Author Topic: Boofer's Fancy  (Read 18343 times)

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #30 on: December 01, 2012, 06:30:21 PM »
Curious result so far.  They are a mystery inside.  The externals of the most horrible looking thing, that one would think requires a mask and full bio-contamination suit, can result in a delicacy of subtle flavours, while others, with rinds that appear to promise perfection on occasion offer up curiosities of blandness.  But even these plane Janes can turn into the belle of the ball once they've reached maturity.  I suspect this one will come right in the end. 

- Jeff

Offline H-K-J

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Southern Oregon
  • Posts: 1,776
  • Cheeses: 145
  • Act as if it were impossible to fail.
    • Cookin with uh dash dogs hair
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #31 on: December 02, 2012, 05:02:04 AM »
I think it looks exciting :D MMmmmMmmmM
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

bbracken677

  • Guest
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #32 on: December 02, 2012, 01:57:30 PM »
Curious result so far.  They are a mystery inside.  The externals of the most horrible looking thing, that one would think requires a mask and full bio-contamination suit, can result in a delicacy of subtle flavours, while others, with rinds that appear to promise perfection on occasion offer up curiosities of blandness.  But even these plane Janes can turn into the belle of the ball once they've reached maturity.  I suspect this one will come right in the end. 

- Jeff

There is a touch of poetry there....well said!

Offline botanist

  • Mature Cheese
  • ****
  • Location: Davis, CA
  • Posts: 125
  • Cheeses: 11
  • Default personal text
    • CalOakGoats
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #33 on: December 12, 2012, 09:23:01 AM »
I still want to wash a cheese with Fig liqueur and pomegranate liqueur
Ooooh, pomegranate liqueur? That sounds delicious! Don't know if I've ever seen it. Guess I've been sheltered.  :'(  I'll have to look for it.

-Boofer-


The pomegranate liqueur is Pama and it is fantastic
http://www.pamaliqueur.com/home/index.php

My best 'soak' so far has been in eau de vie de poire from Clear Creek Distillery in Portland
http://www.clearcreekdistillery.com/products/eaux-de-vie/pear-brandy/
I used a Gouda.  Next time I'd like to try their Douglas fir but both are rather pricey for the purpose.

BTW, some time back you got some spruce boards for your Reblochon and there was the question as to what type of spruce.  épicéa was the word used--which means 'fir' in French (genus Abies), or 'spruce' (genus Picea), but -- here is the cool thing --what is the native spruce species?  Picea abies (Norway spruce).  Have a look at David Lebovitz' excursion into the Jura and Comté making  http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/12/comte-cheese-making-french-fromage-jura/

In 1 photo you will see a barn and what looks like spruce trees behind. 
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #34 on: December 12, 2012, 02:49:45 PM »
Thank you for those links. I am fascinated with how something is made. That Comte thread fills the bill. Wonderful.

The spruce I ended up acquiring was sitka spruce. I'm not sure how it fits into the knowledge provided in the pdf.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Offline botanist

  • Mature Cheese
  • ****
  • Location: Davis, CA
  • Posts: 125
  • Cheeses: 11
  • Default personal text
    • CalOakGoats
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #35 on: December 12, 2012, 07:25:35 PM »
The pdf was simply to verify that the spruce native to the Jura, thus used for the 'real McCoy' Comté, is the Picea abies 'Norway' spruce.  The rules for the 'real McCoy', as stated in the David Liebovitz webpage, require the use of the local spruce.

I am sure that sitka will be just fine.  It is the resins in the wood that are special, and I suspect that they are pretty similar (if not identical) in different spruces.
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #36 on: December 15, 2012, 01:15:32 AM »
When I looked at this cheese this morning I decided that there was something definitely out of balance. The formerly dry rind on the flat surfaces had been moist and smeary for the past weeks and didn't seem like it was going to improve.

I had triered it earlier but the paste was moist and crumbly. Today when I started to cut it, the flat surfaces were like paste. The liqueur washing treatment had created a hospitable environment for what seemed to be a yeast colony. The depth went into the paste about a half inch (~1.25cm). I tasted a few crumbs that fell from the knife. The paste was slightly bitter. Not entirely pleasant overall.

