Hello folks,
The gouda I made 2 months ago has a nice taste (if a bit cheddary) but seems to crumble really easily. It also does not melt very well.
I do not have a pH meter and wonder what (if anything) I could do with subsequent makes to try and have supple, melting gouda for my apple-gouda grilled cheese ;)
Here is the recipe I followed:
8L pasteurized skim milk
1L full cream
3/16 tsp. MM101
1/2 tsp. CaCl2
1/2 tsp. rennet
1/8 tsp. annatto
1. Heat milk and cream to 30C and add mesophilic culture; acidify for 30 minutes
2. Add CaCl2, annatto, rennet and let set for 40 mins (was not ready at 40 minutes so waited another 15 minutes)
3. Cut into 1/2in cubes
4. Stir gently for 25 minutes
5. Remove 3L of whey; add 3L 54C water over 15 minutes
6. Stir while maintaining at 37C for 30 minutes
7. Decant some whey and pour curds into mould for prepress under whey (4lbs, light press)
8. Remove from whey and continue pressing for 15 minutes
9. Press at 10lbs for 60 minutes
10. Press at 32lbs for 12 hours
11. Brine, dry, and then wash in saline solution to keep initial moulds down
12. Age at 15C, flipping daily, for 2 months.
The photos below show the gouda with colonies of mould, rinsed in cool water, and then cut. Note that the pressing did not go all that well as I had to improvise a follower!
It looks very acidic, and seeing the lighter colored areas around the holes makes me believe that it was all or mostly due to excess whey retention.
I think the whey retention may have come from cutting the curds too large. Very easy to do if you're using a single blade/knife - I recommend using a large whisk and erring on the side of cutting smaller than specified. Large and uneven curds will result in a mottled appearance in the finished cheese - the light colored areas around the holes are higher in moisture. I think the pressing issues exacerbated the issue.
Crumbly and non-melting are the trademarks of a too-acidic cheese.
I would also consider cutting down the amount of culture or the ripening time.
How are you assessing curd readiness for cutting? If you're looking for a "clean break", unfortunately that is a bogus benchmark and usually leads to over-renneting. Have you read about flocculation times? That's definitely the best way to go. I can explain further if needed. :)
Thank you for this very valuable information, Bantams! I indeed looked for a "clean break" and therefore probably over-renneted. I will try reducing culture slightly and perhaps the acidification time too. Could I ask you more about flocculation time? I think I read something about a floating bowl no longer spinning as a gauge of flocculation time - is that right? Also, in terms of a multiplier for a washed curd like gouda, would it be 3x?
Last thing, am I right in understanding that the too-acidic nature of the cheese stems from the excess why retention? If so, thank you for making that clear to me...I was a bit unclear about what a too-moist cheese mass would imply in the final taste/properties...
For a flocculation test, I use a sanitised plastic soda cap. Spin it occasionally. When it stops spinning, lift it up. There should be a mark left in the congealed milk. If there is no mark, then leave it another minute or so. Really the flocculation time is to an arbitrary point, but that works well for me. Then your multiplier is set based on your experience with the cheese :-) Jim Wallace's Gouda recipe, which I think you are using, (indirectly) says a flocculation time of 13 minutes and a multiplier of 3.0 (well, a bit over -- total time of 40 minutes).
Personally, I think that flocculation time is almost as important as multiplier. The curd continues to firm up after you cut it, although it is draining whey as well. But imagine you have a flocculation time of 8 minutes and a multiplier of 3 - total time 24 minutes. If you cut the curd and let it sit for another 5 minutes, you are adding quite a lot of time percentage wise. If your flocculation time is 20 minutes and your multiplier is 3 -- total time 60 minutes, that 5 minutes makes virtually no difference in the firmness of the curds. So you want to adjust your ripening time and rennet amount to hit your flocculation goals as well.
Jim's original recipe looks strange to me and I'm not sure if I'm just doing the math wrong, but he's got 10 ml of rennet for 6 gallons (23 liters) of milk. Assuming single strength rennet, that's 2000 IMCU in 23 liters which works out to 87 IMCU per liter -- literally twice what you would normally add. Your recipe is more reasonable at 500 IMCU in 8 liters or 62.5 IMCU per liter. However, that's still about half again as much rennet as you would normally add... So the excess whey retention is understandable. I don't have Caldwell's book on me right now, but it would be worth checking it.
Also, the curd washing looks insufficient to me... I had a boerenkaas recipe around somewhere and I'm sure they washed *twice*. This is not a cheese I know well, though, so I'm probably misremembering.
And finally, Bantams, I would love to hear your flocculation time method if it differs from what I wrote. This has worked well for me, but I'm keen to learn from others ;-)
Thanks Mike! Super helpful. And good catch on the rennet amount. I believe I use 0.75 ml/gallon for Gouda but I would have to double check (I use .75 for Tomme so I think it was the same).
I believe Gianaclis Caldwell's recipe calls for a 3.5x multiplier but again, worth double checking!
I use a plastic deli cup and spin it from time to time until it resists movement. There's usually a short period of a minute or so where you might be unsure of whether it has actually slowed - ok to wait 30 or 60 seconds and wait for a more obvious change.
Interestingly, if you're using a round vat with an automatic paddle, you can remove the paddle after incorporating the rennet. The milk will keep spinning. At flocculation the milk will suddenly slow and then reverse direction. Tested with a cup it will be the same point in time.
