arkansascontrols
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- Jan 23, 2016
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Greetings cheesemakers!
I'm here to report sad news. My first experience with Cheesemaking was Farmhouse Cheddar, and from all indications it's going to be a success. It's going to be waxed in another day or three and then age as long as I stand the anticipation. So today I decided to try a Gouda to start curing about the same time. I really messed up!
First off, I read too much and there are MANY conflicting recipes for making Gouda leaving me with the impression that it was just pretty easy and forgiving and in my haste to get started I neglected to dose the milk with Calcium Chloride. I added my culture (from the same batch that I used in the FH Cheddar) and rennet and after 90 minutes it was not set. No clean break, and in fact it was really just thick milk about the consistency of yogurt I'd say. So thinking I could 'FIX' it, I added the calcium chloride and a little more rennet and stirred it up real good. WOW!
Within a few minutes I had about 3" of whey on the top and the stuff in the bottom was not improving. So I bottled up the whey in hopes of salvaging something from the mess, maybe make some Whey Ricotta or something.
Now I'm not too bummed about it because as an experienced DIY'er I know that every experience is a positive experience in learning and I will certainly not forget the CC again.
Here are my questions though (if you're still reading after my verbose windup):
What can be done with the mass of soft curd like that should it happen in the future? Is there some alternative I can resort to so I can at least get something from it?
If I store the Whey in the fridge (in sterile containers of course) can I use the next day or day after for some whey cheese product? What is the refrigerated 'shelf-life' of whey?
And finally, should such a thing occur again, what do you recommend when a curd won't set well enough for a clean break?
Any ideas, general thoughts or semi-coherent ramblings would be appreciated.
Eric
I'm here to report sad news. My first experience with Cheesemaking was Farmhouse Cheddar, and from all indications it's going to be a success. It's going to be waxed in another day or three and then age as long as I stand the anticipation. So today I decided to try a Gouda to start curing about the same time. I really messed up!
First off, I read too much and there are MANY conflicting recipes for making Gouda leaving me with the impression that it was just pretty easy and forgiving and in my haste to get started I neglected to dose the milk with Calcium Chloride. I added my culture (from the same batch that I used in the FH Cheddar) and rennet and after 90 minutes it was not set. No clean break, and in fact it was really just thick milk about the consistency of yogurt I'd say. So thinking I could 'FIX' it, I added the calcium chloride and a little more rennet and stirred it up real good. WOW!
Within a few minutes I had about 3" of whey on the top and the stuff in the bottom was not improving. So I bottled up the whey in hopes of salvaging something from the mess, maybe make some Whey Ricotta or something.
Now I'm not too bummed about it because as an experienced DIY'er I know that every experience is a positive experience in learning and I will certainly not forget the CC again.
Here are my questions though (if you're still reading after my verbose windup):
What can be done with the mass of soft curd like that should it happen in the future? Is there some alternative I can resort to so I can at least get something from it?
If I store the Whey in the fridge (in sterile containers of course) can I use the next day or day after for some whey cheese product? What is the refrigerated 'shelf-life' of whey?
And finally, should such a thing occur again, what do you recommend when a curd won't set well enough for a clean break?
Any ideas, general thoughts or semi-coherent ramblings would be appreciated.
Eric