At first I contemplated just tossing the cheese, but then I decided to go ahead and cut it and vacuum seal it. I'm not sure that this cheese is correctable/recoverable with additional time. :(

Looks like I'd better refocus on basics.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Offline Al Lewis

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Port Orchard Washington
  • Posts: 3,285
  • Cheeses: 179
    • Lou's Food & Drink
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #37 on: December 15, 2012, 01:37:06 AM »
One would assume, wrongly perhaps, that a distilled alcohol environment would negate the possibility of anything growing on it.  I could understand with a wine or other fermented alcohol but I would think that distilled alcohol would tend to sterilize the surface.  You did use a distilled liquor, right?
Making the World a Safer Place, One Cheese at a Time! My Food Blog and Videos

Offline botanist

  • Mature Cheese
  • ****
  • Location: Davis, CA
  • Posts: 125
  • Cheeses: 11
  • Default personal text
    • CalOakGoats
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #38 on: December 15, 2012, 06:13:14 AM »
I'm wondering if the yeast habitat could be more a function of the high sugar in the liqueur, and that the yeast growth wouldn't be inhibited at that low alcohol concentration?
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #39 on: December 15, 2012, 04:07:11 PM »
Hmmm, interesting, though unfortunate, outcome.  But, this is what experimentation is about.  I'm wondering if keeping a piece in a less humid (80%) box, and not vac sealed, might be worth trying?  It looks very moist, and I'm wondering if drying it  out might improve it?  Hard to say, as it sounds like the yeast has already resulted in a bitterness that may not go away, but I've got the gut feeling that it's time for breakfast that keeping it moist might not do it.  Still, a cheese to help reduce the sorrow but also to commend you on your willingness to explore new ideas. 

- Jeff

Offline Al Lewis

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Port Orchard Washington
  • Posts: 3,285
  • Cheeses: 179
    • Lou's Food & Drink
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #40 on: December 15, 2012, 04:37:40 PM »
Getting worried about the Colby I made with Merlot know.  Hope when I open it for Christmas it retained it's flavors and composition.  I waxed it 3 days after I made it so I'm hoping I stopped any chance of outside molds effecting it.
Making the World a Safer Place, One Cheese at a Time! My Food Blog and Videos

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #41 on: December 16, 2012, 12:40:28 AM »
I'm wondering if keeping a piece in a less humid (80%) box, and not vac sealed, might be worth trying?  It looks very moist, and I'm wondering if drying it  out might improve it?
Thanks, Jeff.

I kept the lid cracked to hold down the humidity, but that didn't resolve it. The sides were dry. Actually, early on it was dry all over with the PLA, but something changed.

Eh, too bad. :P  Moving on....

Mellow Yellow Garlic Gouda is in the whey-brine as we speak...Number 26 for 2012 and my final cheese for this year. Onward and upward.

Getting worried about the Colby I made with Merlot know.  Hope when I open it for Christmas it retained it's flavors and composition.  I waxed it 3 days after I made it so I'm hoping I stopped any chance of outside molds effecting it.
I wouldn't think that wine soak would be a problem. Mine worked out fine.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Offline Tiarella

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Chester, MA, US
  • Posts: 1,748
  • Cheeses: 81
  • Default personal text
    • Farm Blog
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #42 on: December 16, 2012, 05:17:40 AM »
Boofer, did you keep washing it with the liquor?  Alp has done a lot of talking about the traditional rind technique but that is just some white wine, salt and water....but he does describe the schmeir  (smear) of the paste that forms that keeps the cheese wet.  He keeps clarifying this process and I wonder whether we need yet one more piece of info about how/when one stops the wet paste-y phase of the rind formation and switches to a dry rind that is now impervious to molds.  I wonder if it's possible to do that with a cheese such as yours that had the stronger, sweeter stuff rubbed on it.

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #43 on: December 16, 2012, 08:34:21 PM »
Boofer, did you keep washing it with the liquor?
I stopped washing with the liqueur (not to be confused with hard liquor) several weeks ago. This was a different kind of cheese. I have done cheeses with schmiers before and they were quite nice (Esrom, Tilsit), but they didn't include alcohol in the wash.

With this cheese attempt, I used straight fruit liqueur with a 16%ABV and no salt. Perhaps if I had used some salt in the mix, the result would have been different. My question might be how do the other cheese makers create a cheese washed in liqueur or liquor such as Epoisses with marc de Bourgogne, or Timanoix with walnut brandy.

a dry rind that is now impervious to molds.
When developed, the rinds of the cheeses I mentioned are quite impervious to alien incursions. Such is the case with virtually any cheese to which you may introduce your own protective cultures (PLA, SR3, GEO, PC, etc.). At least, that has been my meager experience. YMMV.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Offline Tiarella

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Chester, MA, US
  • Posts: 1,748
  • Cheeses: 81
  • Default personal text
    • Farm Blog
Re: Boofer's Fancy
« Reply #44 on: January 21, 2013, 12:37:36 AM »
Boofer,  when you say YMMV at the end of your post I am left hanging.   :(  I am apparently not enough a part of popular culture to understand what that means so it makes me think you are talking while your mouth is very full of cheese.  I do think it actually  means something but I'll need you to enlighten me about what.  Oh, and about rinds with additions being impervious.  Not so much in my experiment with doing a Valencay style with just Geo and spraying the PC on afterwards in an attempt to keep the PC from running too rampant.  I mean, I like the idea of white wall-to-wall shag carpeting except in real life or on cheese.   ;D