Very experimental caramel gouda inspired make. In collusion with u/Aristaeus578, not quite what I was hoping for this time. But promising.
The idea he had is to enhance the caramel flavor in a washed curd gouda style make. He made one with a 50% reduction that was promising. I don’t think we are quite there yet, but it’s interesting. I took a gallon of store bought cream top milk and lightly acidified it, coagulated it, stirred the curds for about 15 minutes and then drained the whey. I took the sweet whey and slowly reduced it. I was looking for a Maillard reaction and a darker caramel color but ran out of moisture before getting there. I was being conservative with the heat and reduced it at about 175F. (Reduction took about seven hours, not the most fun I ever had)
I refrigerated the reduction that was grainy and crystalized over night. The next morning I heated the reduction in the sous vide water while my milk heated. I whisked it into a couple of cups of warm milk until dissolved and smooth. I then added that to the vat just prior to the culture. Then ran the gouda recipe.
I was conservative with the starter culture and removed about 35% of the whey for washing the curds. The reduction added lactose and I am trying to avoid over acidification. I also brined it a bit early as well to slow metabolism on the back end. The cooked milk/ light caramel flavor was definitely in the curds. I’m curious to see how it translates into the final cheese. Could be good, could be a crumbly mess. The milk coagulated fine, no weird curd behavior. There were some fine very soft particles in the bottom of the pot after hooping. But nothing odd noticeable at pressing. I’ll age it three months and we’ll see what happens. Next time I’ll shoot for more of a darker caramel Maillard reduction. I was worried about bitter scorched or burnt flavors.