Author Topic: BIG Gouda!  (Read 7250 times)

FarmerJd

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BIG Gouda!
« on: October 15, 2009, 08:29:40 PM »
Ok I tried making a gouda for the first time today. I watched the videos John posted this morning and the german one really helped me understand about the pressing under whey concept. I am posting pics and the process I used. By the way, I like my homemade  butter milk with butter flakes so that is what the yellow flakes are in the curds. Just in case you were wondering. :)

1. Heated 24 gallons to 88 and added 3 cups of buttermilk (my own culture) then let it set for 30 min.

2. Added 2 tblspns rennet to 1.5 cups water and added to milk and stirred 5 min.

3. At 30 min, i had a clean break and cut curd into .5 in cubes and let set for 7 min.

4. Stirred curd for 30 min. Also prepared 6 gallons of 140 degree water.

5. Drained 8 gallons of whey off and then added 6 gallons of 140 degree water over a 15 minute span while stirring. Temp rose to 99 degrees. Stirred for additional 15 min.

6. Placed hoop in whey and tried to dump curd from the outside into the inside. Forgot stupid cloth. Went ahead and tried to press by hand under whey. Some was leaking underneath so finally drained whey around the outside and then lifted hoop. The cheese wheel could barely support itself without the hoop and sort of drooped or swelled in the middle. I was able with three people helping to lift it in one piece out of the pot and into the hoop (this time with cloth :)  ) and then poured the remaining curd and whey from the outside into the hoop. CUrrently pressing under 250 lbs (2 psi) on 12" hoop for 5 hours. Will flip after first 30 min. After 5 hours will flip again and press at 4 psi til morning. Tomorrow I will brine for probably 3 days since this will weigh around 15-20 lbs.

I will then dry and wax.

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2009, 08:34:32 PM »
a few more

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2009, 08:44:29 PM »
more

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2009, 08:47:17 PM »
last ones for now

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2009, 11:20:53 PM »
VERY nice Farmer. You're gonna love that Gouda. I press under whey without cheesecloth. It's a very light pressing so the curds don't squeeze thru holes & cracks.

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2009, 11:38:28 PM »
Thanks Sailor. I think after doing this and thinking about it I have come to the conclusion that my curds weren't quite ready when I started the pressing. It seemed like some of them were knitting ok but then I also had a lot of curd particles that never seem to want to gel with the rest. That is just the nature of cheese making without a ph meter. I noticed in the last of John's videos that the guy in the video had the curds in his hands to test their readiness and I realized that mine was just off a little or something. Hard to put my finger on it but I guess its just those experience nuances that I can't explain. It is also very different in size and handability from my cheddars. One more pic for scale.

Baby Chee

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2009, 03:14:43 AM »
Awesome to behold.

I love seeing the press, especially.  If I ever decide to do large batches, I could build such for very little.  Then I could make one of each cheese every year and spend only a few days doing cheese instead of weeks.

Your solutions to larger cheese are so simple.  It's refreshing.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2009, 04:35:12 AM »
If you overcook the curds, they won't knit together as well.

Cheese Head

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2009, 12:47:00 PM »
Farmer, great pictures, love your stirrer motor, assume it's a Grill-BBQ motor.

I also add some salt at start of washing which should shrink curds further plus start to slow down the acidification.

PS: Some info here on Gouda and other washed curd cheeses that you may not have noticed.

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2009, 01:05:14 PM »
Can anyone give me any brine composition advice? My scale has a dead battery so I will have to mix my brine by volume of granulated canning salt. One of the recipes said 4% salt solution I think but all the brine posts on here say saturated or 18-23%. Any consensus here? Going to need about 2 gallons for this monster.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2009, 01:34:21 PM »
I do 2 pounds of salt per gallon of whey. If you use whey instead of water, the pH and Calcium balance will be much better. If you use water, you will need to add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and some CaCl. If you don't, the brine will actually pull calcium OUT of your cheese, resulting in a soft, sticky rind.

Offline Boofer

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2009, 03:32:46 PM »
Very nice Gouda. Impressive.

The ice cream stirrer doesn't just stir the curds into "dust" then? Seems like it would. I know we're supposed to stir, but I'm always a bit hesitant for fear of just making a dairy gruel so I'm probably more gentle than I really need to be.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

FarmerJd

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #12 on: October 16, 2009, 04:00:31 PM »
Boofer, I was concerned about the same thing and still am tinkering with it. The speed is pretty slow on one of these which is why i chose it to start with. That way i didnt have to deal with pulley reduction, etc. The problem is that out on the edge it is still moving pretty fast. I have considered reducing the length of the paddles and also the number of them. i think the curd will stay mixed as long as the paddles are angled so that there is a convection type current pulling the curd off the bottom. I have had the "curd dust problem" to a small degree - i would guess less than 5% by volume. I probably should leave the dust out of the final product but its just hard to chunk any amount of cheese. :) I am also unsure if the curd dust is a product of the stirrer or my curd knife which is basically a slight upgrade to using a large flat rock. ;D

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #13 on: October 16, 2009, 06:21:40 PM »
Could you use a rheostat, like a light dimmer, to slow the motor down?

Cheese Head

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Re: BIG Gouda!
« Reply #14 on: October 16, 2009, 06:34:24 PM »
Farmer, brine composition advice here, see Brine - Making & Using webpages. Has salt amounts for building different % brines. Also, I suspect you are going to need more than 2 US gallons or brine.