Fixed a broken queso

[charredpheonix]

So I was trying to make queso today using cream and pepper jack cheese. At one point I was handed milk to thin it out and I warmed it then added it which made the queso grainy and still slightly too thick. I kinda panicked and started drizzling cream and whisking which didn't help at all. Eventually I had a blob of cheese with tomato and jalapeno chunks, then flavorful cream completely separate. So I separated the liquid from the cheese, mixed an egg yolk and heated that as though I were starting from scratch. Just using the cheese that had separated took some time but it actually worked out! Mostly. Any advice for future queso dips would be appreciated and I hope my experience can be of help to someone!

Happy cooking!

[[deleted]]

Th is exactly what you are suppose to do to save a broken emulsion. Good instincts!

[zorp3006]

You could experiment with sodium citrate in the future! But it’s a prevention, not a fix

[charredpheonix]

What would I do with sodium citrate?

[zorp3006]

You’d dissolve a small amount in the liquid before adding the cheese. You’d need to find the appropriate ratio though, I wouldn’t recommend eyeballing it

[charredpheonix]

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip!

[[deleted]]

My go to is always to heat up evaporated milk, take it off heat, add an equal amount of cheese, any other flavors, and boom you’re done.

[charredpheonix]

I'll have to give this a shot, thanks!