To Gouda...with Love

[pizzaneer]

Some times you gotta change it up.  If it gets boring, why make all this effort?

Try the chili oil thing.  Even without great cheese, it makes a world of difference.  With great cheese... OMG!

[FeCheF]

Some times you gotta change it up.  If it gets boring, why make all this effort?

Try the chili oil thing.  Even without great cheese, it makes a world of difference.  With great cheese... OMG!

Lately my goto for saving a pizza when i know the cheese i bought is bland, is prosciutto. You could put fat free kraft mozz on a pie and prosciutto will make it taste good. Another things i noticed is too much cheese can drown out the flavor of a pizza aswell.

I will have to try chili oil sometime. I have to say that ive never bought chili oil. I always make it with sesame oil and dried red chilis. My wife and I dont like spicy pizza so i would never put my homemade chili oil on it. I do like spicy food just not spicy pizza.

[pizzaneer]

Never bought it either, but thanks to Craig's post about Calabrian chili oil, I've been trying different things with fresh chilis.  So far I've tried cayenne, banana, and poblano peppers, singly and in combination with each other and various other things, including garlic, wild mushrooms, MSG, sea salt, vinegar, etc.

It really is as addictive as they say.  You can make it as hot or as mild as you want.  A little sprinkle on the crust prebake is really good, and some post-bake right on the cheese keeps you wanting more.

I've GOT to get some Gouda.  The combination would be incredible.

[rcbaughn]

Im the real iron (fe) chef! and btw, with a name like goooouda it has to be good right?

Cook off! Haha, no I kid. I would never want to cook against 90% of the people who regularly participate on this forum. A spanking would be in order for me I'm sure, especially with some of the techniques and ingredients some of you guys and gals use.

[Pizza De Puta]

I live just down the road from the Oakdale Cheese Factory and they specialize in some of the best gouda cheese in the world and have performed at the top of several international cheese competitions.  They make quite a number of different gouda cheeses including smoked, mediterranean, cumin, garlic, mustard, pepper, garlic-basil, I don't know where to start!  https://oakdalecheese.com/orderform/

However, at $10 per pound, I don't know how I'd be able to incorporate any of their products into market pizza and still make a decent profit and sales volume at the same time.  But gouda definitely has the potential to make my pizza stand apart from the crowd.

[rcbaughn]

Maybe if you cut it a good bit with a good commercial mozz? Or just do a special pie that charges a bit more to make up for it. If a certain group started liking it I bet they would pay more, or at least I would. I don't know how your customers shop though and I by no means have any experience in food service, just talking out my a$$.

[Chicago Bob]

I didn't use no $10 a pound Gouda.....are you CrAzY !!   

[Pete-zza]

Maybe if you cut it a good bit with a good commercial mozz? Or just do a special pie that charges a bit more to make up for it. If a certain group started liking it I bet they would pay more, or at least I would. I don't know how your customers shop though and I by no means have any experience in food service, just talking out my a$$.

Cory,

The problem with cutting a particular cheese with mozzarella cheese is that often the mozzarella cheese dominates to the point where you can't tell that the other cheese is even there, even if you can tell that something changed in the blend that you can't put a finger on. For example, Papa Gino's, a regional pizza chain in the Northeast part of the country, advertises that it uses a three-cheese blend comprising mozzarella cheese, white cheddar cheese and Romano cheese. Presumably, this blend is intended to differentiate its pizzas from those offered by its competitors. However, when I had one of their pizzas during a visit to the Boston area, I could not tell that there was any cheddar cheese or Romano cheese in the blend. The blend was very pleasant, however, so maybe the blend does work even if eaters cannot tell what is in it. When I tried to clone the Papa Gino's cheese blend, based on the Nutrition Facts for Papa Gino's pizzas (mainly the fat profile), I concluded that the Papa Gino's cheese blend was around 90% mozzarella cheese, about 8% cheddar cheese, and about 2% Romano cheese.

In RE's case, it might be worth trying a cheese blend that dilutes the Gouda cheese, but if eaters cannot taste the Gouda cheese, then one has to question whether it is worth using it. However, if the overall cheese blend is still a big improvement, the fact that it includes Gouda cheese is still something that can be promoted to differentiate RE's pizzas from his competitors' products.

Peter

[Chicago Bob]

So it sounds like some places add other cheese's in $mall amounts just to be able to "advertise" that their's is a "blend" of cheese.....that sounds fancier, right?

