Recipe: Melty Cheese Slices

Less mozz, more gouda, or swap mozz for cheese curds. Adjust cheeses but keep the same formula.

whitecatjamz

I've been working on this recipe for a local (Seattle) neighborhood Grilled Cheese Cook-off. I've been making the Aged Gouda Recipe. I am sorry if this has already been asked. My cheese is coming out overly soft. It's not as firm as Velveeta. When I try and grill it in a sandwich the cheese melts out on to the pan before the bread can brown. I've tried to use the firmest Aged Gouda that I could find. How should I adjust the recipe to make it firmer? FYI I've been using an immersion blender to mix the ingredients after the SV and it works great! For the fix: Less milk? Less Moz? TIA

https://blog.modernistpantry.com/advice/the-meltiest-cheese/

Also:

dyoung367

Can this be used as a cheese sauce due recipes like Mac n cheese?

johnchrisspinosa

I like this idea. Why would you need to prewarm the liquid vs. cheese though? Can you put all into the thermomix and have it heat to desired temperature? Maybe have the lowest setting in the blender component and then when it reaches temperature do a high speed blend and such? I will try that and let y’all know if I messed up or not.

I would think that would work great.

Samuel_Khan_213054

Is there an answer to why you shouldn't freeze it?

sharonweid

Can I skip the SV step and warm liquid/salts in Thermomix with cubes of cheese added when it reaches 75°C and then blend? Or maybe heat to 80°C, add room temp cubes and blend to account for slight temp drop?

Roquefort is sheep's milk and you can use the chèvre formula but the blue cheese formula will work too as the sodium caseinate is the product pulling the weight. Even though stilton appears dry and crumble worthy it is still a soft cheese.

mattyf9

So I made this cheese without the hexametaphosphate and it still came out great. Is there any texture difference by leaving it out?

adey73

Kyl, where does Roquefort stand in this, as it’s a gooey goat cheese, but blue and not crumbly like Stilton?

@Kyl Haselbauer

I would stick with the measurements above and aim for they type of cheese above that is the closest to the style of cheese that you are going to work with.

dconison

Is there a rule of thumb on calculating the amount of each melting salt? Want to try this with a local cheese, but given the cost would prefer to keep amount of trial and error somewhat within reason? It doesn’t seem to be a consistent proportion for each cheese, so wondering how I should go about testing.

ipreferale

I revisited the Chèvre melty cheese recipe today. I made it back when the recipe was fist published and my notes indicated that it was way too thick for our Viamix, and it did not slice properly. So when I made it today, it performed as it did 8 years ago, so I ended up adding 80 g of whole milk, to get it spinning in the blender. My question is this, is there supposed to be milk in the recipe too? There is also a lot of sodium casenite in the recipe, is that amount correct? Or is the recipe as it is, thick and somewhat sliceable. I have not seen anyone comment of the chèvre recipe so any assistance would be appreciated.

jchstuff

I did the Cheddar recipe verbatim and it came out a bit of a mess. Mixture was so thick that my Vitamix had trouble blending it. I thinned it with a small amount of water. When I removed it from the mold after chilling overnight, the cheese was loose and spongey. It held together, but was too soft to slice. After removing it from the mold and sitting it in the fridge for a while, it lost it's shape and turned into a gelatinous cheese pancake. Any ideas what went wrong?

jchstuff

Anybody know the teaspoon or tablespoon conversions for the sodium citrate, salt and sodium hex?

Hello chris king, I would recommend using part cheese curds at around 75% and then slot in the other 25% feta or other cheese. This way you still have melty action with a distinct flavor. The cheese curds are neutral enough in flavor to pair with stronger flavored cheeses like feta.

chris_king_1215284

Would this method work on cheeses that usually don’t melt like feta cheese or Mexican version used on elote but a sauce instead of crumbles??

eng.ali.hafiz.sa

I have used this cake pan as a mold for the cheese https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Daddios-PRD-44-Round-Silver/dp/B0013BK7NA?pd_rd_w=rh234&content-id=amzn1.sym.deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_p=deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_r=XEAGZNJDTVV1Y1AY814M&pd_rd_wg=rlOWm&pd_rd_r=a2982f98-dcd3-444b-82b3-d66276070258&pd_rd_i=B0013BK7NA&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_t

worked like a charm , it gave me perfect circular slices but make sure to use an oiled parchment paper at the bottom and oil the sides too.

mattyf9

Will this still work just using sodium citrate? Can I leave our the hexawutchamacallit.

Leonardo_Crespo_1490006

Is there a reason why the gruyere recipe needs provole cheese? CAn it just be gruyere by itself?

Gary_H_Rempert_1075868

The "Immediately" in "Immediately transfer contents to a blender and blend until completely smooth and emulsified." should read "IMMEDIATELY"! Do not hesitate to blend before the cheesy deliciousness begins to cool ever so quickly and solidify before your blender can do its magic. Also used a slightly-tapered base oversized coffee mug to allow removal of the solidified loveness, which matched the most narrow dimension of my consumer grade (width) saran wrap. LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!

