Monterey Jack: Live Online

Thursday, October 5, 2023
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Tuition: $36

We believe that making your own cheese is the culinary equivalent of building a log cabin. Practice and time pay off! Up here in Ely, we strongly resonate with the idea of finding ways to sustainably support yourself and we think that making homemade cheese is an excellent example of that!

Monterey jack is an American semi-hard cheese using cow's milk. It has a mild, buttery flavor and with a high fat and moisture content. Monterey Jack has melts well and is often used in Mexican cuisine. 

Gary recommends going to Cultures for Health to find ingredients if you have not yet. This option for mesophilic culture also includes enough rennet tablets for several batches of cheese. You can also find calcium chloride there. Amazon also has ingredients options with faster shipping. You may already have cheesecloth in your kitchen or garage - Gary recommends cheese or muslin cloth that is 80 or 90 grade - as long as it is tightly woven enough to not see through. For milk - ultra-pasteurized is NOT recommended. 

Please read the ingredients list thouroghly. You may need to order rennet online as many grocery stores do not carry it. 

Ingredients:

1 gallon of whole milk 
1/2 tsp mespphillc starter
Rennet (tabs or liquid)
Calcium Chloride
Pickling salt
Cheese cloth or Butter cloth

About the Instructor: Gary Colles has been making artisan cheese for nineteen years. Beginning with teaching in Michigan where he and his wife live, he has added North Carolina, Alabama, Iowa, Florida and Minnesota to places where he's taught. He has worked and trained with Glengarry Cheese Company in Canada, New England Cheese Making Company, and Farmstead Cheese Making. He is always reading more on cheese making, and his reference library now has fifty books on cheese.