I've been meaning to try this for years... Wow. Should of done it sooner.

Bump so I can find the ratio later tonight.

I bought some of this for my cousin around Christmas and he gave it as presents. He's already hit me up for more.

Is this what used to be sold as Sal-Limon? What else can I use this other than queso?

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Is this what used to be sold as Sal-Limon? What else can I use this other than queso?

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No, that is salt and citric acid. Two very different things. Just buy a bag of it and keep it in a cool dry place. It won't go bad.

I finally ordered some sodium citrate, so I will let this thread know how it goes next week.

My first attempt was a failure. Operator error. The second attempt was outstanding.

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I finally ordered some sodium citrate, so I will let this thread know how it goes next week.

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So somehow between Amazon and the USPS my package isn't supposed to arrive till Thursday. So might be next week before I get to test it out.

Failure story -- the citrate will not be able to make gold out of ****. One local grocery chain has changed its cheese to a new manufacturer. I never had problems with the store's cheese before but the new stuff makes gritty and yucky queso.

Broccoli cheese soup success the other night!

I had a batch the other day that would just not melt and homogenize right. Not sure what I did, but it was a horrible failure on my part. Disappointing.

I followed it up with another batch of sharp cheddar, colby and some leftover colby jack that was the tits though. I have redeemed myself and am no longer on the list of cheese dip shame, and for that I am happy.

What cheese did you use on the first one, and how are you measuring the sodium citrate?

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What cheese did you use on the first one, and how are you measuring the sodium citrate?

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On that one it was a pretty standard mix - 1/2 sharp cheddar, 1/2 colby jack. Did the standard 1-1/2 tsp of citrate (I always just eyeball the 1/2 tsp part). Up until then, never had a problem. Not sure if I let the milk boil too long, just had a block of cheese that wasn't the norm or what. Tasted just fine, but was clumpy and never really got that good creamy consistency. It's food, nothing is the same and sometimes things just happen I suppose.

You may have scorched the milk. Once those proteins set, nothing will unravel them. I always just use water with no problems.

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You may have scorched the milk. Once those proteins set, nothing will unravel them. I always just use water with no problems.

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That's what I figured. Wasn't a huge deal. I usually use 1/2 milk and 1/2 water but went with all milk that time and let it get a little too hot on me more than likely.

So I finally got my stuff and tried it out over the weekend. I used a scale and followed the weights from modernist cuisine. It came together really nice. Mixing the cheese in low and slow is definitely key. I cheated and used a can of tomatoes/green chiles (half a can actually), added some jalapenos, cilantro and cumin. The texture was great, but it almost completely lacked flavor. I did about 2/3 monterrey jack, what I thought was good stuff from whole foods. And about 1/3 of some pretty dang good sharp cheddar. Perhaps I should have gone more half-and-half on the cheeses, the sharp cheddar didn't come through at all. It just tasted, well, flat. I'm sure the stuff from a can didn't help. I've learned my lesson more than once about cutting corners, laziness gets the best of me sometimes.

So I'll be experimenting for awhile on different cheeses and will definitely probably roast my own peppers and use fresh tomatoes in the future. By my calculations, I have enough sodium citrate for 35 more batches of queso!

Anyone have ideas for a cheese with more flavor, but similar texture, to monterrey jack? Think I may try going all cheddar next time.

i've also noticed that using extra sharp cheddar didn't come through like i'd hoped in mac and cheese.

I'm waiting for a recipe here! We got ours in and haven't christened it yet.

This topic is eleven ****ing pages long. I'm sure you can find a recipe or two that looks interesting.

Sure, plenty sound good, but the poster I quoted my broccoli cheese soup, and that's my favorite.

I dont have or follow recipe. Just melted cheese with chicken stock but made it thinner. Added sauteed broccoli in onion and garlic.

Hadn't made some in a while, so I figured it was time. I still need to try other cheese sauces than just queso.

I've see this thread many times but never read it until today. We were in charge of making queso for a family get together. We made the Velveeta, Rotel and sausage mix as that is what my family always makes. I like it well enough and always had Velveeta growing up. My wife hates Velveeta though and she won't eat it. I didn't even really care for it today. After seeing that last picture and reading some of the variations, I'll be ordering some sodium citrate now. I have a feeling that after making this I won't blame my wife for ever refusing to eat Velveeta.

Also curious how this would work to reheat in a crockpot. We had about an hour drive today so we just made it in a crockpot and reheated when we got there. Could you just pour the queso in the crockpot and reheat on warm if having to travel with it?

We made this for the 4th. Used sharp cheddar & Colby Jack, a can of mild green peppers, a couple of diced tomatoes and some deer sausage. It disappeared quick!

Made it for the first time this weekend. Brought 3/4 cup water to a simmer, added 1 1/4 tsp. sodium citrate and slowly added 4 oz. each of freshly grated white cheddar and colbyjack.

Also made salsa verde and salsa roja and set asde some roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped jalpenos, anaheims and poblanos so threw a mixture of that into the completed queso.

How good was that! Making some more tomorrow...

For more fodder to the conversation... used a wooden spoon instead of my whisk or immersion blender and it worked perfectly!

Bookmarked for later

Will definitely be ordering some and trying this when I get back from vacation next week.

One of my neighbors brought my wife and I some Graskaas cheese (interesting story on this Dutch cheese - you should look it up) and I thought it was outstanding!

Anyway, that's going to be the subject of my next effort.

I've made queso with this plenty of times, but finally tried some baked green chile bacon mac and cheese tonight. Was delicious! Sorry for the chunk taken out - the pregnant wife couldn't wait to dig in.

Any tips on cleaning the pot? A bchamel cleans up pretty easy. I've done the sodium citrate a few times and cleaning the pot is a huge PIA.

Also, what are some good cheeses people have used for Queso outside of Monterrey jack and Mexican blend? Mexican blend is pretty bland. Jack is fine. I think I'm going to try Parmesan next and put roasted garlic in it. But I'd love to hear from others on what has worked and hasn't worked.

Thanks in advance and great thread!

What kind of pots are you using?

I have stainless all clad and I pretty quickly after cooking let it soak in soapy water then use bar keepers best friend and it cleans up pretty easily.