Author Topic: Caramel-washed Gouda?  (Read 7325 times)

mjr522

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Caramel-washed Gouda?
« on: November 05, 2013, 11:28:38 PM »
A friend brought over a cheese the other day that he said was a "caramel washed Gouda".  It was good--similar in flavor to a 2 year Gouda I've had, but sweeter, and a softer, not so crumbly texture.  I didn't find anything on the forum or elsewhere online about it.  Anyone ever heard of it or know anything about it?

Also, when they make Gouda that is going to age 2+ years, is the make or affinage any different than those that are to be consumed younger?  I bought some (I think it was 4 years old) that said something like, "with Italian cultures" which seemed a little odd to me.  It made me wonder if they used thermophillic cultures.

Spoons

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2013, 12:37:26 AM »
Italian cultures may be thermo or maybe added lipase? I've always wanted to do a young cheddar, colby or monterey with lipase.

Going on a limb here on the "caramel" washed gouda: Don't laugh... lol... maybe washed with some flat diet coke? I've seen crazier things.  :o

Pete S

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2013, 01:36:51 AM »
  I read someware that the traditional Gouda was made with Thermophilic
                                                                                             Pete

mjr522

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2013, 04:00:42 AM »
Spoons--Coke wash, eh?  I think that sounds pretty cool.  I might have to make a little crop of Gouda's and wash one in coke.  I assume we'd use diet instead of regular to prevent yeasts from getting all the sugar?

Pete--I don't think I've ever heard that before.  That would be interesting if it were true.  I'd then wonder when and why they started using mesophilic cultures.  Time for some research.

Pete S

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 04:51:19 AM »
  That was one of the questions that was asked. I will try and find where I read this.      Pete

jwalker

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2013, 03:41:20 PM »
My last Gouda recipe called for MA4002 , which is a blend of Meso and Thermo.

It says the thermo helps produce flavor later in the aging process , and possibly because of the high temp curd wash (160 degrees).


Digitalsmgital

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2013, 04:23:03 AM »
I just made a gouda ala LinuxBoy and his recipe had meso + FD and said wash the curd to 100F-102

Offline Boofer

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #7 on: November 13, 2013, 02:18:46 PM »
and possibly because of the high temp curd wash (160 degrees).
That seems rather high. The guidelines I've been following for my washed rind cheeses call for 130-140F water. That is added to bring the overall temp to around 102F.

That extra heat will cook the curds even more. I don't know what impact that will have on the make...perhaps a drier cheese.

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Tomer1

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2013, 08:08:21 PM »
Yep, drier curd...  you may also cook your culture and burn your hands if you homogenize the heat quickly.

jwalker

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #9 on: November 14, 2013, 02:47:38 PM »
and possibly because of the high temp curd wash (160 degrees).
That seems rather high. The guidelines I've been following for my washed rind cheeses call for 130-140F water. That is added to bring the overall temp to around 102F.

That extra heat will cook the curds even more. I don't know what impact that will have on the make...perhaps a drier cheese.

-Boofer-
No , to the contrary , my last few cheeses using this method were very moist , actually my best yet.

 I should clarify , The curds are not actually cooked at that temp , but the water added to it , is at that temp when adding.

Here's the instructions from page 263 Caldwells book.

"Add hot water at about 160 degrees to slowly increase temperature to 101 F over ten minutes"

Spoons

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2013, 11:01:50 PM »
Mike,

Here's an exceprt I found on what thay call a caramel gouda:

Aged Gouda: Complex & Caramel

Some purists who turn up their noses at young Goudas have far greater respect for the more mature relatives of the clan. As is typical with more aged cheeses, aged Gouda tends to be harder in texture than a young Gouda; in fact, it has a texture more similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano. The interior, or paste, is more deeply colored than that of a young Gouda; in a Gouda aged for roughly two years or longer, the paste becomes more of an amber, or yellowish-brown. The flavor is complex: intense, butterscotch-caramel, salty yet on the sweet side (it is often described as caramelized or toffee-like).


http://jacobsons.ca/products/cheese-overview/

mjr522

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #11 on: November 30, 2013, 03:52:07 PM »
That description matches my experience with older Goudas.  I think I'll need to age some Goudas out for that long and see how they turn out.  My wife said if I could make cheeses that tasted that good, she'd let me make cheese as often as I wanted.

Tomer1

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2013, 11:17:15 PM »
Thats reasonable.   butterscotch-caramel = Milard reaction.  In fridge conditions (very cold) can take years.
I wonder if you can possibly flavor your milk with condensed milk or possibly boil some of the milk to produce some caramilization of the sugars.  I recently did this with some yogurt by accident, forgot the milk on the stove and it reached boil for like 30 minutes. smelled really sweet and color  started to change a bit to a slight golden hue.   After incubation the aroma or flavor was gone though.  super thick yogurt because of the water evaportion\ protein concentrated in the boil.
 

Digitalsmgital

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #13 on: December 02, 2013, 02:29:11 AM »
I am munching on a sheep's-milk gouda (aged two years) that has a very crumbly/dry texture and a sharp bite, with a smoooooothe sweet caramel flavor...indeed, as tomer says, a Maillard-reaction type sweetened aftertaste that typically comes from browning (or caramelizing sugars in low heat), allowing the fructose-based energy stores to begin breaking down into shorter-chain sugars that our tongues can recognize as the sweet/caramel flavor. The cheese is called Ewephoria (from Friesland, Holland). It is magnificent!

Yes, my yogurt make sometimes gets forgotten during the high-temp phase and it develops a caramel-like layer of goo on the bottom of the pot, almost like manjar blanco (in Spanish).

mjr522

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Re: Caramel-washed Gouda?
« Reply #14 on: December 05, 2013, 08:04:37 PM »
I'm not familiar with milard/maillard reaction.  I'll have to go look that up.  I've got a (low fat  :-[) gouda that will age at least a year before I cut into.  Perhaps I'll let it age longer...