GOUDA CHEESE
Gouda is what is known as a "washed curd cheese" and step #5 (below) is the washing process. The object is to reduce the amount of lactose that is available to the meso bacteria to turn into acid. The result is a mild and smooth cheese that is truly luscious. The only shortcoming is that it does not keep forever as a hard cheddar would.
The procedure is basically that described in Cheesemaking Made Easy with a few variations that suite my style.
The following is for a 4 gallon batch. Cut everything in half for two gallons with the exception of the wash water in step #5.
1. Heat milk to 90F, add 1 cup meso starter, stir well; add 2 tsp liquid renet, stir for one min.
2. Hold at 90F for 75 minutes
3. Cut curd and rest for 10 min.
4. Raise temp slowly to 100F, taking about 30 min to get there.
5. While doing #4, heat 6 quarts of water in a separate kettle to 100F.
6. Ladle off 2 qts of whey and add 2 qts of the 100F water. Repeat two more times at 10 minute intervals. Total time at 100F should be about 60 min.
7. Pour off the whey and carefully lay kettle on it's side over the edge of the sink and let it drain for about ten minutes or untill it just drips.
8. Break curd into mold sized chunks and pack into a cheesecloth lined mold.
9. Press at about 20 lbs for 30 min, flip and repeat.
10. Remove cheese from mold, remove cheesecloth and dress cheese with bandage per instructions above.
11. Press at about 40 lbs for 3 hrs, flipping several times during the interval.
12. Because of the nature of the beast, you will end up with a log of cheese which does not look much like a classical Gouda. At this point I cut the log into two or three Gouda sized pieces and if they are rough looking, I press them between plates or cheese boards for an hour or so just to clean up the ends. No weight is needed if you stack them up as the cheese above will provide ample weight.
13. Disolve 1.25 lbs of salt in 2 quarts of water in a stainless or plastic pan and float the cheeses in this brine for 3 hrs.
14. Remove from brine and air dry at 50F for three weeks.
You can then eat them or red wax them for that Gouda look".