It was really a test run. I'll be serving it with toasted ravioli for Christmas dinner

Made a regular Mac and cheese that went over really well. My experimental batch was Gouda, gruyere, Brie and white cheddar with bacon and caramelized apples mixed in, topped with a bleu cheese/panko crust. Holy. Cow. It was awesome.

Having a holiday party tomorrow and planning on making queso for the crowd. Thinking of making a larger batch, and keeping it warm in my small crock pot. Should I just make it normally and them dump it in after its made to keep it warm?

Yes to holding in the crick pot after making normally.

To start, I sautéed onions and garlic, shook in a hefty dose of smoked paprika and let that bloom for a bit. Used a mix of manchego and monterrey jack cheese for the queso itself. Pretty tasty, although if we do the Spanish thing again, I might use a little jamón Ibérico.

siap, can you only buy it online?

Thanks & Gig'em

i'm sure some supply stores carry it, but it was much easier to just order from amazon and get it in two days

I made mac and cheese on Saturday with half milk, half water, sharp cheddar and three roasted poblanos. It was probably the best mac and cheese I've made.

FtWorth Ag,

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siap, can you only buy it online?

Thanks & Gig'em

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Well, curiosity got the better of me and ordered some from modernist pantry last night to try. Ordered the bigger qty to share with neighbors and family as you get 8 times more at only twice the price of small. Should be here Friday. 12.99 total using free shipping below.

NOTE: see shipping section and there is promo code "shipfree" you can put in if this is your first order and you save the 4.99 shipping fee.

http://www.modernistpantry.com/sodium-citrate.html


Arrived in few days, very fast. Stores do not carry around here in DFW



[This message has been edited by coppag92 (edited 12/30/2013 9:10p).]

Thanks

I too checked various grocery stores, health stores, and kitchen supply stores in Fort Worth for the item to no avail. If you are wanting it soon, just save yourself the headache and buy it from Amazon.

Think I will just order it from amazon assuming ups isn't the one delivering it. Saw somewhere that you can use fruit fresh but not sure if true

UPS delivers pretty much everything Amazon I thought?

Looked up on Amazon out of curiosity and you can order either direct from modernist pantry or amazon. Comes from same place and same packaging and same free 2 day shipping deal using amazon prime or direct using the promo code for first time orders. Your choice. Not sure how it is shipped from amazon but mine did come by USPS ordering direct.

Also, heard same thing about fruit fresh but that is different additive and do not believe would work. FWIW

[This message has been edited by coppag92 (edited 12/31/2013 7:18p).]

I got my directly from modernist pantry in 2 days. 5 dollar shipping.

Fruit Fresh may very slightly work as it would lower the pH but the active ingredients are chemical cousins of Sodium Citrate.
Fruit Fresh is composed of a dextrose bulking agent carrying ascorbic acid and citric acid. If FF did work it would also provide a strange although slight sweetness. The Sodium Citrate that everyone is buying here is primarily Trisodium Citrate.

Mono....bi....or trisodium....it just works.

Just got some of this stuff 3 days ago. We are on cheese block 2. This might be the death of me.

Ok, I'll confess that I tried this and the cheese did not come together for me. Maybe someone can help figure out what I did wrong.

I did not heat the water as I mixed the sodium nitrate with the water - should I have done that?

I brought the mixture to a simmer, then added pepper jack cheese a handful at a time as I whisked. Had the heat at a simmer, but not quite a boil. I'm guessing that the heat wasn't high enough or that I wasn't whisking fast enough.
Any advice?

Use a smaller amount of cheese to get the emulsion going. If it still doesn't work, an immersion blender can help.

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sodium nitrate

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hopefully you meant citrate

gunpowder queso



an explosion of taste in your mouth!

hmmm might have found my problem...

jk, sodium citrate is what i meant

Did mac and cheese the other day using the recipe here and it was amazing. Three cheese cheddar blend with green chiles. Cant wait to play around with other cheeses and add-ins.

Made some macncheese with a sharp white cheddar and a little leftover Jack-Colby since I didn't have enough.

Unreal. Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow.

Worked the 2nd time around once I turned the heat up, added less cheese each handful, and replaced nitrate with citrate.

Did a cheddar cheese this time - going to try a pepper jack on my next attempt.

So I have had good success with the recipe (5-7) times, I decided to half the recipe and had a problems. One half batch wouldn't fully come together (even added more cheese) and the other half batch came out to thick once it was taken off the heat.

Any known issues or experiencing with scaling the recipe?

I cut it in half on Christmas Day to add to leftovers from Christmas Eve, and it turned out fine. I didn't have a scale, so I even eyeballed the amount of sodium citrate, and it still came out fine.

Couple weeks ago I made some scalloped potatoes with this stuff. I used about a cup of heavy cream, 1 1/4 ts sodium citrate and 12 oz cheese - a mix of gouda and some variety of cheddar. Fontina would have been good as well, but I didn't have any on hand.

If anybody wants to make some just boil up some sliced potatoes until cooked but not falling apart too much. Drain and put into a something like a deep dish enameled cast iron dish. Then add as much butter as your arteries can handle and then pour in the melted cheese mix. Cook until bubbly and brown on top. Goes great with a nice steak and some rolls to sop up the mess.

Just made the queso for the first time. Yummy!!

Wife & I just made it for the first time. Just like pappasitos/ uncle Julio's. now that I've got the pappasitos beef fajitas down & the queso down I think I will open my own restaurant

Sooner Born,

When you used the queso bar with a number of ingredients available on the side for guests to mix up their own batch, how did you set-up the spread? Did you saute any of the veggies before putting them on plates? Which sides did you make availabe?

cream cheese, breakfast sausage and ro-tel

Not from scratch, but easy, fast and pretty good!

You guys sold me, bought some today to try it out

Got mine today. Long work day. Got impatient. I think I added the cheese to fast. Got some melty cheese with some runny liquid. Followed OPs recipe. Think I added it too fast?