I have certain expectations of flocc time dependant on the time of year/stage of lactation (our herd is seasonal, so we have seasonal variation). It's usually 9-13 minutes, 9-10 in the spring and early summer, then increasing as the lactation progresses. I begin adding calcium chloride once flocc slows a bit in early fall.
Gianaclis Caldwell's Gouda is washed once, as in whey is removed and then all curd heating occurs through the addition of hot water. But no whey/water is removed after the initial removal.
Yes, excess whey - particularly in uneven pockets - will allow the curd to continue acidifying beyond your desired goal. Cutting the curd too late (when it's really firm) will also contribute to whey retention.
Peter Dixon has some quality recipes on his website that include flocc multipliers.
Quote from: Bantams on January 29, 2021, 05:02:45 PM
...I believe I use 0.75 ml/gallon for Gouda but I would have to double check (I use .75 for Tomme so I think it was the same).
I believe Gianaclis Caldwell's recipe calls for a 3.5x multiplier but again, worth double checking!
Just checked it for you :) Her flocc multiplier is x3.5, and her rennet 0.625ml/G.
Thanks for the tutorial in flocculation tests, Mike and Bantams. I tried it with a camembert I am making this evening and it works - down to the the imprint left on the curds;)
My only concern is how short the floc time was - 5 minutes - and I wonder whether this is a result of too much rennet or the milk itself (P/Homo 3.25%). Anyway, I should probably post that query on a different board...
And thanks, too, for clarifying the issue I had with whey-retention. I probably did a combination of cutting unevenly, not pressing sufficiently, cutting too late (because I was waiting for a clean break instead of using the floc test) for this gouda.
Wow... 5 minutes is crazy fast. What temperature were you at? Do either way too much rennet, acid or temperature (or a combination of the 3). I don't think I've made any cheese that flocculated in 5 minutes...
It was just a small batch of camembert: 2L milk, 1/16 tsp. MM101, 1/16 tsp. Swing PCA, acidified for 30 minutes and then added CaCl2 and 18 drops of 300 IMCU rennet.
I thought I needed 18 drops of rennet because I am using homogenised milk, but 5 minutes seems like a really quick time according to both you and every recipe I have seen, Mike! I know that cams are fairly forgiving in terms of rennet use, but it would be nice to standardise my rennet use for other makes (of gouda, perhaps!).
Oh wow! 18 drops of 300 IMCU rennet is way, way, way too much for 2L of milk :-)
It's nice that you know the IMCU of your rennet because you can use that to calculate the amount to use. Generally you want 40 IMCU per liter of milk. I actually aim for 46 IMCU per liter of milk because my milk isn't the greatest. That normally gets me where I want to go. The "300 IMCU" means it provides 300 IMCU per ml of rennet. There are about 20 drops of rennet in 1 ml. 18 drops is 0.9 ml, which is 270 IMCU. In 2 liters of milk, that's 135 IMCU per liter -- 3x the amount you want!!!
200 IMCU rennet is convenient because you get 10 IMCU per drop. For 300 IMCU rennet, you get 15 IMCU per drop. If we go for 45 IMCU per liter of milk, it means you need 3 drops of rennet per liter of milk you use. So the Camembert style recipe should have about 6 drops total.
Thank you for your detailed response, Mike. This will be really helpful for all my future makes! I look forward to doing the math ;)
Every time I do this kind of stuff, junior high school memories surface: "You have rennet that is 300 IMCU per ml. You want to make cheese with 8 liters of milk and your target renneting amount is 46 IMCU per liter. How much rennet should you add?"
"I'm *never* going to need to do this. Who thinks up these stupid questions?"
Quote from: mikekchar on February 03, 2021, 07:24:39 AM
Every time I do this kind of stuff, junior high school memories surface: "You have rennet that is 300 IMCU per ml. You want to make cheese with 8 liters of milk and your target renneting amount is 46 IMCU per liter. How much rennet should you add?"
"I'm *never* going to need to do this. Who thinks up these stupid questions?"
Heh,heh,heh, your teacher would be so proud of you Mikechar!! ;D
Good explanation, though...
Do you get cheeses for explanations? Yes, I reckon you do.
Cheeses for you indeed! And Bantams :)
I may as well add these questions to a thread at the top of the board.... If I have it right, acidity and melting are closely related, in that the higher the acidity, the harder a cheese is to melt.... First of all, is that correct?....
Assuming that is correct, then when you wash the curds, you are removing Lactose, which is the food source for the bacteria to grow, and produce Lactic Acid.... In general terms, does this mean that washed curd cheeses are lower in acid, and are therefore a good route to follow for a cheese that melts easily, eg. for a grilled cheese sandwich?....
To continue, what other properties would help a washed curd cheese melt easily?.... High moisture?.... "Hot" washing or "Cold" washing (or same temp)?.... High or low fat content?.... Anything else?....
Bob
Cheeses in a particular pH range melt best. Too high or too low and they won't melt, but moisture content seems to be the most important factor otherwise. Lightly aged washed-curd cheeses do tend to be fairly high moisture, so they are among the best melters.
Butterfat does contribute too, though if a cheese is high butterfat and lower moisture it may be more prone to breaking (fat separation).