Homemade Real Cheese (Queso) dip (You like Velveeta? Don't read this)

@jrwofuga Most definitely! I need to get some of this stuff. It's basically just salt and citric acid. I want some now!

@Teripie do it! :-)

@Teripie I have a bag of citric acid (brainfarted when I purchased it & realized my mistake when I got home). Citric acid made my mouth pucker & head shrink like Sylvester's did with the alum powder. Ok, not that badly, but it sure felt like it.
Are you telling me I can actually use the citric acid in the same way as sodium citrate just by adding salt? Won't the results be super tart & sour? Cheesy deliciousness, I hope you're only a salt cellar away!

And because it's Saturday morning:

@LaVikinga @Teripie
Sodium citrate and citric acid are not the same thing. You can convert citric acid to sodium citrate by adding just the right amount of sodium hydroxide to the acid.

@Mothersnakes @Teripie I KNOW they’re not the same thing.
It was easier to buy what I originally wanted to buy than to horse around playing Dr. Frankenfood. I’m using the citric acid every few weeks to clean my dad’s ancient dishwasher. Works better than using Tang drink mix like my Gran used to do.

@bluebeatpete the ease is mind blowing-so worth it

@thismyusername truth

@tightwad you'll be glad you did! Post back when you try it!

@unixrab so last night I finally made some queso...so easy a caveman could do it. For those without a gram scale (how many own one for strictly legal uses?) I used 18 TBS of water, 2&1/3 tsp of Sodium Coteate and 4 cups of shredded Colby jack cheese. I added some Rotel for a bit of spice...next time jalapeños or pepper jack cheese as I like spicier queso...without the Rotel it was too close to Mac N Cheese

@tightwad Very cool! Glad it was easy and also thanks for the TBS and tsp measurements! Maybe a little Tabasco or Cayenne powder for some spice? Or if you're a spice nerd, you might have some hot paprika sitting around... that one is my fav to add heat (like so)

Cheers!

@unixrab last night we made it again using shredded Habarnero Jack cheese and chicken stock instead of water...quite spicy! We added a bit of chedder at the end because it looked thin but in hindsight we should have left it out, too thick.

@tightwad I found the same thing about thickness. There is a learning curve to this stuff. Mine seemed really thin, but thickened quite quickly after taking it off the stove.

@tightwad @mfladd good tip!

I made the beer cheese soup today with stock milk & wheat beer - no bacon or broccoli- I ended up adding extra stock and beer because I wanted it thinner- also increased SC to 21g (because: milk),(did not affect taste)
2:1 cheddar to gruyere and one small bit of smoked Gouda (that was a hit) — everyone loved it

an immersion blender (or regular) is required if you don't want mirepoix bits, but if you don't mind the bits, not necessary (also added smoked paprika, cayenne, white pepper & mustard powder to taste) Wait till the end to salt... cheese is pretty salty

@unixrab thanks for the info. Hope it was yummy!

@unixrab sounds like it was good, I don't cook with beer/wine. Where do you buy your cheeses?

@tightwad sub stock and/or cider for most beer-wine recipes

—Most of my cheeses come from Sam's Club

@mfladd 'twas!! :D

@unixrab So do I buy from SC. God, knows we have enough cheese to play around with, with the size of the cheese blocks we have to buy.

@carl669 post back here if you try it - I think you'll be hooked

@hollboll it tastes like you magically liquified your chosen cheese! Want a cheddar dip ? Boom— liquid cheddar in a bowl. It takes minuscule amounts of sodium citrate- thickness or thinness it determined by how much beer/water/stock you add.

It's the purest cheese taste. Pick a good cheese and enjoy it as its saucy self.

I'm done with beschamel based for a while

@unixrab Awesome! I'll definitely give it a try. I made a beschamel for the first time a few months ago. I'll never look at mac and cheese the same way again. :)

@hollboll post your results here when you try it out?

@unixrab definitely!

@hollboll The trick with the beschamel is to let the roux cook, and the milk/cream you add in should be at room temperature. If you also add in beer, make sure it's not carbonated.

I love cooking that stuff

@Kevin I actually saw the thing about letting the roux cook on good eats. Good tip though!

@Kevin try NaCHO - it's magic

@hollboll

@Teripie take a look at the pic he posted:

265g liquid
11g magic stuff
285g finely grated cheese

it seems like you dissolve the magic stuff first and then add the cheese a bit at a time. not having ever used this stuff, i'm not sure what would happen if you added more NaCHO into the dissolved cheese. maybe @unixrab knows.

