Hi,
Last year (Dec 30th actually) I made my first pressed cheese, which was a gouda. At that time my wife and I had just found out we were expecting our 2nd child. I decided I would keep this cheese until he was born, and he is now 3.5 months. My parents have come from Canada to visit and see their newest Grandchild, so I saved the opening until they arrived. Today, we're having a big family get together with my wife's family and my parents. I've been cooking up a storm (have marinaded steaks, done up a roast leg of lamb, and made Chinese Roast Pork with crackling). Later I'll do up some shrimp and scollaps in garlic butter, and of course, I'm supplying the cheese!
I've put together a collection of cheeses, including the Chaource (which is probably what my experimental semi-lactic PC cheese is), Dunlop (I had been saving some, so this is from a June 11th make), Lancashire, Montasio, Butterkasse, and the "baby Gouda"!
I was very worried about this one because it was the first pressed cheese I had made. And, I used quite a bit more rennet than I know do (1 ml, rather than the usual 0.6 ml; that means over 50% more than usual), so I was concerned it might be bitter. Also, I have read that vegetarian rennets like this often don't "age" well (ok, 11 months isn't really that old for a cheese, but one worries). It developed a bit of mould under the wax on one or two occasions, but I was able to remove that through key hole surgery and it's been behaving itself for awhile now. Fortunately, none of the horror stories have come to pass and this is a really tasty cheese. It is developing the flavour of an aged gouda, it has that sharpness to it. There's a sweetness as well. Basically, I think it was worth the wait. Very pleased. Will have to make another gouda for long aging.
- Jeff
Gouda Dec 30th, 2010
Indoor Temp ??0C, overcast, Barometer: ??
10 litres full cream line milk (silver top)
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Used double boiler set up (2 large stainless steel stock pots : 13 litre inside 17 litre)
Pasteurisation: 700C for 15 sec. (took from 7:35am until 9:17, even with water from the kettle to start).
Cooled to 32.20C in sick with ice packs by 10:15
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10:15 am : added 1 ice cube Flora Danica mesophilic starter (pre-melted)
: added ¼ tsp Calcium Chloride (50% solution)
: stirred top to bottom 1 minute
Let stand 15 min.
10:30 : Temp is 34.40C (going up) – moved to sink with cool water
: added 1 ml Rennet (in water)
10:33 : temp now 33.60C
11:50 : clean break obtained
: cut curds into 1 cm cubes
11:57 : let stand for 10 minutes – temp 31.40C – Whey is great colour and clear
12:07 : drained ~ 2 litres of Whey
12:26 : added 800C water until temp ~33.30C (though some hot spots up to 35 or 36)
: let rest
12:36 : drained to level of curds
: added 550C water to reach temp of 370C
: gently stirred to keep curds separate
12:45 : finished adding water, now resting for 30 minutes
1:15 : drained the rest of the whey
: transferred curds to the large steamer pot lined with 4 squares of cheese cloth
1:24 : started 7.5kg press
1:45 : re-dressed the cheese, flipped it, and started 17.5 kg press
2:20 : flipped it (didn’t redress this time) started 20 kg press
Dec 31st, 2010
7:00 am : put cheese in saturated brine solution (2 lbs salt, 4 litres water)
11:00 am : flipped cheese
5:00 pm : flipped cheese
7:00 pm : removed cheese from brine
: patted dry with paper towel
: placed in chilly bin with 2x2 litre jugs of ice (wiped it down with water and bleach earlier to remove any mould contamination from the camembert)
: temperature reading 80C
Measured cheese: approx 1.5kg, 22 cm diameter, 4 cm height, 1520 cm3 volume
Air drying daily, flipping cheese during morning and evening ice changes (6:30ish am and pm). Drying chilly bin, and wiping cheese with paper towel. Will report on mould growth (if any) if it happens.
Wax date should be around Jan 21st; Waxed it 1 week earlier, on Jan 16th (rind was quite dry, and didn’t want the cheese to dry out too much). Plan to age for 9 months or so. Feb 11th, forgot ice in day - 200C
Had to change wax due to some mold underneath (May 14, 2011; weight now 1068g)
Nov 27th, 2011: Opened it for the family get together for Gregor. Tastes really good! Was worried it might be bitter, but it is sweet, and is developing that aged gouda “bite”. Very pleased!
