Couple of Ingredient Ideas to Consider for a Cheese

[nccheesemike]

Hello all,

My mind has been churning thinking of unique and different ingredients to add into the making of a cheese. For example I added coffee (brewed then added cold) into 3 different cheeses this year and it turned out fabulous each time. I have 2 new ideas I'd like your thoughts on trying.

1. First idea was the addition of honey into a wheel of cheese (4lb make) I invision drizzling it into the wheel in several layers as the curds are being scooped into the mold. The honey would be away from the edges of the cheese so it would be trapped inside the wheel as it ages. After aging the honey would be revealed after the Cheese was cut. Style I was thinking of was a Gouda Cheese.

2. Second idea the inclusion of Bacon dehydrated and dried and sprinkled into the curds of a wheel of Blue Cheese. I feel the blue flavor and bacon would combine well once aged. I know you'd not wanna add meats to cheese but dehydrating the bacon and chopping into bits sounds interesting.

Now neither of these ideas might appeal to you but I'm really curious if either idea would be worth trying or would they lead to an utter failed cheesemake that would be tossed in the trash.  Appreciate any thoughts

Mike

[Lloyd]

Had some Honey Bee Goat (https://cheeselandinc.com/honey_bee.html) recently. Seemed like a good idea when we tasted in the shop, but quickly tired of it when we got it home.  Not sure why that was the case.

[5ittingduck]

Cheeses I have aged with sweet ingredients have lost their sweetness over time.
The cheese cultures metabolise the sugars.
I have tasted a commercial bacon Havarti and it was awesome. The blue might overpower the bacon I fear.

[AnnDee]

I knew a cheesemaker who made Cheddar with bacon and age it for 1 year, no mold inside. He cooked the bacon first.

[AeonSam]

Yeah, I saw a guy on instagram who made cheddar with bacon and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I was thinking of using essential oils that my sister has like cumin, lemongrass, lavendar, etc