Adds great flavor, color, and variety to every cheese tray. Fresh taste of chives and rolled in dill before packing.
Chives and Dill Jack is our number one selling Monterey Jack Cheese!
This cheese boasts exciting beginnings. The American Cheese Society awarded this cheese second place in only its second year of production. Each year the American Cheese Society holds a judging and competition in conjunction with their annual conference. An opportunity to shine the spotlight on American cheesemakers by showcasing their talents, we have enjoyed submitting our cheeses over the years. The Chives and Dill Jack has also won second place in the Pennsylvania Cheese Makers Competition. Presently, it is our number one selling cheese and one of the original five Monterey Jack cheeses we began producing back in 2007.
Chives and dill strikes the perfect balance of herbs. We have carefully selected the dried herbs that go into each of our flavored cheeses. Choosing premium herbs is critical to making great cheese. Not all dried herbs have the high quality standards we look for when adding to our cheese. Over the years we have worked hard to add only the finest ingredients. I love the brilliant green color of both the chives and the dill selected.
“Made by hand” is a literal explanation of this cheese. We start with the freshest local milk in our vat and produce a lovely cheese by day’s end. After aging, this cheese is cut in eight ounce bars and then hand rolled on two sides in some of the fantastic dill.
Once packaged, the flavor profile becomes light, flavorful, and perfectly balanced. This cheese adds great flavor, color, and variety to any cheese tray. I have seen it used for appetizers at weddings and other special events. It looks great on a pick with several other cheeses, and is always included in our fish fry as part of a small cheese sampler. The combination of herbs and creamy monterey jack goes great with fish! One of our most popular and well known cheeses, Chives and Dill is included in so many gift packages.
Many folks have told me, “Chives and Dill is my favorite cheese you make.”
Briana Thomas
“I love chives, and I love dill, and I love cheese. Match made in heaven. Very high quality, with a consistent flavor.”
Wendy F.
“Tried the Chives and Dill Jack on recommendation of the gal behind the counter. It was delicious.”
Discover this Award-winning Cheese!
Winner of the American Cheese Society Award, and Second Place winner of the Pennsylvania Cheesemakers Competition Award.
Chives and Dill Jack
In 2009 Our Chives and Dill Jack received an award at the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition held in Austin, Texas. The American Cheese Society’s goal is to give positive recognition to those cheeses that are of the highest quality in their aesthetic evaluation (i.e. flavor, aroma, and texture), as well as their technical evaluation. September Farm was pleased to win an award in the “American Originals” category, cheeses recognized by the ACS Competition Committee as uniquely American in their original forms.We received a second place award for our Chives and Dill Jack in the sub-category, “Monterey Jack with flavors- cow’s milk.”
Again in 2015, Chives and Dill received an award at the Pennsylvania’s Farm Show Cheese Competition This competition is open to any Pennsylvania cheesemaker holding a valid dairy foods manufacturing permit. Our Chives and Dill received second place in the category, “Flavored Cheddar, Colby and Jack from Cow Milk.”
Ingredients
Pasteurized Milk
The milk used to produce this September Farm Cheese comes directly from dairy cows you can see grazing in meadows around September Farm’s retail store and processing facility. Milk goes directly from the cows’ morning and evening milking to our cheese vat (there is no middle man).
We do not separate our milk prior to making cheese. Whole milk is naturally 97% fat free.
First developed by Louis Pasteur in 1864, pasteurization kills harmful organisms found in many natural foods such as raw fluid milk. Pasteurization is a process in which milk is treated for a specified period of time using heat.
Salt
We use non-iodized, semi coarse salt in our cheese. This salt dissolves into our cheese at the optimum rate, and serves four very important purposes:
Encouraging moisture loss/ Altering texture: Salt will draw whey (moisture) out of the cheese. This dries the cheese’s body and has pronounced effects on its texture and stability.
Neutralizing the acidity in the cheese.
Enhancing flavor: Salt not only gives cheese a salty taste, but can also help enhance other flavors present.
Acting as a natural preservative.
MICROBIAL RENNET
This is a coagulating agent. Microbial Rennet is used to coagulate or thicken milk during the cheese making process. This is done prior to cutting the curd, and allows the curds and whey to separate.
Cheese Culture
There are many different types and variations of cheese culture. These cultures are referred to as Lactic Bacteria. The lactose fermenting bacteria, when added to milk, digests the lactose sugars to produce lactic acid causing the formation of curds.
