Going to make a Goats Milk Gouda Any Advice?

[pliezar (Ian)]

Hi,

I have made a few Goudas with Cow's Milk, now I want to try one with Goats Milk.  Does any one have any adivce/tips or warnings about this?

I will be picking up my milk on Friday and making cheese on Saturday.  I hope to post some pictures if I still go ahead with it.

Thanks
Ian

[Oberhasli]

Ian, I have made goat milk goudas but have never made a cow's milk one.  I would think it should be the same plan and the make should be the same.  If this goat milk will be from a farm and not store bought you will have to decide whether to use the milk  raw or pasteurized.  If it is store bought milk you might need to use some CaCl for the set.

Good luck with your goat milk gouda.

Bonnie

[pliezar (Ian)]

Well I made y first Goat Milk Gouda and I am pretty happy with the results.

I used 8 Litres of Whole Goat Milk purchased at Superstore (not the one my wife works at so no 10% discount  :-\) that cam from a relatively local dairy.  I used turmeric to as a colourant' I did not get it to dissolve properly so there are some "splotches".  I was expecting a 2lb wheel, but it came out of my 8 hours in the press as a 3lb bundy of a cheese. Is this normal?

I started to take pictures and then got caught up in the moment and did not get any until the end

[pliezar (Ian)]

My Goat Gouda seems to be trucking along fine keeping my Cheddar company in the Cheese Igloo.  I wanted to try something different from the last few I had made so I oiled the Rind with a mixture of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and Sage.  It looks good to me and the smell reminds me of the holidays.  Good thing as I plan to crack this open around Easter.  Maybe sooner if I cant hold out.  Here are some pictures, oh and the frown on the side is from the Cheesecloth, I am getting the good stuff this weekend.

[wcaprar]

Wow thats beautiful! I'm relatively new to cheese making but I think I'm going to focus on washed-curd cheeses for some time, so your pictures are inspiring  ;D

[Tar]

I used 8 Litres of Whole Goat Milk ...........I was expecting a 2lb wheel, but it came out of my 8 hours in the press as a 3lb bundy of a cheese. Is this normal?

That's great, since the milk is from the shop.
I can not see the percentage of fat and protein in photo?
I would expect less  even if it was the best whole nubian milk ?
After all, it was 1.7 kg from 10 liters ....... gives us the secret, this cheese is a money maker  ;)

[pliezar (Ian)]

I honestly don't know how I got that amount, nearest I can figure is that I screwed something up and I don't think I pressed it long enough.  I know it is under 2lbs now last time a weighed it.  I did go to Happy Days Goat Dairy web site and they said they low heat pasteurize, but seriously I think this is an "One Off" freak accident.  I am going to try a Gouda again soon and I will see what happens

[pliezar (Ian)]

They say that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back....I could not wait any longer I had to open up the vacuum bag and try this cheese.

It had a firm texture and an interesting colour (I had used turmeric as a colourant and I was concerned that the paste would be streaky).  The aroma was a subtle mix of olives and sage (reminded me of the stuffing I make at Christmas).  The flavour started out mild and finished with a nice tang that made us want to try some more.  My wife, who is not fond of cheese, could not stop eating it.  It paired well with some vegtable crackers and some ham that we had with it.  It was excellent on it's own.

The rest has been resealed and back into the igloo and I will try to keep my hands off this for even longer.

[JeffHamm]

Very nice looking result.  I'm curious, what size of a mold are you using.  It looks pretty tall to me, but it's hard to get perspective from a photo.  Anyway, sounds like it was a hit.

- Jeff

[pliezar (Ian)]

Thanks Jeff,

I use the hoop that came with the Home Cheese Press I got for Christmas from my family.  It came with two hoops, a small(which I have yet to use) and the large one.  The one I use has a inner diameter of 15.2cm/6 inches and a height of 15cm/5 7/8 inches.  My only complaint is that there are no drainage holes in the sides.

Ian

[OudeKaas]

Wow, this looks good. Eager to hear how it fares with a little more aging. I had a commerical goat's-milk gouda for the first time recently and was surprised by how much I liked it. The white color, pliable textrure, and a subtle peppery quality from the goat's milk were very pleasant. I have never cared for young goat cheeses, and I guess this is just enough over the line towards aging to work for me.

Makes me wonder - I am a big fan of long-aged regular gouda . . .has anyone done a 2 or 3 year aged goat version?

[pliezar (Ian)]

I hope it ages well, I vacuum sealed it and I am planing to open it up on Easter weekend when my family comes up for a visit.  I notice that it is softening a bit in the bag, but no liquid so we will see.

I am planning to make a cow milk one with the same rind wash to see how it turns out.

[smilingcalico]

Regarding the weight of the cheese, weighing after pressing and weighing after brining will give you 2 different results.   The brining draws in salt and expels more whey, and ageing will lose a little more, hence the difference in the final weight.

[pliezar (Ian)]

I figured that was the case.  I also think I read my scale wrong in the first place.  I am dyslexic so I tend to mix numbers up.  I did try it again the other day, and it really mellowed in flavour.  I quite enjoy the slight tang at the end it is even better now.

[JeffHamm]

Hi Ian,

The butterkasse (which is also a washed curd cheese) that I made a while back was just over 1.8kg from 10 L of store bought cow's milk.  That's far more than I typically get (usually more in the 1.5 kg range pre-brine) and I think was simply due to the curd retaing more moisture than usual.  As it air dried, it continued to lose moisture (I had puddles in the bowl underneath it, which I've not had before), and it required 10 days to really be dry to the touch.  Over that time period, it lost about 400 g as well.  So, the original massiveness of this make, followed by quite a substantial loss of weight, could be real, and could just reflect an original excess fluid retention.

Anyway, looks like a success.  Well done.

- Jeff