Have any Canadians had luck finding SHMP here?

This is 4 years too late, but the idea of blending after is to emulsify the cheese and milk together. The salts just help keep it together.

Blending before would result in chunks of cheese that have not emulsified with the milk.

Hi Jon, This cheese is never going to really get hard enough for you to slice on a slicer, we would recommend cutting with a knife, or using a wire cheese cutter.

jglsolis

Got it, I'm still having issues where the cheese isn't setting fully and I'm getting this almost hardened block of cheese but it starts to melt and stick to the slicer so it cant fully process through and get sliced. Do I need to reduce the milk content or increase the Sodium Citrate in it?

You can omit the clarified butter if needed, just sub the weight in milk. And our standard for milk will be whole milk unless we state otherwise, for future reference.

jglsolis

Is clarified butter required for this recipe to work? Also it never specified what kind of milk is used? Whole or skim?

Cheers man, yeah a little bit of experimenting will be needed.

pjmaguire3

I imagine that would be fine. Might need to up the milk or melting salts a tiny bit to get the right consistency when re-melted once fried. The nacho cheese sauce recipe is a good basis of extremes to compare against, if you’re wondering how much milk/salts would be good starting local maxima.

Random q, but would I be able to cool this in a sheet pan and then slice into cheese fries to bread and fry or would it be too much of a mess inside once crisp?

husssein.ghandour

Emmental with dry green peppercorns. But I made it stovetop. Another one I’ve loved is pickled jalapeños with aged cheddar, but sadly no pic(the idea got stuck when I saw Kenji lopez combine grilled hatch chillis with cheese for a burger and your nacho dip).

Dan_Ollis_1180433

Thank you very much for your prompt and insightful reply. Great to know.

I would not recommend freezing. it will become watery and crumbly. But after you cool it the first time it can sit in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This all depends on your fridge temp, and if you are touching it with bare hands through out the time frame though.

Dan_Ollis_1180433

What is the life span of melty cheese? Can the melty cheese be made well in advance of a dinner, either frozen or stored in the fridge until ready to use? Does freezing change the consistency of cheese when thawed?

Mark_724397

Has anyone been able to find sodium hexametaphosphate in the UK, without having to buy a 25kg sack?

Salt is measured in "spike points" and table salt has a higher spike point and will seem more salty. Chefs use kosher salts that have medium spike points and give a more rounded flavor enhancement. Brand is by choice of the grade of the salt crystals. Diamond Crystal flakes are less coarse than Morton Kosher salt. Sea salts can vary in spike points. Kosher is consistent.

Dan_Ollis_1180433

The recipe states "salt" and upon checking which brand you use, the search took me to Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.

First question, why kosher salt and not basic table salt?

Second question, why this particular kosher salt type? I know that it is different than Morton Kosher Salt by weight>

It will not.

mohsen_1300392

hello, does the recepie works without

Sodium caseinate

Sodium citrate

Sodium hexametaphosphate

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/faq--3

BTW, here's the explanation for why you want to use both Na citrate and SHMP (the former alone will be crumbly):

Janos_Antal_419569

I bought on Amazon a really cheap jewerly scale, pocket size and perfect for this application as well...

leannajs6

I bought one at Cabellas in their ammunition department. Hunters use them for filling bullets.

Dani_340447

I bought this from Amazon recently. It works really well and measures to the 0.5 gram. Jennings CJ-4000 Compact Digital Weigh Scale 4000g x 0.5g PCS JScale Black AC Adapter

austinguy83

Im having a hard time finding a kitchen scale that can measure less than 1 gram. is there a good model recommendation that can measure more precisely that doesn't cost a fortune?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014MP3YPG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

I made this a couple of times using Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (which is fairly widely available in good cheese shops). For 300 grams, after cutting away the rind, you need a good 1 lbs of this cheese.

The first time, I followed the basic recipe above exactly. And although it worked, the cheese was very thick in the blender and a bit harder to pour into the mold.

For the mold, I used one 4 mil acetate sheet from here:

And the same tart rings I use for the CS brioche hamburger bun recipe:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L11BEIE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Turned out quite nice, easy to cut, melting well, although a bit on the salty side.

The second time I doubled the recipe, but cut the salt in half and increased the milk from 240g to 360g (did not proportionally change anything else), which resulted in an easier to pour cheese. Coming out of the mold, it was a bit softer and I had to be a bit more careful cutting it so as not to break the slices. I got 24 thick slices out of the double recipe.

I used the same cheese slicer as in CS's video (I highly recommend):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HMB0IM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L11BEIE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the ring molds I use (also for making CS's brioche hamburger buns). I like a nice big burger (4"):