Spreadable Cheese

People in our house seem pretty fond of spreadable cheese, whether it's the Pub Cheese sharp cheddar, Kaukauna, or even the stuff that comes out of an aerosol can (okay, only one person who lives here eats that stuff, and he knows who he is).

It's easy to make your own at home.  Cheese has natural but weak emulsifiers in it already.  If you don't heat it, you don't need to add anything but cheese and water to make a spreadable cheese.  Heat destroys these, which is why you need something like sodium citrate for a cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

2 C shredded cheese
3-6 T liquid - water, beer, wine, apple cider, or whatever

Tools:

food processor

Steps:

1. blend together until smooth
2. profit?


More words because this instructable didn't have very many:

I even measured this time because I love you guys so much.  That's saying something.  I hate measuring.


Shred your cheese if you haven't already.  Put it in the food processor with the blade.  Turn it on, then add the liquid, a little at a time. Sharper, more aged cheeses won't have as many emulsifiers in them.  I had to use some regular medium chedder with the Dubliner cheddar Josh likes in this stuff, or it might've turned out too grainy.  Younger cheeses don't always have the depth of flavor that the older ones do, so it's good to use a mix.

The cheese will probably look lumpy at first.  It takes a few minutes in the food processor to really come together.  You can tell when it's done because it'll look suddenly smoother and shiny.  It's fine if the friction from the blades warms the cheese to room temperature; that's not hot enough to break the emulsifiers.

This usually takes about 4 minutes for me.

If your cheese is a bit too rubbery when you dip the crackers in it, add a little more water and mix it again until smooth.  If it's too liquidy and separates, add a handful of shredded cheese and mix again.

I think the cheddar and water that the guys here prefer seems a bit too... sharp.  I add a teaspoon of honey and they don't complain.  I'd prefer to simply use apple cider instead of water, but then they say it "tastes funny."  

Use what you like.  Go make some!  Thanks for reading.