@carl669 At one of the sites that sells it has a little video that makes it look fairly easy.

@Teripie thanks, now i want some badass nachos.

@Teripie @carl669

1:25

you can add too much and over emulsify-and make it taste off... consistency is controlled by how much or little liquid you use:

so it goes like this:

—in a pot add liquid (temp is not relevant at this point)
—dissolve NaCHO in liquid
— bring liquid to low boil
— add shredded cheese a little at a time while whisking

—too thick ? more liquid.
—too thin add more cheese and NaCHO in 1:25 ratio (1g NaCHO:25g Cheese—and to avoid thin sauce in future-don't add so much liquid at the beginning)

it thickens as it cools so if you're not going to keep it warm make it thinner than you normally would

@Kevin Sodium Citrate will rock your world - I am a big roux fan and mornay is an addiction...but this stuff (Sodium Citrate) amazed me

@MrGlass very true... but it's not "real" cheese - it's a cheese product. Adding NaCHO to real cheese makes a "velveeta but better" and in whatever flavor of cheese you choose (cheddar + fontina + gruyere is a personal fav mix)

@Teripie can't wait! Will you do a blend? or just one type of cheese?

@Teripie any results?

@Thumperchick once you do - you'll toss the cream cheese :-) jus sayn

@unixrab Good to know. @humper will appreciate the tip as well.

@Cerridwyn it's hard to explain how creamy this technique renders regular good cheese — it's why I posted: too good to keep to myself(ish).

@mfladd you'll not be sorry

@unixrab I can't wait to try it. One thing I love with a beef roast is a Gorgonzola cheese sauce. The problem is the next day it separates and is never the same. If this alleviates the problem I shall sing your praises. Also will try for a decadent mac n cheese. Thanks.

@mfladd report your findings here (especially the 2nd day results!) - I think the sauce will be stable up to a week after.

@unixrab Sodium Citrate arrives tomorrow.

I will be doing 3 tests:

1) Nachos

2) 4 cheese chorizo and tomato Mac n Cheese

3) Gorgonzola cheese sauce

I will report back results with pics.

@mfladd can't wait!

@unixrab sold me on it, will be in monday. Now monday will be beer and queso night!

@mfladd Tangentially related (nachos = beer, right?) — have you spotted any HopSlam in your area? Was supposed to be coming to MD this year, but last I checked (which was at least a week after I picked mine up from DC), nobody near me had received any or had any idea on the if/when, and it seemed like quite a sore subject for those I asked.

@brhfl Of course. Have not seen HopSlam - but I will look in a few of my better places. I will also be using beer as the liquid for the Sodium Citrate when I make the nacho sauce!

@Bdorsino it's so good ! measure right! a little goes a long way (NaCHO) add more or less beer for desired thickness - it will thicken as it cools - post your results!

@mfladd woot! classic. simple. and no flour or fillers! pure cheese flavor! keep us in the loop

@brhfl @mfladd hopslam is a limited release, only 1 time a year so if you find it buy it!! amazing IPA and its like 10%

@Bdorsino I find out when it's due to hit the shops in DC and spend the greater part of a day accumulating it every year. Though I guess I've gotten good at it, took very little time this go-around. And schlepping cans around the District was far more pleasant than the bottles of years before. Mmmmmm.

@mfladd citric acid test has been taken care of

@unixrab I know :)


But funny!

@mfladd

@mfladd any test results yet?

@unixrab Ugh...yes
Made mac n cheese. I do not blame the SC, but only myself. Used 4 cheeses - Gruyere, Fontina, Havarti & Cheddar. Sauce blended nicely with 3/4 cup milk. I was following some other online SC recipes. I think I used too much macaroni and overbaked - which I blame on the wife and kids being 2 hours late shopping for baseball cleats. I will say this - chorizo and tomato mac n cheese is the bomb. Even not done well.

But I have not given up!

I may have taken on too much too early. There is a science to this and the cheeses. I just picked up a good cheddar today for a PURE nacho sauce. Hoping I won't fuck this one up. Once I get this down I will move on to more complex dishes.

Here is the mac n cheese. Looked good. Just wasn't the gooey-goodness I anticipated. If anyone is wondering those are
ritz cracker crumbs on the top.

