I air dried my gouda and put it in the cave. Yesterday it had blue green mold on it. I washed it with brine and put it back in there. Same thing today. I am assuming that this is too much moister in the cave. Dave’s gouda recipe said to air dry it and vacuum seal it. All of my books say to let it sit in the cave for 3 weeks and wipe it off every day.
I am assuming that tomorrow I should wash it down with a water vinegar solution, and try to lower the moisture in the cave. How do you do that, with a smaller bowl of water? I have the plastic container in the bottom of the little refrigerator half full of water, and the cheese is sitting on a wire shelf on top of it. I could move the cheese up to a higher shelf and put the waxed and sealed cheeses on the bottom.
Does anybody else leave the gouda for 3 weeks before they wax it or seal it? Or do you seal it as soon as it air dries?
I would just remove the bowl of water. if u can get a Hygrometer and see if u can scale the moisture content (hardware sores etc..). I always made sure it was very dry skin before waxing, very hard to say when since the air moisture content is different for all of us, especially if u live near a body of water
I used to have the same problem with my Gouda. That is why I went to sealing after air drying. It worked well for me. It may not be an “authentic” Gouda; but it tastes good. I don’t think you’ll be able to control the mold problem even with reducing moisture. The mold spores are in the cave and will affect any unsealed wheel that you put in there. There is sufficient moisture in your cheese to keep the mold going, so even a very low humidity will not eliminate the problem. It might be time to empty the cave and thoroughly sanitize the entire fridge. But consider this: the mold spores are also in the air outside the cave - they are everywhere. That’s why, sooner or later, most everything molds.
Reply from the neighbourhood of Gouda the city:
The farmers here are used to air dry it for about one day when the cheese comes out of the brine. After it has dried for one day (just on wooden shelfs in the same room as they where brined) they will be coated at stored on wooden shelfs again. Once a week they will be cleaned with a brine based on water instead of whey with some vinegar in it.
In my cave (I don’t use wooden shelfs to store it) I had a mold coming back on my Cabra al Vino, but since they are also coated it’s easy to clean and not really effecting the cheese.
Mold disappeared after cleaning the cave, reducing the humidity (took away the water) and checking the the humidity with a hydrometer. Bought that for a few dollars from http://www.dealextreme.com and they deliver for free all over the world. And I had to clean the plastic mats the cheese was laying on (forgot that the first time). I hope this wil help you too.
The farm where I buy my milk offers the possibility for groups for introductions on cheese making, childrens parties etc. Here some (small) pictures about coating, where you can also see the stored cheeses.
I think I need to go ahead and smoke it and get it sealed so that I don’t have this problem. I am going to look into that coating thing that Herman speaks of some more. Right now I will clean it with vinegar, smoke it and wax it.
Yeah, the pics were small. I looked up the plastic coating stuff and I think that they sell that over at the store that sells supplies for home brewing and wine making and a small amount of cheese making stuff. I think I’ve seen it there.
I’m smoking my gouda. I couldn’t make the soldering iron get hot enough to make smoke in the can, so I got a sterno can and put it down in the bottom of the Big Green Egg, and put some charcoal around it so that the charcoal would hold a metal screen up above the sterno can, and I put the can of smoke pellets on that. It seems to be working well, I just don’t want it to get hot in the grill.
If it works I have 8 lbs of smoked gouda! If doesn’t I have 8 lbs of gouda in the bottom of the Big Green Egg. And incase someone doesn’t know what a Big Green Egg is here is a link. Someone gave me one, she won it for a $1 in a raffle and didn’t want it so she gave it to me.
The smoking pellets caught on fire and flames were melting the gouda so I gave up on the smoking part. I still have 8 lbs of gouda, it had just started to melt when I got out there.
I know some people use the coal starter irons for the hibachi etc. Once the wood starts smoldering they turn it of and make sure they have an air flow.
Sorry folks, I downloaded the thumbs from their website instead of the bigger pictures.
I attached the others now.
Sorry to hear you have so much trouble with your Gouda, Tammy.
Can anyone describe the process of smoking cheese fro me?
It is possible to buy smoked cheese here, although it’s not used very much, but I’m totally unfamilair with the process…
That is an interesting smoker. I tried the one where the guy stuck a soldering iron in a tin can with the smoking pellets, and my soldering iron did not get hot enough to produce smoke. I will find a way, I have a cold and didn’t actually mess with it much after it didn’t work out right. I’m thinking liquid smoke in the milk like the commercial cheese makers do would be easier.
I used the liquid smoke in some Manchegos a year or so ago. I liked the hickory, but the mesquite wasn’t to my liking much. It does a pretty good job of flavoring.
