Gouda

Next on my list of cheeses to try (as well as my bucket list for February) was Gouda.

Above you see the cheese fresh out of the brine.

Now what I noticed at this stage is that either the curds did not knit together properly, or that those marks are from my cheese cloth that was a little short and so I couldn't stretch it enough to make a smooth cheese.

As I am a total novice, I am not sure which it is and what the consequences of this might be, so I will soldier on.

What I am guessing is, that it could create air pockets in the cheese over time, or that it will make for a very crumbly cheese which Gouda shouldn't be :(

But, as this is supposed to be a learning procedure, I will go through the motions, and will inform you once I open it as to what happened.

I once again followed Gavin Webber's recipe for Gouda, and as my culture used Flora Danica.

Here is the Gouda before I waxed it. 

I put 1 layer of liquid wax coating on the cheese before waxing.

and here it is after my first attempt at waxing :)

I can't wait to see how this cheese turned out, and will share it with you here :)

x