Continuing my new production schedule of a cheese every time I get some free time, I started making a horseradish cheddar. After reading other threads on the topic, I bought a bit of horseradish root, grated and dried a bit. Nobody seemed to indicate how much to use, though. This stuff was pretty mild - I hardly felt anything grating it unprotected. Therefore, I figured somewhere around a half cup of horseradish in a 2 gallon make was a good starting point. I used the Wiki stirred curd recipe, 2 gallons of my favorite P/H milk cultured with 3/16 tsp of MA11 and 1/16 tsp of MD88.
Almost done stirring the drained curds and ready to mold.
Gratuitous make picture including my fat hand
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/616171_3074629564411_1019645278_o.jpg)
Where's the pic?
Anxious to read how this works out. If I used fresh-grated, I would probably just use the juice.
I'm focused on trying the wasabi powder I got recently to make a small Cheddar. Had a bit of commercial horseradish Cheddar this morning.
-Boofer-
Hmm. I swear I added the link. fixed it.
Here's another picture heading for the final pressing. I guess I should have used a finer grater. I've read that the pickled/prepared stuff doesn't work. I got no juice when I grated this. It may have been sitting in the store too long.
(https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/10487_3077611438956_1103551666_n.jpg)
Still no picture...
I'm not very familiar with horseradish. I had a friend who once mentioned something about the strength of the horseradish being a function of the amount of time it remained exposed to air (or something along those lines). As best as I can recall, he said when making prepared horseradish, if you put it in vinegar right after grating it, it is relatively weak. If you wait some period of time, however, it is stronger. If that's true, I hope yours didn't sit out in the air too long before getting into the cheese (and I hope getting into the cheese helps stablize the intensity...). I'm interested in hearing how it all turns out.
Mike, my horseradish gratings sat out for around four days, then I refrigerated them in a small container until ready to use. It may be "interesting." Good thing I am heat tolerant. I poured the last of the curd onto the mould, there seems to have been a lot of horseradish in the whey, because one end of the cheese has a LOT of visible horseradish, the balance is fairly evenly mixed in. Next time I will give the dried horseradish a spin in my coffee grinder before adding the cheese.
OK, let's try it this way, attaching pictures to the post. First the curd and the horseradish before mixing, second the cheese ready for the final press.
Bob--your picture are there this time (all of them, in fact...), and they look good. Like I asked before, please let us know how it turns out. I haven't yet started adding things to my cheeses. Again, I'd like to get more comfortable with the basics before I start trying new things. I always think it's neat when I see other people doing it.
As long as you have sanitation down so you won't kill anyone, just go for it, Mike. The worst that can happen is you learn what won't make a cheese you like. Cheese making has so many variables it can be overwhelming to logical thinkers. I've just chosen to override that part of me and give it a go. Happy cheese making. 8)
Mike, I too was squeamish about adding things to my cheeses. So many things could go wrong and then all my hard work and money would be wasted. I finally took a leap of faith:
- Leiden with cumin seeds (February 2012) (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9107.0.html)
- Esrom with Herbes de Provence (March 2012) (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9293.0.html)
- Gouda (?) with caraway seeds (June 2012) (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9806.0.html)
- Creamy cheese with dried blueberries (August 2012). What style? I don't know...non-blue Fourme d'Ambert? (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10028.0.html)
The caraway cheese has been vacuum-sealed, but needs some aging before I can say whether it is repeatable. The blueberry is still in development...maybe 3 weeks before I know its recipe and process is successful. The Leiden and Esrom are definite pluses. The key point that seems to go with any of these cheeses with something added is to go
light...
minimal..."less is more".
I agree with Bob:
sanitation...make sure whatever you're adding is boiled or otherwise clear of any foreign entities.
-Boofer-
Well, I don't get to make another cheese for about 3 weeks :(, but maybe over that time, I can talk myself into adding something to the next one. Perhaps I'll do a search and see what people most frequently like mixed in with their Gouda. I've got a number of interesting spices from my foray into Indian foods...speaking of which, I should make some more of that while I wait to make some more cheese...
I just went through my spices. I was thinking of using black cardamom. The pod of the black cardamom has a real smokey aroma/flavor, and the lining for the seeds is savoury. However, when I actually pulled one open and ate the seeds I was reminded that the seed itself has a very strong menthol-like (think cough drop...) cardamom flavor. Smokey menthol Gouda doesn't appeal to me. Perhaps I'll just copy the cumin.
Menthol anything doesn't appeal to me. Good luck with your next make. I will be making cambozola on Tuesday...