What did I do to screw this up and how do I fix it?

[hippywife]

I wanted queso and haven't made it since we stopped buying Velveeta a very long time ago. So I browsed a few recipes.

I cut up a block of colby and a block of pepper jack into small chunks. Threw them in the crockpot with a can of petite diced tomatoes and some diced jalapeno slices. When it was getting melty I added about 1/3 cup of cream.

The cheese is all melted but it's kinda gloppy, stingy sitting under a this pool of liquid, not too much. So I mixed up a little corn starch and added it. No better than it was.

Hep me! Hep me! LOL

[htuttle]

1. You could try adding some wine or beer to help dissolve the cheese

You'd probably want to heat it up first before you add it. Normally, I'd heat the liquid first then dissolve the cheese in it.

Alternately, you could make a tiny bit of roux with butter and flour, add the beer or wine, heat until it's bubbling nicely, then dump it into the cheesy pot. It would be kind of like making fondue backwards.

:shrug:

[hippywife]

2. It's still very hot.

The crockpot is on. I don't have any beer or wine since we don't drink. I may try the roux.

Thanx, anyway.

[pleah]

3. The only thing I can think of is maybe

using the mixer to whip it together.

[hippywife]

4. I have thought of sticking my

immersion blender in there. I haven't done anything yet except turn off the crockpot for the moment.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. The cheesy-like substance will become one with your immersion blender

There will be no possible way to effect separation of the cheezy-like substance from the blades to which it will affix itself.

Ixnay on the lenderbay.

[pleah]

6. Yes, that will be a sticky situation.

Thanks. :)

[hippywife]

7. Actually, it worked.

The cheese is now not globby, it's grainy but it's a small grain I can live with since it's jsut me and the other half eating it. Tastes fine and all the liquid has been absorbed into the rest. It actually started doing that when I reduced the heat to low on the crockpot. Tastes good, just not a great texture.

I think I'll actually follow a cheese fondue recipe the next time rather than look at queso recipes.

[mtnester]

9. It was the colby I betcha

it tends to break down like that

try cheddar the next time, see if that works better.

Glad you rescued it!

[hippywife]

11. Mighta been.

Rescued close enough. But not quite perfect. LOL

[Tab]

17. You were a victim of the vagaries of the protein strands

And you're not the first, by any stretch of the imagination.

When cheese goes to hell, it seems particularly hard to rescue it, for some reason.

[Tab]

13. Cheese fondue is different than queso

I love fondue, but have it rarely. Queso I have to skip, being lactose intolerant. Just as well, as it's not the healthiest thing in the world (not that that's ever stopped me).

[Warpy]

12. Agreed. About the only way I can think of to fix this mess

is making a white sauce and adding the hot white sauce to the hot, stringy cheese.

The strings of cheese will incorporate into the white sauce with a judicious use of a whisk and you'll have a velvety smooth cheese sauce with a kick.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. See?

Velveeta has its uses.

Although I don't think I've purchased any in thirty years. Forty?

[hippywife]

10. I still wouldn't eat it.

I just screwed this up by not finding proper instructions. I would rather eat this than Velveeta any day of the week.

[grasswire]

14. I had a similar problem on the weekend

I make a hot bean and cheese dip for the teenagers, and good lord teens and adults both love that kind of dip! The crazy part is that I never seem to have all the same stuff in the pantry each time I go to make it. Twice, it has gone to that gloppy stringy place, and I think the common denominator is because neither of those times did I have a can of refried beans to sort of serve as the base, and the cheese would not merge with the ro-tel or canned diced tomatoes. Stringy! I tried to fix it this weekend by adding more and more and more cheese. So it was delicious, but stayed stringy.

Basically, it's beans (I usually use refried and black), salsa, black olives, lots of cheese (cheddar or jack or pepperjack), some frozen corn, some sliced green onions, some green hot sauce, some lime juice.

I don't suppose the cheese could be reacting to the acidity of the tomatoes?

[Phentex]

16. eh, I buy it once a year...

for some football game.

[sazemisery]

15. Get Queso Fresco cheese from the grocery.

It is usually with the Mexican cream. Brown chorizo or ground beef w/taco seasonings. Slice cheese and place in pie pan. top with browned meat and broil until hot and bubbly. Dip with chips. Enjoy!

[ccinamon]

18. I'm an expert at queso...

been making it for 30 years...the best cheese to use is American Deluxe by Kraft...comes in a blue box in 1 or 2 lb "loafs"...it is expensive (one pound is about $4.59).

To keep costs down, I use 1lb American Deluxe and 1 lb mild or hot mexican velveeta or queso blanco, and 1 can of rotel tomatoes and chiles (I like my queso spicey, so I use the rotel made with habaneros).

Use medium heat and a non-stick pan, pour in the rotel first, cut up the cheese and start dropping into the pan, stirring occasionally, lower heat to low once all the cheese is in the pan...stir constantly. If it is a little thick (sometimes there is less juice in the rotel than other times), add a bit of water or open another can and use some of the juice to thin - be careful, you won't need much to thin the queso.

Picture of Kraft American Deluxe cheese: http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Deluxe-American-Cheese-count/dp/B001684Q78/ref=pd_sbs_gro_2
Rotel : http://www.texmex.net/Rotel/main.htm

[hippywife]

19. Thanx for the info.

But really, any type processed cheese food is totally out of the question. I just need to adjust for using actual cheese.

Thanx, though, really. :hi:

[tiddlywinks]

20. hi, melting cheeses into liquid is tricky, thinning it with a little water has helped

me in the past. I know this is way after the fact, though. Maybe for future ref.
:)

[Duer 157099]

21. I think I would go with the roux route

only I would add the cheese glop to the roux a bit at a time and whisk til smooth