Well , I finally made my first Gouda with Garlic , I have one with Dill as well aging right now.
I used (you guessed it) RCs recipe from her book , it's still the only book I have , but for some reason , I didn't get as clean a break as I should have , did everything the same as other makes , but used a different milk.
The curd did set and separate from the whey eventually , but it turned out to be very small curd , more like cottage cheese , but after the regular pressing it seemed to knit very well after all.
I used Spice World Minced Garlic , about four tablespoons , boiled in a cup of water , added to a four gallon batch , they smell GREAT !
I wanted to try a different mold this time , I bought some Sterilite containers at the dollar store , got them very cheap , they are very sturdy.
I put drain holes in the bottom and sides of two of them , and used the other two as followers , they held the press weights very well and fit quite snugly inside one another.
These may be the only square Goudas here in the forum , or have others done it , I wonder if the shape will affect the finished product ?
I made two , two pound cheeses , they fit in the cave well also , the previous four pound Gouda is too big for me at this point , I like the smaller ones.
I plan on cream coating them and aging for at least six months.
Cheers , Jim.