@mfladd keep at it —-One thing that you want to keep in mind is if you use milk as your liquid part of the sodium citrate is going to act on the calcium in the milk as well as the calcium in the cheese-in a nutshell-sodium citrate releases the bonds of calcium so that the fat and the water (either in the stock or in beer) can join to the proteins to make the emulsion.

when you used milk the sodium citrate broke the calcium bonds in the milk as well-try your mac & cheese with a simple chicken stock or just a little water to make the cheese sauce - and of course, don't overcook it LOL 😀 ;-)

@unixrab I hear you. I was concerned using milk, but was going with the ok of the modernist cuisine site. That is why I will step back for the nachos sauce. KISS technique. Thanks for the chemistry lesson. :)

I will be gone for business for a few days but will report back after that on the nacho sauce. I have a lot more SC to play with.

@mfladd I'll hold you to it! 😉

@pitamuffin that's probably citric acid - I just stuck my finger in the sodium citrate... it's bland, a little salty, with a slight baking soda aftertaste- don't think it'd help yogurt — let us know when you get the NaCHO!

@unixrab - That was going to be my question - with sodium in the name, how salty is it? I think 11 grams = about 2 tsp? That would be a lot of table salt, do you know how sodium citrate compares?
(Thanks for the tip, can't wait to hear some of the results)

@KDemo because the sodium is bonded with the sour citrate it kinda cancels it out - either way - you're only using a scant amount (1.5ish tsp) and it does not make it too salty - definitely taste first before seasoning - not saying anyone can't add pepper and/or rotel or whatever addin - but taste the cheese sauce first - it's pure liquid cheese.

@Teripie this may help
:-)

@hollboll Ha, you used the stuff for making yogurt more tangy!

@pitamuffin yeah... whoops.

@hollboll wait so you're sure you got citric acid and not sodium citrate?

@Lotsofgoats yup, I got citric acid. Typed in sodium citrate and I guess it came up in the search results on Amazon. There were two in particular I was looking at, one was 2oz (the real stuff) for like $7, and what I got which was 1lb. (of the wrong stuff) for like $8. So, I went with the one that had the bigger weight thinking I got a deal. :(

@hollboll it's kinda funny that you made them all eat sour nachos, then

hehehehehe

@hollboll don't feel bad.. you can make us bath bombs with the citric acid!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/280275/how-to-make-bath-fizzies

@mikibell Ohhhh I just may do that!

@hollboll I think you can add baking soda to the citric acid in water and then evaporate the water to make sodium citrate. Or make those bath bombs- I use Martha's recipe.

@hollboll and no one tagged me!? citric acid is what makes lemons sour and warheads candy nuclear-sour! I think there should be a conference call on the next try!

@hollboll - Haha! in the Periscope, I kept waiting for you to recheck the label.

@unixrab that cheese... hmmm... is the cafeteria run by mcdonalds? :)

@thismyusername ask @hollboll 😆

:-D

@mikibell THANK YOU! I was wondering just what the heck I was going to do with all that citric acid I mistakenly purchased last summer! Boom! Bath Bombs!

@LaVikinga you are quite welcome!

@jjohns71 did you make any yet?

@unixrab Funny you should ask I made my first two test batches Friday and Saturday night.

Friday I think I left it on the heat a little too long and the liquids seemed to separate from the fats. I had more of a queso fundido than a queso dip, it was like two separate components, liquids and solids.

Saturday I was probably a little gunshy and pulled the experiment off the flame a tad too early from the heat, it was dippable, but as best I can figure out from my somewhat limited food science knowledge is that the fats hadn't completely rendered down as the dip felt a little "grainy" in texture. It could also be possible I put too much sodium citrate in the beer solution as I don't have a food scale so I was eyeballing the amount to use.

Any tips you can provide based on my two expirements and tasting notes?

@jjohns71 I made a batch like your Friday batch when I tried to make Mac and cheese the other night. When whisking it looked good, seemed to be the right consistency dripping off the whisk, but when I dumped it in the macaroni it was cheesy water and stringy cheese. After reading here and on modernist cuisine the culprit seems to be not enough sodium citrate. 11g is a pinch more than two teaspoons if you're not using a scale. I had only used about half that.

