 2012 12:13 AM

Herman, you have mentioned your cheese coating here.

LOL, yes I was pretty sure about that, because sometimes I feel like a “cheese coating evangelist”, also on other fora I had “some” discussions going on about this.
Funny thing is that people at the other side on the pond talk about “the traditionally waxed Edam and Gouda cheeses”.  Well, I’m living in a town next to Gouda, I’m 57 yrs old and eating Gouda cheese all my live, and I’ve only seen waxed baby Gouda’s in souvenir shops were they are sold to tourist for incredible prices.