Gouda Two: Little Smoky
Cost $13.80
Skim milk (store bought, pasteurized, 4L).
Cream (33%, store bought, pasteurized, 410mL).
Warm to 32C.
Add Colgin Liquid Smoke, Natural Hickory (1tsp) (Did not mix – just floated on top!)
Add CaCl2 (1/2 tsp in 2 tbsp dechlorinated water).
Rehydrate Ricki's C101 culture, wait one minute, then stir in.
Ripen for 10 minutes.
Add lipase (1/8 tsp in 125mL dechlorinated water).
Add rennet (1/2 tablet, crushed under 250mL dechlorinated water).
Stir one minute.
Coagulate for 30 minutes.
Cut curds to 1 inch.
Cut curds to 1/2 inch.
Stir.
Remove 1.5L whey.
Add warm water (80C) to final temp of 40C (hotter than I wanted!).
Stir gently for 10 minutes.
Drain whey to level of curds.
Add warm water (80C) to final temp of 40C.
DID NOT settle in the pot for 30 minutes. (skipped this step by accident)
Pour curds into a warm cloth-lined colander under the whey.
Transfer curds to mold (11.5cm diameter x 13cm height) under whey (Yikes! There are too many curds for the mould).
Place mold into press.
Press with 500g for 15 minutes.
Add more curds and press with 500g for 15 minutes (2x).
Redress, press with 830g for 45 min.
Redress, flip, and press with 1kg for 90 min.
Redress, flip, and press 1.4kg for 2 hours.
Redress, flip, and press 2.1kg for 8 hours.
Keep cheese cloth on and store in mold overnight without weight.
In the morning, it still wanted to bulge and lose its shape.
Press with 2.1kg weight for 2 hours.
Brine 4.4 hours, after which there were small splits on the side.
Air dry 7 days at 7C, 34% relative humidity.
Wax and store at 7C.
Mass 546g resulting in 124g of cheese per litre of milk/cream
Photos below. Tasting notes after 6 weeks in wax: On day one, not much aroma or flavour. Rather disappointing, actually. Good mouth feel; neither moist nor dry. Left on the counter three days with tasting each day and the aroma and taste improved markedly. Melts well in the toaster oven. Only one third of the wheel remains after seven days! Waxed up and back in the cave.