@jjohns71 agree with @djslack. the culprit for the separation in your first round is probably not enough sodium citrate.

i measured out everything (because i'm obsessive like that) and had zero separation. even after overnight in the fridge, the 2nd day reheat was perfection. a decent kitchen scale can be had for ~$15. it's well worth the investment. as far as i'm concerned, all recipes should be by weight.

TL;DR ..... ah screw it if it's TL then DR ;-)

@jjohns71 @carl669

Here's a little reply that I call FMTYWTK (from Perl fame)

Cheese in an of itself is an emulsion (a peace treaty between fat and water that usually hate being close to each other but have found a shaky bond because of a master negotiator E. Mulsifer. Mr. E.M. is ambidextrous and shakes fat's hand with his left and liquid's with his right. A neat trick, but if things get too heated, Mr. Mulsifier lets go and bolts and then fat and liquid separate into their wet and oily selves)

Mayonnaise is an emulsion and you know what happens to that when you heat it up. Same as cheese.

At this point the the TL;DR I direct your attention to this from Modernist Cuisine:

One of the traditional dishes we took on in Modernist Cuisine at Home is classic mac and cheese. While we have always loved this family staple, there is an inherent problem with traditional preparations: all of the virtues of using good cheese are lost when you make a cheese sauce with flour and milk, as in a traditional béchamel sauce, the standard in nearly all macaroni and cheese recipes.

Cheese is an emulsion of dairy fat and water, but that emulsion tends to break down when it gets hot. The starch particles and milk proteins in béchamel act as emulsifiers, but they aren’t very good at their job and result in poor flavor release. So, either you sacrifice the flavor of the cheese by adding far too much béchamel, or you dilute the cheese less at the cost of greasiness. We solve this problem with a little emulsion science and the use of sodium citrate.

When we want to make queso, we have to heat the emulsion that is cheese. Either we stabilize the resulting mess with flour & milk or we stabilize it with Sodium Citrate. ( If you've ever tasted flour, milk or both mixed together, you know how bland they are hence the above statement about sacrificing flavor.)

So in essence, queso is "thinner" cheese, and cheese soup is "thinner" queso (which is why I don't add milk to queso, but I do add milk to cheese soup)

And since we're off the rails here in terms of a regular forum "reply" Let's just be super boring so as to scare away the easily distracted: Here's WHY SC rules according to Molecular Recipies

Sodium Citrate Function
In addition to buffering pH (reduce acidity), the citrate ion in sodium citrate also acts as a sequestering agent. This means that the citrate ion is likely to bind with other ions that are present in a solution---particularly calcium. In cheese, the calcium ions in cheese's casein milk protein are replaced with sodium ions. When this happens, the casein changes structure and exposes both water-loving and oil-loving ends. The casein, then, is the emulsifier, even though sodium citrate is considered an emulsifying salt.

So: heat cheese, release calcium in casein, SC grabs calcium enabling casein to grab fat & water

Which leads us finally to your 2 experiments:

1: If the fats and liquid were never together in the first place, then there was not enough SC... OR! not enough elbow grease. (you can't just put an egg yolk, lemon juice and oil in a blender to get mayo...it'll just sit there in it's ugliness - you gotta turn that blender on to make the emulsion that IS mayo) hence the whisking in the recipe - whisk till it's shiny and homogenous. So it could have been either or both too little NaCHO & whisking

2nd Experiment : I'm gonna chalk that one up to elbow grease as the primary and too little sodium citrate as a possibility. Whisk or blend the heck outta that pre-queso and remember it will thicken 0.24 seconds after you take it off the heat.
(@djslack — Mac & Cheese is double the heat [first you make the sauce with heat, then you put the whole thing in the oven] - hence you freed up so much casein that it had nothing to bind to and just separated Here's more from MC:

[ http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/ ]

)

Hope this helps! Please post your next results - really want to hear your reaction once you get that emulsion.

Cheers!

@carl669 I broke down and ordered one, for cheese science!

@unixrab you, I like you! Thanks buddy! Will report back in after my next test batch experiments which hopefully go better now that I will have a kitchen scale!

@jjohns71

@Bluedragon07 dude ... get ready for hero treatment !!

@f00l
Here is a recipe quite similar to how i made queso following the Time-Life recipe, except that i never bothered with sour cream:

http://www.homesicktexan.com/2008/04/more-natural-chile-con-queso.html?m=1

Couple of tips:

a mix of jack and longhorn cheeses works best. Start with more of the jack, it seems to melt better.

