8 Lb Gouda question

[john H]

Hi I made an 8lb spiced Gouda 2 weeks ago and was going to vacuum seal it but is to big to fit into my 11" foodsaver roll. Is it to early to cut it in half and vacuum seal. Or does anyone have a better idea.

Thanks John

[Kern]

You can make a large bag by cutting apart two eleven inch pieces and using the heat sealer to weld them together.  Assuming both are open at the top and bottom, you cut off the edge on one piece and both edges on the other.  Join the single pieces where the edge has been cut off one piece.  Then weld together the two single piece edges.  This is now the middle of the larger bag.  Finally, weld the bottom corners at an angle and trim off the waste on the outside.  This will allow the bottom edge to be welded by the sealer.  Now you have the bag and can insert the cheese.  Treat sealing the top as you did the bottom:  corners, trim waste, then vacuum seal the now narrower top portion.  Sounds complicated but it is really simple and it works.

[Stinky]

If you cut it in half, it will not age as nicely

But do it if you have to

[john H]

Well I have tried it Kern and was able to make the bag but I am 3 1\2 to 4" short it seems that the welder on my foodsaver is only 11" leaving me short on length.

John

[john H]

If you cut it in half, it will not age as nicely

But do it if you have to

Thanks stinky that is what I was thinking and may do it as a last resort.

John

[Kern]

Well I have tried it Kern and was able to make the bag but I am 3 1\2 to 4" short it seems that the welder on my foodsaver is only 11" leaving me short on length.

Dang!    I suppose you could modify my method to add some length.  Maybe its possible to do a long seam by doing half of it, flipping it over an doing the other half so that the two welds butt into each other.  It's worth a try as cutting it in half will not allow it to age as well.  Alternatively, you could simply age it nude and use a brine wash to keep the mold down.  At eight pounds you've got a large cheese and the paste to rind ratio is very favorable for natural rind aging.  A great rind wash is 1 Tbs of salt, 1 Tbs of vinegar to 1 cup of water.  I've found that this kills everything on the rind.  If you make a batch be sure not to recycle any used wash back into the container of fresh material.

All my large cheeses have natural rinds and I only bag the cheese sections after they are cut. 

[john H]

Hi Kern thanks for the ideas. The cheese is 4" high and 8" round not all is lost though I learned how to make a bag and wonder if the foodsaver would weld over a seam (multiple layers) my model has a liquid mode and has a hotter weld o yes it does work. The draw back to this machine (that I love) is that the weld bar is not exposed or I would have been able to extend the bag. I guess really I am just being lazy I started with a wash rind and guess I will continue twice a week at this point. Do you age your washed rind cheeses in a plastic container in the cave or on a wood plank if so does it matter the type of wood?

Thanks John

[awakephd]

Kern,

I am intrigued by your method of expanding a bag. If I understand correctly, you are essentially making an octagonal bag, with each side of the octagon approximately 11" -- is that correct?

[john H]

Kern,

I am intrigued by your method of expanding a bag. If I understand correctly, you are essentially making an octagonal bag, with each side of the octagon approximately 11" -- is that correct?

In my case I only welded 1 panel in so it is more of a triangle tube but with 2 panels you could do a rectangle. Here are a couple of pics.
 

[awakephd]

Hmm ... here's what I'm envisioning; not sure if this matches what Kern has in mind, but I think it is a bit different than what you are showing in your pictures:

Cut two lengths from an 11" roll, each length 22" long. Slit one side of each piece and unfold to make a 22" square. Lay one square on top of the other, making sure that a smooth section is laid on top of a crinkled section, and vice versa. (Otherwise, the vacuum will not be able to draw all the air out of the bag.)  Measure in approximately 6" from each corner and mark; cut off the corners. See the picture below -- the dotted lines represent the cuts that are made. Now you have two octagons, one on top of the other; each side of the octagons is approximately 10" in length -- this should fit into the sealer. (If it doesn't, cut the original squares down to, say, 20"). Seal up enough seams to give you a bag; bag the cheese, and seal up the rest.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried this, so I am just theorizing that it will work!!

[john H]

Not sure how much this just cost me LOL but it worked


First of all Kern I may have misinterpreted what you were trying to say in your post thanks for the kick start.   awakephd the bag is hexagon in shape and I need to insert the cheese before doing the last 2 welds. Thanks to both for the ideas.

John
 

[awakephd]

Hey -- looks like it worked! Good to know for the next time I need a mega-bag.

[scasnerkay]

I have done this in the past, but my modified bags started taking in air over time. Not gas from the cheese, just no longer a tight vacuum. Only happened on the modified bags. Keep an eye on it!

[john H]

Thanks for the heads up Susan

[john H]

Hey -- looks like it worked! Good to know for the next time I need a mega-bag.

Yes it did it didn't occur to me to have the 11" seal on both ends then angle the corners it added a great deal of room.

John