Swelling Pressed Cheese - During Pressing > Chest Freezer For Aging

[Gustav]

Hi there!

I made a gouda wheel with some CHN-22 culture fron CHR_Hansen some time ago. I noticed that when I removed the cheese from the press
to turn it over, it has become bigger & won't fit in properly. I had to cut some of it off in order for it to fit again.I noticedwhen I've cut a chunk off, that the cheese seems to have a crap load of tiny holes in it. Alot like that from an Aero Chocolate.It doesn't seem to have any piece that is solid. It seens like the culture is creating alot of gas inside. Any suggestions? I will post a pic tomorrow when it's a bit lighter.

[Gustav]

This is what it looks like. It looks like a sponge, but has a solid structure to it & smeels just fine.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Were you baking bread the same day or used a tsp that is used to measure bread yeast?

[Cheese Head]

Looks pretty and I like Aero chocolate!

As Gurkan says, does it also smell yeasty like bread when rising or homemade beer when foaming? Some ideas here.

[Gustav]

Not at all. No bread or yeast or stuff like that. It doesn't have a yeasty or odd smell at all.

Actually, it smells like gouda should smell. The smell & taste has no problem, but it's just
odd that it foamed up. As I said, it's got a lot of small holes, but still has a firm texture.

This is a pic of the offcut. The original cheese is about 6kg & is waxed & ripening in the fridge.

I baught some other culture today. This culture is said to release minimum amounts of gas as I guess the one I used releases alot of gas. This is a multi product culture & I used it to make Maas/Amasi as well. If it's in the fermentation room & has a lid on, the containes sweels up to bursting point from all the gas & the product has a fizzy taste. But when in the fermentation room with no lid on, it comes out wonderful with a lovely taste.


I will post the pic of the 6kg cheese a bit later on today. After it was brined, it stopped rising & seems fine now. I'm curious to see what the end result will be & post it ok.

[Gustav]

I wonder if it was my cheesecloth. I read on another article here that it should be washed seperately. Mine was washed together with the washing in the machine. Could this be it?

[smilingcalico]

Cheesecloth could be a culprit, but if it's an odd culture that shouldn't be in there, I'd expect an odor of some kind.  Look at cleanliness during all parts of the make.  Also, how much culture did you add to how many gallons of milk? Just wondering if maybe you're getting an excessive action from the culture.  I need to read up on cultures, but some put off varying amounts of gas. Just a thought.

[Gustav]

I used exactly the right amount that the spec sheet said.

[morfeo]

To keep my cheesecloth clean what I usually do is, as soon I finish pressing the cheese I washed by hand without soup or anything else, and them I boil it for 5 minutes and when is dry I just keep it on the fridge in a zip-bag. And when I going to use it again I boil it before pressing. 

[Gustav]

Sounds higenic. Nice

[Cheese Head]

Small FYI, I just wash my cheese cloths in standard family clothes washing machine with other clothes and have never had your problem.

Gievn your problem appears thoroughly across the cheese during pressing phase I would think it points to something in the curds rather than something transposed from the cloth that I assume you are using in the mold.

[Gustav]

I am going to make another gouda wheel this weekend. But with a different culture.I Suspect that the culture I used gives off too much gas.
If I make amasi with the same culture as I used for the shotgun cheese & keep the lid on during fermentation, the container swells up until it seems like it's going to burst.

The new culture apparently gives off more aroma & alot less gas. I used it to make amasi today & it was the thickest, best looking/tasting amasi I ever came across. Gonna use it this weekend.

I will post the results.

[dthelmers]

Gustav, which culture did you get for the new cheese and the amasi you did today?
Dave in CT

[iratherfly]

I wonder if it was my cheesecloth. I read on another article here that it should be washed seperately. Mine was washed together with the washing in the machine. Could this be it?

Absolutely! It needs to be clean clean clean. Never put in a laundry machine. There are trace amounts of very harsh laundry detergent which also include that bubbly hydrogen peroxide, + traces of lint and contaminants from other clothes ...underwear, kitchen towels etc.  Instead, wash it right after cheesemaking in hot water. Use some light natural detergent as needed and wash all of it off as much as you can. Then, before the next cheesemaking put it in boiling water for 5-10 minutes.  Alternatively, use reusable cloth.

Another cause could be the milk.  Where do you get it?  This could be related to feed of legumes or fermented stuff like silage. The gas buildup from their stomach continues to happen in your cheese.

[smilingcalico]

Iratherfly, I understand your concern with harsh detergents,  but hydrogen peroxide is not an issue.  It is highly volatile, quickly breaking down to water and oxygen.  It wouldn't leave a trace.  Mmm, underwear contamination!!