I’m going to be making my first Jack cheese this evening and am wondering if anyone has made a whey brine for it instead of a traditional water brine. I’ve had great success with my Feta by doing a whey brine so I’m thinking about using that method with my Jack cheese. Any thoughts?

Good to hear from you again Iowegian.  I’ve made a few Jacks, but never brined any of them.  I add salt to the cooked curd.  My latest will be coming off in the next week or so.  This cheese has given several of us fits; and it will be more than a bit interesting to see what results you have from a brining.  My guess is that you’ll get better results from whey brine than from water brine.  Let us know how it comes out.

I use whey brine , i find it works good, better then water. Water also leaches from the cheese.

Thanks guys, I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out….

i have note here, whey will become too sour (lower than 4.7) than Gouda curds, u need to adjust the pH to 5.3 or so…
I always reuse my brine which i add salt every time to it and it is adjusted to 5.3-5.3 or so

Whey is better than water based, because it contains the calcium needed (no need for CaCl)