American Dairy Age - Monterey Jack

Pepper Jack Cheese

Name: Pepper Jack Cheese
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 8 h
Yield: About 1 small home batch
Ingredients: 2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk; 1/4 teaspoon direct-set mesophilic starter culture; 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; 1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; 2 tablespoons non-iodized cheese salt; 1/3 cup roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely diced jalapeno or mild green chiles

Pepper Jack Cheese is a mild American Jack-family cheese with clean milk handling, careful curd cooking, optional flavoring, pressing, and controlled aging.

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Difficulty

Advanced

Prep time

1 to 2 hours active

Cook time

4 to 8 hours make day

Total time

2 to 8 weeks

Servings

About 1 small home batch

Region

California and the American West

Era introduced

American Dairy Age

Introduced by

Monterey Jack

Recipe tools

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The Story

Pepper Jack shows how mild Monterey Jack became a flexible American base for chile heat, deli sandwiches, burgers, and Tex-Mex-adjacent melting. The recipe below keeps that history practical for a home cheesemaking setup: use pasteurized milk, sanitized tools, measured culture, controlled temperature, controlled humidity, and refrigerated aging rather than casual countertop ripening. It is a learning recipe for the American style, not a commercial standard of identity or raw-milk guidance.

Ingredients

2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk
1/4 teaspoon direct-set mesophilic starter culture
1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
2 tablespoons non-iodized cheese salt
1/3 cup roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely diced jalapeno or mild green chiles

Equipment

Large stainless steel pot
Accurate dairy thermometer
Long curd knife
Slotted spoon
Colander
Butter muslin or cheesecloth
Cheese mold
Cheese press
pH strips or pH meter
Aging refrigerator or cheese cave

Directions

Read the safety notes before starting. Use pasteurized milk only, sanitize every tool that touches milk or curd, wash hands well, and discard the batch if it smells rotten, turns slimy, grows black or pink mold, or shows swelling that does not match the style.
Warm the milk to 88 F. Add mesophilic culture, rest 3 minutes, stir well, cover, and ripen 45 minutes.
Add calcium chloride, then rennet, stirring each diluted addition for 30 seconds. Hold still at 88 F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the curd sets cleanly.
Cut into 1/2-inch cubes, rest 5 minutes, and stir gently while raising the curds to 102 F over 30 minutes.

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Setting the table...