Gouda-with a Crack

I made Gouda again. This time with un-pasteurized milk. I have much better success with un-pasteurized milk. The yield is higher and I have ended up with a smooth cheese, not a crumbly cheese.

Since Gouda has to be soaked in brine for a while, I decided to try to keep the cheese under the brine instead of flipping it all day.

I ended up cutting an old chop stick down so it would fit inside the plastic container that was holding the brine. I put the cheese inside the brine, pushed it down, and wedged the chopstick on top of the cheese.

No, the picture isn't wonky and stretched. The chopstick is pushing the sides of the plastic container into an oval shape. The chopstick did a great job. It held the Gouda under the top of the brine for 16 hours without me flipping it! 

This time when I took it out of the press it had a crack in one side. The same thing happened last time and I'm not sure what I can do to prevent the cheese from sticking to the cheese cloth. I tied a white piece of cotton cloth around the outside to hold the crack into the cheese. I did the same thing last time and the crack 'healed' by the time I put sealed the cheese in plastic.

Here's a photo of the Gouda with the cotton bandage wrapped around it. You can't see the crack because the cotton is wrapped tightly enough to hold it closed.

You can also see some masking tape on the cloth, that's because I know I will need a reminder to tell me when to put the cheese into the plastic and age it in the wine cooler.

Waiting three months is always hard.

Maybe I'll have to make some Feta again tomorrow. It's faster!