The longhorn cheddar or whatever cheddar should be as sharp as you can find.

You need to use at least some jalapeno peppers or it wont taste quite the same.

Whatever peppers you use, handle them carefully. If you handle them and then get your hands near your face or eyes, you will be sorry for a while.

You can get by with canned peppers and tomatoes esp if in a hurry, but fresh ones taste way way better.

Whatever peppers, the "hotness" can be quite difficult to predict - esp with fresh peppers, where peppers purchased on diff days from diff markets can vary wildly. Either hold back on some peppers until you taste the final product, and add more in slowly and in small batches while tasting or.....

Or have lots more cheese ready to go than you need, and add more as called for until no one present starts crying too hard and complaining too much while engaging in compulsive eating.

No worries re leftovers. If you have some left, it's only cause your family and friends collapsed and need to rest due to stomach enlargement. And it re-heats just fine.

@unixrab yes, just got back from business, queso is planned.

@mfladd OK!

@unixrab Yes, I'll be trying it this weekend as well. Even ordered a new kitchen scale to get my measurements precise.

@unixrab you ever made this with water instead of beer? how'd it turn out?

@carl669 I am going to use this.

@mfladd the problem is, i have no beer in the house. (i'm more of a hard liquor person) and, i'm also too lazy at the moment to go get a bottle of beer. but, i also want cheese sauce. so, you see my dilemma.

@carl669 according to the modernist cuisine website it doesn't matter if it is water or beer. I was just going with this because I love the beer and the design. Nothing wrong with a little tequila beer and nachos.

@mfladd i was thinking more about the taste factor... if it's really worth getting my lazy ass off the couch, getting dressed, going to the store, getting a beer, coming back home and then making the dip.

@carl669 well let us test and see. You do water. I will do beer. What cheese are you using? I am going all cheddar on this one.

@mfladd i was going to do pepperjack, but i've got cheddar as well. i'm also going to chop up a jalapeno and throw it in there.

@carl669 that sounds sweet. Include pics. Mine will be tomorrow. What ratio are going with for SC and liquid?

@mfladd i'm following the original directions. 11g SC to 265g liquid. i'll probably add a couple dashes of worcestershire to give the sauce some depth.

@carl669 - Is it ready yet? I think I can smell it.

@carl669 I had to run to the store anyway so it will be a combination pepperjack and cheddar. I am going with refried beans, tomato, onion, and jalapenos on half - 1 kid can't take the spicy.

@pitamuffin Yuuuuuuus! post your findings!

@carl669 will work fine—stock even better

@afwaller pics please.

@afwaller SO GLAD!!! enjoy!!!!

@unixrab I made it again tonight this time being very experimental. Added some chocolate spiced beer, ground chipotle powder, a bit of cumin, mix of cheddar and Monterey jack. very good but the only flaw is that the beer is hoppier than I would like, and the hops come through in the taste. I think in the future I will stick to lighter beer (used yuengling the first time) or white wine

@unixrab

(because the beer is black this came out kind of brown more than cheese colored, but the spices actually tasted great, only criticism is the hop flavor)

@unixrab one issue also I have identified is that the chili powder (I used it last time too) doesn't "melt" and kind of stays like tiny grains. the flavor distributes but my plan next time is to cook the chili powder (and maybe any other spices) in butter and then filter out clarified butter with chili flavor so there's no grains.

@afwaller ...but that creamy smooth sauce amirite?! :-)

Lighter beers (NOT Lite beer) like wheats and corona etc are your best bet, but also a good chicken stock can slay as well. You also (if you have a spare small coffee grinder [and if not ...ahem... meh hookup?] you can give your spices/chili powders a quick whir in there then use a mesh strainer to only get the finer particles...

[maybe you're lucky enough to have one of these]

not sure how the butter is going to react - if it's on the heat too long, it may separate/break or give you an oil slick on top, then again - if you ARE using an immersion blender - it will emulsify, do that off the heat... no guarantees on reheating tho

Overall VERY NICE! keep up the experiments and keep us in the loop! Happy Friday!

@unixrab I have a coffee grinder for spices.

new experiment tonight - THIS MAKES AMAZING RAMEN !!!!!

@afwaller details!

@carl669

@carl669 EXCELLENT!

@carl669

@mfladd just reporting back on the day 2 re-melt factor. 30s in the microwave, and it's back to liquid gold consistency.

