Mac n Cheese - colby jack?

[AZRedneck]

Do you guys think colby jack would go well in a cheese blend for mac n cheese? Maybe along with medium cheddar, mozzarella, and perhaps gouda? I'm just wondering how the colby will melt down in the cheese sauce.

[emil.glatz]

Yes. Although I would think that cheddar/mozzy will mask the colby flavor.

[smokinsteve]

You tried "Crack N Cheese" at Meathead's tested recipes? A little time consuming but worth the effort!

[AZRedneck]

smokinsteve I looked at that recipe but want to try this one. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-charleston-sc

I am gonna replace the pepper jack with CJ. After a trip to the store, they didn't have fontina so I grabbed asiago. In other words, I'm not following the recipe but hey, it's cheese. I'll eat it no matter what.

[EdF]

My wife is a master at taking a bunch of leftover cheeses of various kinds, dumping them into a macaroni and cheese improv, and they always come out great. Be bold!

[tbob4]

I do what EdF's wife does 4-5 cheeses with Cheddar being the base. Colby won't necessarily give as much flavor but will make it creamy. Not my mom's mac&cheese but just as good. Don't tell her.

[MBMorgan]

Careful with the Asiago ... it's good but it can be very overpowering. A little goes a long way.

[richinlbrg]

Here is BBQ'd_nuke's recipe that I made this summer. It was exquisite! I'd recommend trying this. Maybe break it into multiple smaller batches and use different cheeses so you can do some side by side comparisons.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/other-side-dishes/165722-mac-and-cheese-to-die-for

[Mr. Bones]

I'd have to say that any cheese(s) that you enjoy will make great mac n cheese.

As previously stated, striking the flavor balance will be the big challenge.

Different melting rates, due to different cheese characteristics, can make making your sauce extremely difficult, but...

Here's what I do, as a test. Perhaps it will help...

Warm either a non-stick skillet (I don't own any teflonware), or a double cooker, maybe two saucepans nested, with water between, even a heavy crock bowl set in the saucepan will do smashingly.

Use a dab of butter, to prevent adhesion to the pan. Just a dab.

Prepare some uniform-sized chunks of all the cheeses. I usually start at 1" cubes.

Over low heat, put the chunks in, and monitor closely.

If any remarkable difference in rate of melt is observed, then, when making the actual dish, you can alternately cube/shred/process the slower melting cheese more finely, to achieve parity in the melt rate.

Once the comparative melt rates have been established, and recorded, taste the combination of cheeses. Is it what you were hoping for? Adjust, tweak, tune to taste.

Make additional test melts, varying the size of the cubes, to achieve the relative cheese/cheese proportions desired, and keep a record of what you found most savory.

Now, make (this version of yours.)some mac n cheese!

Next time, try different blends.

The possibilities are endless.

[CandySueQ]

Great idea!

[AZRedneck]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm just gonna dive in and do it. I'll keep track of how I make it so I can adjust next time. It's cheese, cheese is good, cheese is yummy, cheese is a critical ingredient for happiness.

[Mr. Bones]

Amen, and Hallelujah, from the Cheese Church of the Great Plains!

Good luck, and enjoy!!!

[Dewayne]

I've heard a lot about smoked mac & cheese. Wondering about the Crack & Cheese smoked?

[Histrix]

I've heard a lot about smoked mac & cheese. Wondering about the Crack & Cheese smoked?

A few months ago my wife decided to make some mac & cheese. It's not something we eat ordinarily more than a couple times a year.

I had just opened one of my vacuum packed blocks of smoked sharp cheddar so I suggested she give that a try.

Yowza!

She flipped out. It was fantastic.

Since then she has made it a few more times using smoked sharp cheddar. Fortunately, we're heading into cold smoking cheese weather so I can refurbish my stock of smoked cheese. I'll have to do a few more blocks than normal since I know some of them will be reserved for mac & cheese duty.

[Bruce54]

Oh, yeah! We've used my smoked Beecher's Flagship cheddar ands it works great. Even the smoked Bandon medium cheddar (generic orange cheddar) worked pretty well. Smoked gouda is great too, but doesn't get much opportunity to end up in the mac & cheese.

[Bob Benhardt]

This doesn't answer your question directly but doesn't this look fun and exciting to put your personal twist on??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHzYvpZ2lSA

The first segment - smoked mac and cheese.

What cha all think??

[Bob Benhardt]

This thread also takes or took me back to when my girls were younger but big enough to help me cook. So through the process of democratic vote it was decided that we were going to do a from scratch mac and cheese (other than the noodles).

The ingredients for that mac and cheese we made was over $60...

The good side to that was that it turned out great (along with being fun to make with them and seeing the smiles on their faces when they ate 'what they made')

The down side was I believe neither of them had a movement for a about 2 weeks from being stoved up from all that cheese...

[Dewayne]

Bob, the video looks amazing!! I'm going to try tomorrow along with smoked meatloaf!! I'll let ya'll know!!!

[Dewayne]

Meatheads "Crack & Cheese" smoked up beautiful. Delicious with meatloaf!!!

[Spinaker]

Dewayne ^^^^^^^That is a DINNER!!!!! WOW! Eat Up!!!

[Nate]

Dewayne that looks awesome.