[TXCraig1]

The problem with cutting a particular cheese with mozzarella cheese is that often the mozzarella cheese dominates to the point where you can't tell that the other cheese is even there

You wouldn't think mozzarella would be so strong of a flavor. I've been adding some mascarpone along with the mozzarella on certain white pies to soften the mozz flavor a little.

[pizzaneer]

First real job I ever had was in a Greek place that made an awesome pie.  They used 40% mozz, 40% white cheddar and 20% jack.  Really good taste and look.   Cooked in a deck oven using seasoned round steel pans, dough made daily for use 2 days later.  Dough rose in pans, and when nearly done the pie was pulled out of the pan and cooked directly on the deck.   I still do the same thing when I'm making Greek style.

[Pete-zza]

You wouldn't think mozzarella would be so strong of a flavor. I've been adding some mascarpone along with the mozzarella on certain white pies to soften the mozz flavor a little.

Craig,

In my case, I was trying to find the Papa Gino's clone cheese blend that best matched the PG Nutrition Facts for a basic 14" PG cheese pizza, by running several different scenarios based on Total Fat, Sat Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium, and using standard cheeses as proxies for what PG might have been using. In my work in this area, I did taste tests on both uncooked cheese blends (Reply 164 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8167.msg187392.html#msg187392) and cooked cheese blends (Reply 177 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,8167.msg188057.html#msg188057). In the same thread, there was considerable additional time spent on trying to identify the ratio of cheeses used by Papa Gino's.

In RE's case, he may find that he is able to use the Gouda cheese in a blend that is heavier on a cheese like the mozzarella cheese even though the flavor of the Gouda cheese does not come through loud and clear. However, the blend should still have a unique and pleasant flavor and be distinguishable from a taste standpoint from just the mozzarella cheese. Otherwise, there would be no point spending more money on the Gouda cheese. With some simple cheese blend tests using Gouda cheese, I would think that RE should be able to come up with something that meets his needs.

Peter

[Pizza De Puta]

Exactly Pete.  The Oakdale Cheese Factory is a popular tourist destination and a point of pride in our community.  Utilizing gouda and a menu tie-in to OCF might give us yet another edge over the chains in town. . . even though the taste might be negligible.

Today, I baked five pizzas using smoked, Mediterranean, and regular gouda.  Unfortunately, my mozz was a part-skim I was experimenting with instead of my favored Trader Joes whole milk mozz, so I had too many variables.  A couple of regular taste testers did not like the cheese blend as well.  I had been using a 60-30-10 blend of Mozz, Prov, and Sharp white cheddar.  I replaced the Cheddar with the gouda but the new blend lacked a "kick" and a "tang" described by the tasters.  New taste testers loved their pizza, however, with several asking how soon we would be opening.

I'm baking 10 pies this weekend for a couple of public events and will try a 60-20-10-10 blend M-P-G-C and go back to the top-ranked Trader Joes Mozzarella, as well.  

[rcbaughn]

What does Mediterranean gouda taste like?

[Chicago Bob]

What does Mediterranean gouda taste like?

Umm........cheese?   

[buceriasdon]

Corey, Although imported cheese is expensive here in my area of Mexico, I had a chance to purchase some Mediterranean gouda awhile back. At least with the sample I tasted, it was a Dutch gouda, of course, with bits of choppped olives, sundried tomatoes, oregano, and just a bit of garlic flavor.

[Chicago Bob]

Now that sounds good Don. I'm thinking maybe melted on a roast turkey ciabatta...

[Pizza De Puta]

What does Mediterranean gouda taste like?

It's quite a different animal than straight gouda.  It's very powerful and a little goes a long way.  Strong on garlic initially, then the sundried tomato brightens the pallet, and the finish very tangy, slightly bitter.  That's uncooked, right off the round.  Leaves one with a good case of "dragon breath".

I used 50g or about 15% mixed-in to my cheese blend for an 18" New Yorked Margherita and most, if not all of these properties were absent.

The best setting for this cheese would be one or two small pieces with a cracker and a glass of wine.  Definitely worth ordering from the Oakdale Cheese Factory . . . but I'm not sure I can find a permanent home for it on my pizzas--maybe a Greek inspired pizza . . .

[patdakat345]

The following site answers the questions about what cheese can be substituted for another.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Dictionary/G/Gouda-cheese-4827.aspx

pat

[rcbaughn]

Oh, I had no idea that the Mediterranean cheese had stuff mixed into it, I thought that it may just be made with a different strain of bacteria or something. I bet that would be great though. I sampled a cheese not too long ago that had hatch chiles mixed in and the flavor was amazing. I can only imagine sun dried tomatoes, olives and garlic. Some of my favorite things.