@carl669 Good to know. (mine will be coming)

@carl669 so awesome huh?!

@mfladd go!!

@unixrab i love this stuff! i'm thinking next round will be habanero cheddar. i didn't realize how much this makes though. it's gonna take me a bit to get through the first batch.

@carl669 super easy eh!? That's what blew me away - making roux into a beschemel and adding cheese to make a "mornay" sauce is much more labor intensive - it has its place, but queso in 2 minutes for nachos/whatever is handy

@Foxborn try a health food store. or maybe a fancier grocery store like whole foods. any reason you can't just order off amazon though?

@carl669 no prime and I don't want to wait for it LOL

@Foxborn Sur la Table has stocked it in the past, good restaurant supply stores or food distributors have it (you may need a tax id or membership to deal with larger supply houses, but smaller fruit / veggie houses and some specialty buthchers that sell cheese may stock it and sell it OTC to the public). Sodium citrate is also used as a treatment for cystitis and specialty pharmacies will have it in stock available without a prescription.

Amazon is still the best bet, IMHO.

@Foxborn if you find it... post results!

@unixrab @Pavlov I just gave in and bought some. Looks like I'll be having Ultimate Nachos twice this week

@Foxborn ALRIGHT! Keep us posted -pix if you can, but a review definitely!

@Alien pics please.

@mfladd Sorry, can't do, but imagine Cheez Whiz with too much pimento and no air bubbles in a transparent deli tub.

@Alien And if a pound isn't enough, you could get the family size 34oz jar.

@Alien when I experienced this cheese transformation I knew I had to share it—so glad you got to experience it too! enjoy!! let's hope @hollboll gives it one more go! :-)

@Alien keep us in the loop!

@pitamuffin no pics?

@pitamuffin yeah, we want pics. this stuff also goes great with chili. i took a spoonful o the cold cheese and threw it in a hot bowl of homemade chili.

@carl669 NICE!!

@pitamuffin Glad to hear it! Chicken stock is good too (to avoid the beer taste) :-) WTG!

@f00l What's an anti-health diet? Is that the same list corn dogs and poutine are on, or the list kale and broccoli are on?

@djslack
Anti-health diet is everything your mom never had to make you eat. Plus everything you doctor told you not to eat.
More on the corn-dog side.

@f00l I figured, this being primarily a cheese gooing agent and all, but when I googled it after reading your comment there were studies that sodium citrate didn't increase blood pressure like sodium chloride, and the double negativish terminology made me second guess it.

Of course, I live in Louisiana, so we pretty much stay on the anti-health diet around here :)

@djslack
Ok cool.

I'm not sure the other ingredients are all heart healthy, but...
I confess to eating all the chili con queso in near proximity.

@f00l what do you mean? cheese is very heart healthy!

@carl669 As with bacon, the high fat content lubricates your heart and keeps it running smoothly.

@MrMark mine was much thicker. i had to add water to thin it out a bit. i used medium cheddar cheese. i also added the cheese a bit at a time and whisked each addition until it was fully melted.

@MrMark all mine have been thicker - using beer or chicken stock - which reminds me - cheese soup is on the menu, just use the liquids to make it as thin or thick as you want.

For the Cheese Soup link
250g bacon, diced
100g onion, diced
50g poblano pepper, diced (mild & optional)
25g garlic, minced
2g thyme leaves
300g broccoli, chopped
200g beer, preferably a lager
400g whole milk
19g sodium citrate, 2.0%
350g cheddar cheese, grated or cubed

@MrMark
The "trad ingredients" recipe i linked to in this thread (no order-from-amazon stuff) is much thicker, assuming it is similar to the Time-Life cookbook recipe. But i would try changing the % of various cheeses first.

PS my Dad described it as Glop." As in, "More Glop, please." Since he normally spoke like an educated, sucessful, and presentable person, i presume "Glop" is an accurate dictionary-ready term in this instance.

@mikibell you will not be disappointed.

@mikibell let us know!

@mikibell thought of this post today :-)

see my response above from today to @tightwad & @mfladd

@unixrab I was talking to my daughter about this today. :) Normally my kids get into trouble if they say there is no food in the house, but this week it is soooo true!! Go-live is on 4/1 and I cannot apply customers payments or bill customer with multiple installations, sigh!!! I am thinking of posting that in @hollboll's april fools joke page -- cost us a couple of million to get to this level of readiness.

