Well I have taken on board the forum's recommendation of experimenting with one cheese until it works.
Made my second gouda today and things went much more according to plan.
Had invited a friend over who is also interested in trying to make some cheese. I found I learned a lot explaining the process to her.
My recipe is one that belongs I think to Jeffham, put together from other cheese recipes on this forum with my own interpretations from other readings and articles posted by John.
Thanks everyone.
10 litres standard home brand (oops for some reason only used 8 litres
09.40 Warmed to 32C added one sachet of mesophilic starter diluted in 30ml unchlorinated water.
added ½ tsp Calcium Chloride (30% solution)
stirred top to bottom 1 minute
Let stand 10 min maintaining temperature
Visitors arrived, so cultured a little longer
10.10 Temp maintained at 32.5 C added 0.9 ml Vegetarian Rennet (in water)
Aimed for a floc time of 15mins = 14.0 min use 3x, so cut in 42 mins.
10.52 Centre still very soft, give another 5 mins. Good clean break
10.57 cut curds into 1 cm cubes
10.02 Let stand for 10 minutes – temp 32.5 C . Whey is clear, good seperation
10.15 Drained ~ 1.5 litres of Whey
10.30 Added 80 C water until temp ~33.6 C (Did not need a lot)
let rest 10 minutes
10.40 Drained to level of curds,
added 55 C water to reach temp of 37 C
gently stirred with hands to keep curds separate
let rest 10 minutes
10.55 Drained more whey off, finished adding water, placed dinner plate on top of curds with 2 kg weight and rested for 30 minutes
11.30 Drained the rest of the whey
transferred curds to the mold and into the press
11.45 Started 10kg press (20 min press)
12.15 Re-dressed the cheese, flipped it, and started 20 kg press (20 min press)
12.45 Flip and redress started 20 kg press for 8-10 hours.
Hope it turns out well. The cheese appears to have a good consistency, no wrinkles and bumps around the edges this time.
Found putting the plate with weight on in the whey interesting (from John's posting of Gouda making in factory in Europe). Almost like the layering done in Caerphilly when putting into cheesecloth and mold. Drained really well.
Will take a photo when out of press.
Friend is now a convert as well.
Over all a much better day, and I'm sure a better cheese
Hi gemma,
From the sounds of your notes, all seems to have gone really well. You've put together a nice make procedure. I've not got around to pressing under whey yet, just because I've been lazy about it, so well done. I'm sure that will greatly improve the final knit. Looking forward to photos. Gouda really needs 4-6 months aging, so let this one wait around for Christmas and you'll be in for a happy holiday treat! :)
- Jeff
Thanks Jeff.
Making them for my 3 children as Christmas presents, I hope. Should be easy to leave them alone. Will just be a matter of keeping mould at bay. With the new cheese cave the mould does not appear to be as much of an issue. Keep your fingers crossed for me?
Fingers crossed. I picked up some cheep nail brushes to brush mold away, and then give a wipe with brine and vinegar.
- Jeff
Good luck with your cheeses. I use a new toothbrush, coarse salt, and vinegar, preferably raw apple cider vinegar, to clean mold off my cheeses.
I have found that I learn a lot through teaching others about cheesemaking, too.
Do you mix the salt and vinegar together first? Or sprinkle the salt on cheese, dip the toothbrush in vinegar..... Is cider vinegar better than white vinegar (I don't have access to raw).
Susan
Quote from: Susan on July 13, 2011, 10:21:58 PM
Do you mix the salt and vinegar together first? Or sprinkle the salt on cheese, dip the toothbrush in vinegar..... Is cider vinegar better than white vinegar (I don't have access to raw).
Susan
In the past with a pretty bad mold problem, I dissolved salt into the vinegar and wash with that. It seemed to work pretty well. If I have to dislodge stuff from crevices, a clean toothpick dipped in the mixture works well. The bad guys don't like that very much. :P
-Boofer-
Thanks Jeff, Boofer, Mrs KK and Susan.
Like the idea of a brush. May stick to a toothbrush, a nailbrush I am sure will get stolen here. Lol.
Boofer the combination of salt dissolved in vinegar sounds good. Have a few spots of a dark looking mold starting on my butter cheese, will try it on them first. Just salt does not appear to keep it down.
Would it be worth doing a salt rub (diluted in water) daily? or would that make the cheese too salty?
Jeff you commented on a salty rind didn't you from rubbing a cheese down?
Once again thanks for all the info. Don't think I could achieve all of this without the constant and freely given guidance.
Hi gemma,
I had a caerphilly that had a really salty rind, but then, I had salted the curds and then brined it as well. It's ok for white molds to grow, and once they do, they protect the cheese (they prevent other things from growing). The black spots are unsightly, but not dangerous. I'm sure you'll win the battle. Have fun!
- Jeff
I use coarse salt to "sand" the worst of the mold off, then use the toothbrush to brush as much of it off as possible. then I dip the toothbrush in vinegar and use it to scrub the rind. I finish up by wiping off any residue with a paper towel.
Thank you both
Invaluable advise. Have tried other forums for different things before, but this one is fantastic. I feel that someone will always read and reply.
Once again Thank You everyone
Here is my gouda. Feel like a proud mum.
8 litres of milk made 1.1kg of cheese. Pretty happy with that.
That's a very impressive looking cheese. Nicely done on the knit. That should be very tasty by Christmas.
- Jeff
Yeahhhh!! Nice work.
-Boofer-
I agree, it's "Bootiful" :)
Looking good! I've got a Gouda in the press right now. This is my second and I'm hoping to get it to six or more months before we crack it open, but we'll see.
Good work. As long as you develop a nice rind, you don't have to worry much about molds. That's what a rind is for, protecting the cheese inside.
Quote from: smilingcalico on July 17, 2011, 03:39:56 AM
That's what a rind is for, protecting the cheese inside.
...and developing the cheese inside.... :)
-Boofer-
Hey Gemma, I waxed all my goudas as the diameter is small and didn't want to loose all that nice cheese on the rind. Rind gets thicker in time unless you have a proper cheese fridge.
Thanks guys.
I have been having a think about whether to wax or oil. I am tempted to oil as I really like the look of it. Not awfully keen on wax. Have been reading about different types of oil. Trying to avoid peanut oil. Can I use a sunflower oil? Has anyone tried this?
Member Wayne has used food-grade mineral oil. I have used EVOO with success.
-Boofer-
Thanks Boofer.
I have EVOO (?extra virgin olive oil) and also food safe mineral oil that I use for my kitchen wood products. When I wax I am sealing my cheese and protecting it whilst it matures, when oiling am I looking for the same effect? Articles I found seem to indicate that oiling is only effective for short term storage. Any thoughts?
For a protective oil, try flax oil, aka linseed oil. It polymerizes naturally, and hardens when exposed to air. It'll definitely help protect the cheese.
Hey, you are talking about cleaning mould off with vinegar and salt solution. I found that when I tried that with a Havarti, the cheese took on the taste of vinegar, and we ended up tossing the whole batch. Is there something I am doing wrong? We wiped it off with paper towel and everything.
I have also found that all of my cheeses have moulded quite quickly in my small fridge "cheese cave." We think it is due the humidity being too high. So we have taken to aging until the moisture content is about right just on a shelf at room temperature, then waxing and throwing them in the fridge.
Any wisdom on these would be more than welcome.
After scrubbing the mold off with salt, I then wipe it down with vinegar. I then wipe the vinegar off. I've never noticed a vinegar taste to my cheese.
Gemma wonderfull cheese
look really pro