High temperature cheese questions

Post Reply
User avatar
rgreenberg2000
User
User
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 02:55
Location: San Mateo County, CA

High temperature cheese questions

Post by rgreenberg2000 » Sun Nov 22, 2020 00:22

I've actually never made a sausage with cheese in it, but I'm doing a jalapeno/cheddar sausage today at the request of my daughter. As I was searching around for a good recipe as a base, I found that a lot of people swear by high temp cheese in sausage, even going so far as to say you can't use regular cheese. I've also seen people who say they have always used regular cheese with no issues. I don't really know much about high temp cheese, but I'm guessing that it doesn't melt as well at higher temps because it has quite a bit less moisture than regular cheese. Does anyone here know if that's right? If not, what is it that cheese makers do to "regular" cheese to make it "high temp" cheese??

I didn't have any high temp cheese on hand, so for today's batch, I just used some Tillamook sharp cheddar, which is relatively lower moisture.....I would have used extra sharp, which should have less moisture, but didn't have any of that either.

Would love to get any feedback y'all have on what exactly high temp cheese is, and if I need to be more cognizant of temps when I cook this sausage so I don't end up with cheese melting out and leaving voids. Also, I plan to eat a couple of these as fresh sausages tonight, but the rest will get poached so they can stay in the fridge for a bit. Anything I should be aware of when it comes to poaching sausage with cheese in it?

Thanks in advance!

Rich

PS: The test patty I fried up after mixing was really tasty! Will share details on this batch later.
User avatar
Butterbean
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
Location: South Georgia

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by Butterbean » Sun Nov 22, 2020 15:42

You can use either one but the high temp cheese, like you say, has less moisture in it because its dried longer and is much firmer and will hold its shape better when you cook it. Regular cheese just has a lower melting point. Some people say high temp cheese is to expensive but that's about the same as comparing the price of a cured ham to a fresh ham. With the fresh ham you are paying for water.
User avatar
rgreenberg2000
User
User
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 02:55
Location: San Mateo County, CA

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by rgreenberg2000 » Sun Nov 22, 2020 17:12

Butterbean wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 15:42
You can use either one but the high temp cheese, like you say, has less moisture in it because its dried longer and is much firmer and will hold its shape better when you cook it. Regular cheese just has a lower melting point. Some people say high temp cheese is to expensive but that's about the same as comparing the price of a cured ham to a fresh ham. With the fresh ham you are paying for water.
Thanks! So it IS just cheese, but with less moisture. I was curious if there were any additives that were being used to make it less melty. I went ahead and ordered some just so I can compare to the sausages I made this weekend with "regular" cheese.

I appreciate the edification! :)

R
User avatar
Butterbean
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
Location: South Georgia

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by Butterbean » Sun Nov 22, 2020 19:39

That is what I was told by my mentor when I was learning to make cheese. Its the same but dried longer till it gets hard or harder. I believe this is why some aged cheese is covered in wax to let it age without losing moisture weight. That's my take on it anyway.
fatboyz
Forum Enthusiast
Forum Enthusiast
Posts: 512
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2016 19:26
Location: Alberta

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by fatboyz » Mon Nov 23, 2020 04:16

I use both. I'm in Canada so Tilamook is hard to come by. I make a smoked Paprika, Jalapeno chili cheese smokie with Tilamook Jalapeno Jack in it when I can get some.
User avatar
jjnurk
Frequent User
Frequent User
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 19:32

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by jjnurk » Mon Nov 23, 2020 14:49

I make tons of j/c sausage and all I use is old cheese. Back in the day, a cheese dude mentioned to me that unless you're going for visuals eg, putting into stores, then use the high melt stuff, otherwise the old is pretty much the same and a lot less expensive. I cut mine in about 1/4" cubes, coat in flour so it doesnt stick and put that into the meat. IMO works really good.
JjNUrK
User avatar
rgreenberg2000
User
User
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 02:55
Location: San Mateo County, CA

Re: High temperature cheese questions

Post by rgreenberg2000 » Mon Nov 23, 2020 16:26

jjnurk wrote:
Mon Nov 23, 2020 14:49
I make tons of j/c sausage and all I use is old cheese. Back in the day, a cheese dude mentioned to me that unless you're going for visuals eg, putting into stores, then use the high melt stuff, otherwise the old is pretty much the same and a lot less expensive. I cut mine in about 1/4" cubes, coat in flour so it doesnt stick and put that into the meat. IMO works really good.
Interesting, thanks for sharing that. I like the flour tip (I did have to work to keep my cubes separated), I will give that a try next time. I assume you keep that coating as light as you can, or have you found that it doesn't matter much.....any way you coat it would end up being a pretty small amount of flour in the batch.

Thanks,
R
Post Reply