Vegetables
Chives
Dill
Garlic
Production Process
Milk from a local dairy is first pasteurized before it is ready for cheesemaking. When the milk is at ninety degrees the first ingredient, cheese culture, is added to the milk. Cheese culture, which activates the milk and turns the milk sugars into lactic acid, is also a key ingredient to identifying the cheese’s character after aging. The next ingredient added is rennet. This ingredient is an enzyme that causes the milk to coagulate, a very fascinating part of cheese making, as the cheese sets up like custard in approximately twenty minutes.
It is then time to cut the curd. This is done by placing curd knives into the vat. These curd knives are basically sets of wires that run horizontally and vertically and cut the entire vat from top to bottom into quarter inch cubes. These cubes are very soft and fragile at first but as they cook, they firm up and continue to release more whey. Cooking the curd is a very delicate process as we heat the vat with steam from ninety degrees to 102 degrees only allowing it to rise two degrees every five minutes. When the curd is completely cooked we will have 600 pounds of curds from 6000 pounds of milk. Approximately ten percent becomes cheese.
Monterey Jack cheese is a washed curd. Monterey Jack, Colby, and Longhorn are all examples of washed curd cheeses. After the whey is drained, we add water back to the vat and rinse the curd. The next step is to dry the curd. After the curd is sufficiently dried, we add salt to neutralize the acidity in the cheese. The salt also acts as a natural preservative. The whey that has been drained is eventually spread on neighboring farm fields as fertilizer. Whey is a byproduct of cheese making but when processed, can be found in other foods we eat as well as some animal feeds.
It is at this point that we add the specific ingredients that give Chives and Dill Jack its unique flavor. The hoops are lined with cheesecloth, and once filled are all ready to go into the press. When put under pressure, the curds knit together to form perfect blocks of cheese. More whey will be expelled from the blocks while under pressure. The next day the cheese will be removed from the press. It is then packed air tight and placed into aging. Our Monterey Jack cheese is a fresh cheese and ages for about one to two months before cutting into eight ounce bars.
monterey jack history
An American original, Monterey Jack was first invented and made in Monterey Bay, California by Spanish Franciscan missionaries during the late 1700s and early 1800s. In 1882, David Jacks, a dairy owner and businessman began marketing it throughout Monterey and eventually all throughout California. People soon began to refer to this semi-soft, white creamy cheese as “Jack’s Monterey” or Monterey Jack’s Cheese” eventually earning the name Monterey Jack.
Over the years this simple cheese has been flavored in many different versions, including our very own, original Chives and Dill Jack.
Semi-soft Cheese Family
Chives and Dill Jack is a flavored Monterey Jack cheese. Monterey Jack is a semi-soft cheese. It shares this family with the following similar cheese types:
Color: Creamy white with additions of green dill and chives.
Texture: Semi-soft, pliable, creamy and smooth. Finely sliced chives and dill sprinkled throughout. Two sides patted in dill.
Flavor:Delicate and buttery with a slight tartness. Dill. Chives. Garlic
Typical Composition:44% maximum moisture, 50% milk fat solids.
Performance Characteristics and Applications:Excellent melting cheese. Good for soups, sauces, toppings, casseroles. Also good slicing and shredding cheese for sandwiches and salads.
Storage/Shelf Life:Chives and Dill Jack can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six months, unopened. Cut pieces should be wrapped tightly in barrier film and stored away from other pungent foods, as these cheeses will pick up flavors and aromas quickly. Proper sanitation when handling these cheeses will greatly increase their shelf life and quality. Freezing is not recommended.
Curing/Aging: 1 to 3 months.
Uses
Try in macaroni and cheese
Slice and melt on burgers
Looks beautiful on a cheese tray
Looks great on a pick with several other cheeses
A great compliment to fish
Cube up or shred and toss in a salad
Key Benefits: Mild flavor. Easy melting. Good slicing and shredding. Convenient forms and flavors.
Guarantee
We guarantee all products to arrive in satisfactory condition to the address given if delivery can be made when first attempted. Delivery services will not forward our packages and many of our gifts can’t stand reshipping. We cannot assume responsibility for perishable products if we are given an incorrect address.
shipping
Orders are shipped Monday through Friday. Consideration is given when shipping to warmer climates to ensure fastest shipping methods. We ship our products UPS or USPS.
processing
Orders are processed and shipped Monday through Friday. When shipping to warmer climates, we avoid shipping over the weekend.
Delivery time
Time Most orders arrive between 3-6 business days, depending on processing time and destination. If you would like your order to arrive on a specific time frame, please make note of this in the comment section of your order.
