Intermediate Cheesemaking: Beyond chevre

[freemotion]

hey Free!

wow did i need to ask you about MY bad gouda... so... i got to the step of letting mine dry for a couple days. i thought i was being clever and i put it in an unused oven to dry - and it TOTALLY molded! and it smells bad.. should i just dump it????

my next (and slightly larger one) is now sitting on the counter. we dont have a hot day so i'm hoping it will be ok.

thoughts about what went wrong? needed more air?

boo

are you over gouda for now?? back to cheddar?

hum....

My Gouda got soft and stinky on the outside during the drying process, too, as it was in the 90's and humid, not good cheese-drying weather. But I trimmed the outer layer off and it was a lovely, mild cheese inside. Not salty enough for my taste, I will salt it next time. The brining step was not enough. So trim you cheese until you get to the good stuff inside.

I decided to make cheddar again because I finally had a day with no distractions (sort of) and wanted to try a more complex recipe....plus, I've been dying to make it with a percentage of cow's milk, and here was a day that I had time and only three gallons and dh was driving by the dairy on his way home....so I just HAD to make a cheddar.

I'll make a Gouda again. It was yummy in the middle, if a bit mild. I am thinking it will be wonderful if it has time to finish its short aging time next time.

 

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I think mozzarella is the most difficult cheese to get right. Most everything else I've made has been FAR easier. Cheddar has a lot of steps and I set the stove timer a bazillion times, but the steps are easy. I put on the tv when doing the 40 minutes of stirring and raising the temp (cooking) and I didn't use the stove for this. I put the pot in the sink and added tap water, adding more every five minutes to get the 2 degrees per five minutes required. I occasionally would drain the sink and start over as the water cooled. It would be different if it were still 95-105 F in my kitchen, then I would be adding cool tapwater to the sink to get the temp down.

Maybe, because I'm using the "easy" New England Cheese Co. kit to do it, it's not that great? I've had a couple of yummy batches. The last two where just blah. Oh well, It will cool down for a long period of time eventually and I will feel motivated to try something new!

Sometimes if you just let it sit in the fridge for a few days it developes more flavor. Try feta...that one is the easiest, and my fall-back recipe when I have less time or brain power.

 

[Henrietta23]

That's the plan! I'm just waiting for our new schedule to settle in and paychecks to start rolling in again. This is the toughest two weeks of our year financially, more so this year because of DH's change it jobs.

 

[Henrietta23]

I killed the cheese thread!!! Let's hope my cheese making skills end there. I ordered stuff to make feta. I'm going for it!

 

[freemotion]

A cheese thread just needs aging...not to worry, it is not dead, just sitting in the brine for a few weeks! Looking forward to your thoughts on making feta!

 

[Henrietta23]

A cheese thread just needs aging...not to worry, it is not dead, just sitting in the brine for a few weeks! Looking forward to your thoughts on making feta!

Thoughts on making feta:
Don't order stuff when you're exhausted after a long hot day and forget the culture. Got everything else and realized I never ordered that!

 

[freemotion]

You don't have any mesophillic culture? Poop!

 

[Henrietta23]

You don't have any mesophillic culture? Poop!

Nope. Well, poop I've got.... but I don't think that's what you meant.

 

[freemotion]

No! Don't use poop to culture your milk!!!

 

[Henrietta23]

No! Don't use poop to culture your milk!!!

Donki's done that for me a couple of times. Daisy once too. That was interesting!!