Author Topic: Gouda cheese  (Read 2433 times)

Glenda

  • Guest
Gouda cheese
« on: September 10, 2012, 07:35:15 PM »
Hi, just made a gouda, in refreg. To drt out a couple days.would anyone advise cutting in half and waxing each peice to age at different times. I had a store bought one that was aged 10 months it was dry almost like a parm.loved it! Can this be done?

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Gouda cheese
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2012, 08:15:47 PM »
I would age it for a few weeks, maybe a month, then wax it.  And age the whole cheese for a year.  If you want one for 4 to 6 months, just make another one.  I aged my first gouda for around a year, and it was great.  I still have about a quarter of it left, and that will be 2 years old at the end of December.  We have a small slice every now and then, and it's really nice.  I've got another gouda aging that will be a year around Christmas time.  Yum.

- Jeff

Glenda

  • Guest
Re: Gouda cheese
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2012, 08:48:41 PM »
Sounds good but how do you keep the one you keep ageing? Vacume pack it?

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Gouda cheese
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2012, 10:58:59 PM »
As I said above, I would wax it and age it for a year.  Once it's waxed you don't need to keep it in a box as you don't need to worry about the humidity.  However, you can also vac. pac. it too as that should achieve the same purpose.

- Jeff

Mighty Mouse

  • Guest
Re: Gouda cheese
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2012, 02:48:49 AM »
Hi, just made a gouda, in refreg. To drt out a couple days.would anyone advise cutting in half and waxing each peice to age at different times. I had a store bought one that was aged 10 months it was dry almost like a parm.loved it! Can this be done?

I opened up a gouda recently that would have been aging two years as of December. It was frikkin amazing!

I would just make two different cheeses. For me, there is something about a nicely formed, waxed cheese that us aesthetically pleasing (and impressive to present to your dinner guests). The other thing I would worry about is that the outer surface of the cheese is probably less likely to have cracks and holes unless you did your pressing really well. If you expose the inner part of the cheese and there are some holes, you could be providing a home for molds.
If you do cut it in half, make sure you brine after you cut so you form a protective rind over the entire cheese.

I suppose if size is an issue, you could always get two smaller molds and press each one