Sure can....it won't have as sharp a cheese taste....but if you have a mild chedder and a Monteray Jack....they are very close to idtntical...in fact they are made the same way...but chedder may be aged longer.
Linda C

Thanks Linda, I thought you might be the one to answer that given the volume of cooking you do. Maybe I will post pictures from tomorrow's dinner party.
Heidi

Heidi what are you making? Generally I think Jack could be subbed for a mild cheddar but not an aged cheddar.

Yes post pictures , we love pictures!

Ok something weird is going on, I keep getting rejected from following up. I spent a long time typing out the recipes and then it was gone. Thank you all for your responses. I am POOFing (for the most part) a dinner party for 8. Having Cream of Celery Soup as I have alot of celery from a buy 1 get 1 free sale. And I also have a lot of shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheese. The cheese will go into Celery Almond chicken breast with a cheese sauce. Baked Grits uses the jack cheese also and I also have a recipe for broccoli souffle. Dessert will be a POOF blueberry pie with ice cream.

Yep all those things will be fine with either cheese, a mixture of the cheeses or one for the other..

Sounds like good food!
Heidi..tip about reposting in a thread.
If it tells you message rejected, just back arrow one page and change the subject of posting line..add something, take away something, change it..then hit preview message..then submit..usually it will take it no problem, but sometimes you do have to change the subject line..unless a few people have posted past your last post.

In short, NO ! Monterey Jack has a different taste and texture than really good cheddar. Of course you can do what you want and the others suggest.
If you are talking about the real cheap stuff like store brand cheddar/Monterey jack, heck you can use whatever your heart desires, it will all blend into something.

I personally don't like cheddar and always sub something else for it, usually monterey jack or a blend of monterey jack, colby, and mozarella. I've always found that the monterey jack blends better than cheddar, and melts smoother without getting all oily. Maybe that's because I use "cheap" cheese. : )

Chedder and jack cheese and edam are pretty much the same stuff, but for aging. And of course different brands of each may have a different taste because of other factors. Chedder may be made with unpasteurized milk if it's to be long aged, so it will taste very different than a short aged cheese both because of the unpasteurized milk but also because of the lack of age.
The company my husband managed made chedder cheese for a lot of years, and even though the young cheesse couldn't be sold, he could bring some home for sampeling. It was fascinating to see how the cheese changed week to week.
Linda C

Sometimes the old adage that you get what you pay for is true!
Other times it can be a very misleading factor, as in what direction you are trying to go. If it is a child hood taste you are trying to get, then you are the only one who can determine the direction in which to go by trying different brands!
As for cheese, well some cost a hell of a lot more than others in the same category!
You can get cheddar for a dollar a pound or $10.00 per pound.
Try doing taste tests at a good deli, and make up your own mind! No one can tell you what you truly like, that is up to you.
I really hope this helps you.

Monerey Jack and cheddar are distinctly different IMO, although both are good melting cheeses. But then, I always buy sharp cheddar, so maybe mild cheddar would be reasonably similar. It really only matters if you are after a particular result. If you don't mind varying the taste, use whichever you want.

Muenster is similar to jack cheese in both taste and texture.

Funny, I think Muenster tastes much different from Jack and is softer. But I'm sure it's all in the brand..and basically comparing oranges with mandarins..

Bottom Line: Yes, you can exchange one for the other, however your dish will not taste the same.

Beverly

Colby, chedder and Jack are all made pretty much the same way...milk warmed, a coagulant added, kept warm for several hours, cut...allowed to drain, heated again and pressed. All are salted in the curd. The differences in flavor have to do with the aging time, temperaturem what the cow ate, the length of time the cheese sits before cutting...and after cutting before draining etc.
Munster is generally salted by submerging the cheese in a tank of brine after it's been molded.
And Change...I would really like to know where you can get chedder of any sort for $1 a pound. The cheapest I have seen has been $4 a pound, and that was surprisingly good.
Linda C

I've made cheddar cheese a few times and, actually, cheddar cheese goes through a process called "cheddaring", which gives it a unique flavor. You can learn about that by Googling.

Celery Almond chicken breast with a cheese sauce - Jack might be better than cheddar for this IMO.
broccoli soufflé - Jack can be used for that also, but will have a bit less flavor.

The melting properties will be similar for cheddar and Jack, but the flavor will be different. For chicken, I would prefer Jack, but for broccoli, I would prefer cheddar. I'm making enchiladas today for DB's lunch (for the freezer), and I'm using cheddar, although Jack is equally good. For me, cheddar is less likely to upset my stomach than Jack, and I try to avoid both, but I will eat a bit of cheddar and still try to avoid Jack, but that has nothing to do with a choice based on taste.

Lars

Jim....cheddering means running the cheese curd through a "cheddering" machine which stacks and cuts up the curd. That allows the curd to drain more whey...maybe. But a lot of the end flavor of the cheese depends on how "dry" it is when formed and entering the aging process.
Linda C

That's a pretty good summary of cheddaring, Linda. Of course, cheddaring can be done by hand. I don't have a machine and my batches are small. Other cheeses, such as jack and muenster are not cheddared, so the textures and flavors are somewhat different. To me, jack and muenster are smoother and more elastic than cheddar. That's the similarity I find between them, whereas cheddar keeps more of it's curd structure. Jack and muenster also tend to be milder flavored, although young cheddar approaches that perhaps.

Wow I never thought that my question would bring such on such a discussion. As I admitted (or thought I did) that I am not a cheese lover in least. Mozzarella melted on pizza, american on grilled cheese sandwiches, and depending on the recipes some other varieties, but you won't get me to tasting it otherwise. Sorry.

But here is the UPDATE to the party...everyone loved it. I did own up to the celery/cheese theme but IMHO it was a good thing to have food theme running through out.

1st course: The Cream of Celery soup was very good, made a cheese and wine bread from my ABM (truth be known I foiled the no knead bread recipe by miscalculating the amount of water-so ABM was last resort).

Main Meal: Celery stuffed chicken breasts were very good but was really saucey. I made Paula Deen's baked grits and they were very good (everyone agreed it was an interesting alternative to potatos or rice) and the crockpot broccoli souffle was very good as it actually tasted like it was done in the oven.

Dessert was blueberry pie and ice cream and non-dessert maker girlfried made valentine cookies.

I completely forgot to take pictures (guess that was the affect of having wine/champagne before dinner..oops!)

Thank you everyone for your help, I was able to POOF our the celery and most of the cheese. I did learn alot.

Heidi