Cheddar cheese powder

[smokininthegarden]

Has anyone ever used cheddar cheese powder in a sausage recipe? I just happened upon a listing on eBay for this powder and it just struck me that, hey this might go very well in a kielbasa or other type of polish sausage. It should give it a little extra cheesy tang. Does anyone have any thoughts on how well this would work?

Cal

 

[browneyesvictim]

Hmmm... Interesting. I actually cheat with that cheese powder to make au gratin potatoes and mac n cheese as the base roux, but add grated cheese to it to make the sauce. Never considered it adding it directly such as for sausage, but I'm almost certain it would add cheese flavor, and could easily dial it in to get the desired consistency and texture. Although I doubt you could achieve the same as real (high temp) cheese does. You should try a small batch!

 

[browneyesvictim]

You know Cal... the more I think about it... Ill bet that would work pretty good in place of NFDM as a binder as well. I'm thinking Swedish potato sausage with that in it. Yum!

 

[smokininthegarden]

You know Cal... the more I think about it... Ill bet that would work pretty good in place of NFDM as a binder as well. I'm thinking Swedish potato sausage with that in it. Yum!

 

[smokininthegarden]

I was just thinking the same thing. A binder and/or replacement for NFDM. How about
a cheddar jalapeño summer sausage? Many possibilities here, I plan on trying this in some type
of recipe and will report back.

Cal

 

[weev]

A few years ago I bought a kit with cheddar Polish sausage I thought it would come with the high temp cheese but it came with the dry mix it turned out alright it had a Cheesy taste but you didn't have the little cubes of cheese in it

 

[SmokinAl]

Honestly I think high temp cheese is the way to go, but lately I have been using regular cheddar & cubing it myself.
So far it is working fine. No melting at all.
Al

 

[worktogthr]

I agree that cubing up regular cheese is the way to go. I have had some high temps that tasted a little off. With the regular cheese, as long as you dont slice it immediately after cooking it will keep its shape and not ooze out.

 

[daveomak]

I use it on popcorn....

 

[HalfSmoked]

Don't see why it wouldn't work the only way to tell is try it. Waiting for a report on how it worked.

Warren

 

[hondabbq]

I cant get High temp cheese around my parts.

I have leaned that as long as you use a hard cheese it will not melt and stay cubed. The more moisture content in the cheese used the more chance of it leaking out. I even grate cheese into sausages.

 

[dward51]

Sure you can. Internet can get you anything, it's just not coming from the store down the street.

As to buying powdered cheese or any other food ingredient off eBay, I would be a little cautious. Is it a packaged food grade product, with proper labeling from a known maker, or "just a bag with cheese powder in it"? There are a couple of reputable sausage making supply businesses who have eBay stores and I do a little research on the vendor and product on eBay. Just use common sense. You can also get powdered cheese and a ton of other spices and ingredients from American Spice Company, and the King Arthur Flour Company makes a powdered Vermont White Cheddar product that can be bought online if not from a local store. Butcher and Packer carries a number of high temp cheeses made for sausage making.

I've just taken regular block cheese from the local grocery store or Sam's Club and cut it into 1/4" chunks and used it with very good results. Depending on how you are finishing the sausage and what the recipe is, but "regular" cheese may work just fine. If using cheese, I would *NOT* stuff with a grinder as you risk smearing the cheese even if it's high temp. The regular cheese I used was cut into 1/4" pieces and then frozen spread out on a sheet pan so it would not stick to other pieces. I think the trick to regular cheese is to ensure it gets into the final stuffed sausage as a whole piece and avoid causing a soft cheese to smear in the process.