OK, very first cheese ever! Hows it look?

[Fatman]

I started out with a recipe I thought would yeild one 6" gouda, but ended up with two eights.
My book says 1pound of cheese per gallon of milk.
I dunno but they look good
Oh I made a pepper/Garlic Gouda.

Thanks

Fatman

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

They look good Fatman.

How long you are going to age them?

[Fatman]

The small one for about 70 - 90 days, the bigger one depends on how long it takes me to eat the small one.
I think I could have used more peppers though.
I only planned on one 6" not two monsters.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

I only planned on one 6" not two monsters.

It is always good to end up with more cheese than you anticipated. 

With my 14cm diameter molds and 6cm high cheeses, 2 months was optimum. I waxed them as well as I was afraid of drying them too much.

[Fatman]

I will wax these in about 6 days.
They are sitting in the press over night for their final squeezing then a nice salty bath tomorrow morning.
I have my cave set at 50 deg F, so nice and cool humidity looks good too right around 80-85%.

[McCreamy]

Wow, I wish my first several attempts looked like that!

[Trey Magnus]

OK, you just started cheese making; intended on using a pneumatic press and making a 6" diameter cheese (but received the wrong parts to finish the pneumatic press) and just happened to have that nice wooden press and not one but two 8" diameter molds laying around to fall back on?  Wow, I wish I had that kind of equipment just laying around. LOL

Good looking cheeses by the way. 

[Fatman]

I bought the lever press, as I prefer to have a sustainable (Off grid) method.
But I am a technogeek by nature and if power is available use it.
The two 8" mold were intended for the big press, but I was glad to have them as I only have two 6" molds which would not have been enough. 

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

From the point of equipment gathering; once you start a hobby and love it, it doesn't matter how much you are spending on things that are necessary or not. It is the happiness that you get when you are making "the cheese" using that equipment.

Thank God that we are not spending all that money on gambling etc. but on a nice hobby where you can eat the end results.

Also I have seen the funniest signature text on another forum on this subject:

My biggest fear in life is that when I die my wife sells all my stuff for what I told her I paid for it!!

[Boofer]

From the point of equipment gathering; once you start a hobby and love it, it doesn't matter how much you are spending on things that are necessary or not. It is the happiness that you get when you are making "the cheese" using that equipment.

Thank God that we are not spending all that money on gambling etc. but on a nice hobby where you can eat the end results.

Also I have seen the funniest signature text on another forum on this subject:

My biggest fear in life is that when I die my wife sells all my stuff for what I told her I paid for it!!

Now there are some beautiful sentiments. Well said, Gürkan.

-Boofer-

[Fatman]

I can't help myself!
I love toys, just wait for my next cheese project if it works the way I hope it will shine on the buffet table.
I'm so happy to have found this resource it makes nerds like me able to use the foundation others learned by trial and error to take that next step.

BTW, these cheeses are now a couple days old looking great still getting a bit firmer and the smell makes me hungry instantly.
I have a lovely red wax bath waiting for them here in about four more days.

[Fatman]

I started out with a recipe I thought would yield one 6" Gouda, but ended up with two eights.
My book says 1pound of cheese per gallon of milk.
I dunno but they look good
Oh I made a pepper/Garlic Gouda.

Thanks

Fatman

Just thought I would update this. after 6mos of aging cut into the first cheese texture was good and firm a bit crumbly not exactly Gouda feeling but passable, flavor was mild but good, not enough peppers as suspected.
Melted very well, too crumbly to shread.
Slices ok but still too crumbly.
I suspect I used a bit too much pressure, I used a lever press for this and wasn't happy with the weight arrangement.
Anyway ended up eating both cheeses a bit too quick. oh well guess I need to make more next time.

[Cloversmilker]

The crumbly texture may not be due to the pressing, but instead cooking a bit high, or perhaps overstirring the curds. 

[DeejayDebi]

Great looking first cheeses! For Gouda you need to seal them as soon as posible so thye don't dry to much. That being said the crumbly texture is probably from over cooking not drying.

[anarch]

Agreed, I get crumbly cheeses when my temp gets too high. 

They look great!