I'm working on my first gouda, and while I'm waiting for it to "air dry to the touch" as Karlin's book says, I noticed the next step was to wax it. But a lot of people here seem to prefer to vac-seal instead.
What are the pros/cons of each method for gouda?
If you vacuum seal any cheese there is a risk that the remaining whey will be pulled out of the cheese. Waxing does not do this.
That said, wax is finicky and can be annoying to deal with if you don't handle it properly.
Quote from: Al Lewis on March 10, 2016, 06:55:31 PM
If you vacuum seal any cheese there is a risk that the remaining whey will be pulled out of the cheese. Waxing does not do this.
I have had some experience with this happening to a few of my hard cheeses. I have had to pull them out of the bag, let them dry, and reseal them. I am thinking that I have to re-think my drying process in the future and let them dry in a ripening box a good while before vac sealing. On most my makes thus far I didnt have a way to control humidity or achieve RH above 70% so I would counter dry my cheeses on a rack until they felt dry to the touch (which wouldn't be more than a day usually at 70f) then vac seal them. Now that I have ripening boxes, I am thinking I will let any future hard or semi-hard cheeses dry out in a box in the 55f cave for a while and let them start to develop a good rind before vac sealing in an attempt to avoid the moisture in the bag in the future.
I recently made a Dill Havarti (similar to Gouda) and still feels pliable through the bag, but no moisture has become present in the bag so far. (2 weeks in) Time will tell.
From the purely aesthetic look waxing isso much better and I've found that vacuum sealing can make the cheese pretty ugly looking sometimes, I know your supposed to just eat it not be too fussed about the appearance but I'm a bit anal about how my cheese, a Gouda should look like a Gouda not a cheddar!
Quote from: ksk2175 on March 10, 2016, 08:41:28 PM
I recently made a Dill Havarti (similar to Gouda) and still feels pliable through the bag, but no moisture has become present in the bag so far. (2 weeks in) Time will tell.
It doesn't always happen. Usually only to cheeses that have not had enough time to dry the rind properly or fresh cheeses.