Anyway, back on topic -- how many servings does the soup recipe make? Sent the hubby to the store for broccoli.

@Foxborn main thing i can think of is that maybe queso blanco has a higher water content than other cheeses. try again with something like sharp cheddar or pepperjack and see if the same thing happens. (i did it with medium chedda and it was perfection)

@carl669 Kinda what I was wondering too, I bought the pound bag so I have PLENTY to try again

@Foxborn Mexican white queso ... You're not referring to queso fresco are you?

@unixrab Very possible

@Foxborn Mexican Queso Fresco doesn't melt...

"And although it softens, it does not melt when heated; queso fresco is classically used in the filling for chile relleños and quesadillas. For a snack, heat some on corn tortillas and top with a dollop of salsa. Queso fresco is usually made with cow's milk."

so the SC works with cheese that melts... the queso fresco resisted your initial volley ... but add enough SC and any cheese will fall in the molecular assault albeit into a soupy mess — try a cheddar or a Monterey Jack or pepper jack — let us know !!! ( http://www.cookinglight.com/m/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/queso-fresco )

@unixrab

@Foxborn I made that mistake of picking up a pound bag of queso fresco (or Cotija--can't remember which) when I saw it in Walmart last year. @Carl669 is right. It doesn't melt, just softens. You can throw it in the freezer to use later for something else. Freezes very well.
Next time, look for queso asadero or queso de Oaxaca. Panela might even work.

@LaVikinga soooooo easy - I've HATED making queso dips for parties and games and such... because this is just a flavorful liquid and pure cheese people think it's WAY complicated - less is more I suppose ;-) ENJOY!

@LaVikinga

@ticklescratch pix!

@ticklescratch I love ramen, but my stomach just rolled over at your idea.

@djslack Awesome! any pix?

@unixrab No, sorry; the results were consumed before I even thought of pics.

I did learn to clean up right afterward. Let the pot sit with the remains of the pepper jack until later that night, and it turned back into something close to standard cheese. Lots of hot water, lots of scrubbing, and then the scrubby side of my sponge was clogged up with cheese. Cleanup while hot was way easier when I cleaned out the cheddar to make the pepper jack.

@djslack ... sounds like a good soak in dishwater with Sodium Citrate would've been in order ;-)

Glad you liked it!

@compunaut i don't think feta would work since it softens, but doesn't really melt. see @Foxborn's post above.

@compunaut It might work if you crumble it to tiny bits and use it in conjunction with a milder meltable cheese. Maybe a Havarti or Butterkäse?

@compunaut I think that, given enough NaCHO, the feta would eventually succumb to liquidity - play around with the amount you add to the initial liquid until it finally does "melt" - the key question will be taste and how much NaCHO you can withstand.

IF YOU DO... post amounts/recipe and pix if possible! THANKS!

@mfladd looks great! Glad it worked out for ya!

@unixrab 1 week test. Same cheese as above. Removed from fridge, softened it in the microwave and then added a little. I am proud to announce we still have ooey-gooey goodness! Enjoying spicy nachos right now.

@mfladd "added a little" what? I'm assuming liquid but my Sodium Citrate is supposed to be here today (AMZN Sunday delivery!) and I want to try this!

@therealjrn Sorry, I added milk to the re-heat. For your initial experimentation I would use water or beer. If you have read thru other posts don't be concerned if it appears thin while cooking. Once you pull it off it will begin to thicken quickly.

When I took leftover sauce out of the fridge it was almost like a soft cheese block. Soften on stove or microwave and then add LITTLE more liquid for the re-heat. Good Luck, and post pics!

@mfladd ayyye there we go! thanks for the info-

my leftover cheese soup is in the fridge now... will report later this week

@Foxborn alright!!!!

@4mehem here ya go.

@4mehem EXCELLENT!!!! My evil plan to clog arteries is succeeding!

@unixrab just to report on the initial mixing of the citrate, i completely dissolved it in cold water first. it did take a bit of whisking, but it will dissolve.

i didn't need an immersion blender. the whisk worked just fine. there's also something satisfying about seeing the finished cheese sauce pour off the whisk. probably wouldn't have the same effect coming off an immersion blender.

@carl669 gotcha, thanks! I use(d) the whisk for queso, but the immersion blender was VERY useful for the cheese soup. YMMV :-)

@linnry Amen

@zachdecker NICE! Well done!

@carl669
/giphy good job!