Gouda One

[Frodage]

I made my first cheese in 1992. It was a disaster, because I did not follow a recipe. I didn't pursue cheese making as a hobby until, in 1997, I bought Ricki Carroll's cheese starter kit. I made some nice gouda until 2002, when circumstances and life took over.

On 15 Nov 2014, I started up again with my Gouda One. Here are the make and results. Please remember, that this was before I received the advice from Anonymous. Cost of ingredients: $13.

Skim milk (store bought, pasteurized, 4L).
Cream (35%, store bought, pasteurized, 1L).
Warm to 32C.
Add CaCl2 (1/2 tsp in 2 tbsp dechlorinated water).
Rehydrate Ricki's C101 culture, wait one minute, then stir in.
Ripen for 10 minutes.
Add lipase (1/8 tsp in 125mL dechlorinated water).
Add rennet (1/2 tablet, crushed under 250mL dechlorinated water).
Stir one minute.
Coagulate for 30 minutes.
Cut curds to 1 inch.
Cut curds to 1/2 inch.
Stir.
Remove 250mL whey.
Add 250mL warm water (80C) to final temp of 33C.
Stir gently for 10 minutes.
Drain whey to level of curds.
Add 250mL warm water (80C) to final temp of 35C.
Settle in the pot for 30 minutes.
Pour curds into a warm cloth-lined colander under the whey.
Transfer curds to mold (11.5cm diameter x 13cm height) under whey.
Place mold into press.
Press with 900g for 15 minutes.
Redress, flip and press with 1.8kg weight for 4 hours.
Remove cheese cloth and keep in mold overnight without weight.
Next day, cheese had oozed out below the mold. Paper towel under the cheese was fully soaked.
Wrapped the cheese in cloth, flipped it and pressed with 1.8kg for 1 hour.
Redress, flip and press with 1.8kg weight for 1 hour (five times).
Left to air dry (21C room temperature) resulting in final height of 7cm.
Next day, soaked in brine for 3 hours at 4C.
Dried at 7C and 0% humidity for five days.
Waxed and labelled on 22 Nov 2014.

Photos show the wheel from the side, from above, the first slice, the wax peels away easily, slices thinly but crumbles.

My perceptions: cuts thinly, some grain, soft paste, delicate aroma. Taste is very light, reminiscent of a crumbly fresh cheese (caerphilly?). Ever so slight hint of bitterness. Not unpleasant, but not what I was aiming for.

I can't wait to taste it over the coming weeks. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

[Danbo]

Hi Frodage,

Let me give you the very first cheese for this! :-)

Looks nice.

:-) Danbo

[Frodage]

Thanks Danbo. 

[Stinky]

I think that this cheese might be much better if you waited a few weeks, the usual minimum target time for a gouda is 2 weeks. A lot of people on here with little experience cut theirs even earlier, and complain how it wasn't good enough. Try rewaxing part of that and leaving it for a month and seeing what happens.

[Frodage]

Hi Stinky,

That's a great suggestion. Yesterday, I left it on the counter overnight, covered in cling film. In the morning, the inside of the wrap was covered in moisture, even to the point of pooling on the wax layer! Furthermore, in the toaster oven, the cheese didn't melt, but it did bubble. All this (together with the amount of pressing I had to do) suggests that I didn't remove enough water from the curds during the cooking.

I'm going to let it dry out on the counter for a few more days, then wax it up and store for another month. Stay tuned...

[awakephd]

Frodage,

The texture of your Gouda matches the texture of the one I just opened at around 6 months of age. It was an early effort on my part, and since then I have learned two important things: 1) A crumbly texture often indicates that the pH got too low (too much acid), and 2) the pH of a Gouda will continue to drop until it bottoms out or is put in the brine.

I'm pretty sure I left my Gouda in the press overnight, and it got to acidic; next time I plan to move it to the brine much sooner. Now, too, I have a pH meter, so I can hopefully keep an eye on the pH as it progresses!

Andy

[Frodage]

Oh, wow! That's a great reason to get a pH meter! Thanks awake.