Mother's day Gouda

[shaneb]

Hi all,

Today I had a go at my first Gouda. The make was a mixture of scasnerkay's wedding cheese (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12879.msg100067.html#msg100067) and the Gouda recipe from NEC's webpage. It was a 12L make. I will try and upload the make details tomorrow.

Below are some photos of the different stages of pressing.

I will try and cloth bind this one also.

Shane

[qdog1955]

That is one nice looking cheese-----AC4U
Qdog

[scasnerkay]

It is a cheese of beauty! I love gouda. Recently opened one made December 3. Very tasty! A cheese to you for your lovely creation.

[jimk]

It's beautiful! Did you smoke it?

[shaneb]

Thanks guys. No, it isn't smoked. I just went a little overboard with the Annatto. The recipe didn't call for it, but I thought it would look nice with it. The amount I added to my last cheddar seemed a little weak. The cheese is not as orange as the photo shows though.

I'll put it in the brine at lunchtime. I've calculated 10hrs based on a 1.5kg cheese (160mm diameter x 70mm high).  Does that sound right? It will be a 22% brine.

Shane

[Flound]

Nice looking cheese, Shane.

AC4U!

[Kern]

Shane, it looks great.  AC4U.  Will the little nubs interfere with binding it in cloth?   

[shaneb]

Thanks Guys.

Kern - I'm not sure to be honest. The top and bottom will probably lose them from flipping while drying. I'm not sure about the sides, but will see I guess. They are quite tiny.

I've attached my make sheet. I'll try and take a photo after it comes out of the brine.

Shane

[shaneb]

It's now out of the brine and back into the cave.

Shane

[John@PC]

Nice! +C4U.

[shaneb]

Thanks John.

Today was time to dress the cheese. I was unable to get lard from the supermarket I visited, so I thought I'd try a suggestion I made a while back. I cloth bound it with Copha (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copha). At first I tried using it in a softened form. This was hopeless and very messy. I then melted it and applied with a pastry brush. It went very well that way. It is very wax like and solidified within minutes. I've attached before and after photos. It's now back in the cave.

Shane

[shaneb]

Here's an updated photo on the copha bandaging. It certainly does not behave like lard. It is almost like a wax plaster cast over the cheese. I think I'll only take this one out 3 months as I'm not sure what is going on inside. There are no external signs of mould. Flipping it is very clean unlike the lard which still has a little stick in the top and bottom faces.

Shane

[shaneb]

Still not a sign of mould whatsoever on the copha bandage. I'm interested to know what's going on inside of the cheese. Must have patience.......

Shane

[shaneb]

An update on this one. I could see some dark patches underneath the bandaging. I decided to remove the bandage to see what was going on underneath. I found a fair bit of surface mould. The surface of the cheese was still quite soft and the smell was pretty good. I've now cleaned up the surface a bit with a light brine, brush and scrape with a knife. I guess for now I'll try and keep it natural with brushing to keep the mould down. I'm not sure I'd use copha again, but hey it was an experiment.

Below are some before and after photos.

Shane

[DoctorCheese]

How did this cheese turn out?