Author Topic: Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda  (Read 6072 times)

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Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« on: May 28, 2008, 10:21:35 PM »
Below from email from reg with picture:

Oh by the way, today I had trouble getting a clean break. It took three hrs total and I still was not 100% happy with it but continued anyway. After cooking, draining and so on it did look better. Did not use calcium cloride but that will change after today.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2008, 03:50:24 AM by Webmaster »

Cheese Head

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Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2008, 11:03:15 PM »
Well Reg your 8" cheese looks wonderful, congratulations!

Questions:
  • Is that a 2 Cdn or 2 US gallon batch?
  • How much caraway seed di you use?
  • Did you boil the caraway seeds first and when did you add them?
  • As it's a gouda I assume you soaked it in a brine bath?

reg

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Re: Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2008, 11:11:00 AM »
morning CH

Questions:

1 Is that a 2 Cdn or 2 US gallon batch?
2 How much caraway seed did you use?
3 Did you boil the caraway seeds first and when did you add them?
4 As it's a gouda I assume you soaked it in a brine bath?

Answers

1 that was two Cdn gals
2 1 heaping tablespoon (it may have been to much, we will wait and see)
3 yes boiled for 15 minutes first then drained the liquid from the seed. added the cooled liquid to the milk at the same time as the 4oz meso starter. added the seeds in the curd stage
4 yes it was soaked for three hrs turning every 45 minutes

it was a fun project. the 8" mold could easily form a 4 gal batch. after the brining it went into the cooler/cave. i now have 4 wheels of cheese in there. they should probably be separated because there are a few different kinds in there but ... next fall and winter will be a different story

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Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2008, 03:52:24 AM »
This email and picture sent in by Reg:

Well John I did my maintenance to my cheeses this morning. Brushed them, wiped them off with white vinegar then oiled them. That would be the three not the red wine washed one. They are smelling pretty good at this point. Tried waxing the gouda but this wax I was using is to brittle so went back to the olive oil. The wax is called Parowax - pure refined wax but obviously we need the special 'cheese' wax. Next time maybe.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2008, 03:59:26 AM by Webmaster »

Cheese Head

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Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2008, 03:57:57 AM »
Well reg they look great ;D, congrats, I am envious.

Quick questions please:
  • Did I name the cheeses in the picture correctly?
  • How old were the cheeses when you olive oiled them and before oiling how did you store them?
  • One coat of oil or two and will you re-oil in 1-2 weeks?
  • How long did you bath your red Alpine Cheese and was it in wine or port?
  • Why didn't you oil your wine bathed cheese?

reg

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Re: Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2008, 12:39:39 PM »
morning CH. the caraway gouda is fairly obvious as is the Alpine style with the red wine washed rind. the other two are also the Alpine style cheeses but will be finished a bit different. the thinner one will be cut at six or seven weeks (or four or five ;-) and the thicker one at about sixteen weeks if i can hold out that long.

did not oil until they were seven days old. they were stored in a 150 liter cooler on SS racks that had the vinyl drying mats on the racks. the temps in the cooler stay in the range of 55-58* with a humidity range of 80-90%. using one ice pack every 24-36hrs before replacing it with another one

in another week will take all the cheeses out and brush them down and recoat with one good coat of olive oil. the exception will be the wine washed rind. that will get a light coat of the red wine that takes about 10 minutes in a bath, flipped one time. this will all depend on how dry the surface of the cheese gets and how much mold grows on them. i did notice that the wine washed rind cheese had more mold than the others

not sure if i was suppose to oil the red wine cheese or not. to new to the game at this point. wished we could find more specific info on affinage but then i'm guessing that would be like giving trade secrets away.

i'm having an absolute ball fooling around with this cheese hobby. wished i would have started years ago

reg

Cheese Head

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Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2008, 11:40:54 AM »
Reg, thanks for answers, so 1 week later I see you have sealed three of these cheeses in vacuum bags.

But what have you been doing with your red wine bathed-washed cheese to seal it longer term for maturing phase? Recipe here (with DD's wine bathed cheese) says to just periodically brine wash, but I've found that to be high maintenance and tough to control humidity for long term.

reg

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Re: Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2008, 12:15:33 PM »
the red wine washed rind i'm going to keep just as it is through aging. every three or four days i will be brushing then bathing. having very good luck keeping the humidity levels in the 85% area in the larger cooler that i'm using. one freezer pack lasts 24 hrs and keeps the temps in the 55-58* range

these big 150 liter coolers are the answer for us little guys who like playing around with this cheese hobby. still have one more out in the garage that i will be bringing in to separate the different cheeses in. i'm hoping that the red wine has not affected the other cheese flavours. i'm concerned about this.

reg

DaggerDoggie

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Re: Reg's 8 In / 200 mm Caraway Seed Gouda
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2008, 04:20:47 PM »
The cheeses look great, reg.  Very nice work!

Sound like you have the right size cooler as well.  I've already run out of room in mine.