Hi,
Well, after my last attempt at Gouda, which turned into a balloon and floated away, I decided to try again. It also occurred to me (finally) that the typical milk that I buy is higher fat than protein (3.3 vs 3.2 grams, fat and protein, respectively). I decided to try increasing the protein, but probably went a bit overboard. Still, one thing I noticed was that the curd was much stronger (I'm assuming because there would be less homogenized fat, which weakens the curd doesn't it?) Also, the curds seemed much more stretchy, almost like they wanted to melt, when I was getting them ready to put in the mould. Anyway, I'm expecting the final cheese to be a bit smaller than usual because there are less solids in the mild (5.2 g/100 mls rathern than 6.5 g/100 ml, but we'll see. So far, the make has gone pretty well. Had a brief panic when I couldn't find the follower and it was about time to get the cheese into the mould.
Anyway, this gouda is targeting only a couple months as I've not had a young gouda in a while. And, I want to see what happens with the changes in the P:F ratio. Will post photos after it's brined tomorrow.
- Jeff
Gouda Sunday, Sept 1st, 2013
Indoor Temp 21 C, overcast, Barometer: med. high pressure
8 litres Homebrand Light Blue (3.7g/100ml protein 1.5g fat/100 ml)
3 litres Budget Dark Blue (3.2g/100 ml protein 3.3g fat/100 ml) final P-F ratio 1.79 : 1 - so, I think this will be quite a hard cheese
2 ice cube buttermilk
1.65 ml calf rennet
½ tsp CaCl (50%)
1) Warm to 32 C (time 7:14 am Temp 33.5 C)
2) Add starter (melt cubes)
3) Ripen 15 min (start time 7:14 finish time 7:23 temp 33.5 C – trying shorter ripening)
4) Add rennet (time: 7:23:00 floc time 7:40:00 m 17sec 3x multiplier 51m 00s cut time 8:14:00)
5) Cut into 1 cm cubes
6) Let stand 10 minutes (start time 8:20 - 8:30 temp ??.? C)
7) Drain 1/3 whey
8) Add 80 C water until temp 33.3 C (start time 8:53 finish 8:56 temp 34.5 C – only took 4 cups water)
9) Rest 20 minutes (start time 8:56 finish time 9:15)
10) Drain to level of curds
11) Add 55 C to reach temp 37 C (start time 9:15 end 9:25 temp 37:2 C)
12) Rest 30 minutes (start time 9:25 finish time 9:55)
13) Drain whey
14) Move curds to mold
15) Press under 10 kg (0.72 PSI) 30 minutes (start time 10:25 finish time 11:05) ;under whey
16) Flip and redress
17) Press under 20 kg (1.43 PSI) 1 hour (start time 11:05 finish time 12:05) ; under whey
18) Flip and redress press (30 kg 2.15 PSI) (start time 12:05 – 5:45 pm)
19) Flip and redress press (35.2kg 2.53 PSI, start 5:45 – 5:55 am; 1396g, 15.6 x 6.1 cm = 1.20 g/cm3)
20) Place in saturated brine for 1 hour per lb per inch of height = 7 hours 1 minute (start time 6:15 finish time 1:15; 1354g out of brine, 1.16g/cm3)
21) Air dry then cave.