Author Topic: My 2nd Tomme  (Read 25255 times)

JeffHamm

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My 2nd Tomme
« on: September 23, 2012, 05:48:55 PM »
Hi,

I've decided to try a tomme again, but this time I'll let it develop a natural rind and see how that turns out.  The natural rind on my Staffordshire has such a great aroma that I thought this would be a good experiement.  Will see if the prediction holds.  The cheese is in the brine now.  Will get a photo when it comes out.

- Jeff

Tomme (Pav’s instructions) Sunday, Sept 23, 2012
11 L Silver Top Cream line
6 ice cubes buttermilk
¼ tsp 50% CaCl
1.77 ml 280 IMCU calf rennet

1)   Add ice cubes and CaCl
2)   Warm 11 litres milk 31.10C (31.1 C : 2:00)
3)   Ripen for 30 mins at 31.10C (88 F) (2:00 - 2:30 ; 31.1 C)
4)   add rennet (2:30:00 ??.? C)
5)   floc time (2:44:00 = 14m 00 sec 3x = floc time 42m 00sec = cut time 3:12:00)
6)   Cut into 1/4 inch cubes, let rest 5 mins (3:20 - 3:25)
7)   Stir and increase temp to 37.80C (100 F) over 30 mins. (3:25 – 3:45, temp reached)
8)   Hold at 37.80C (100 F)  until the curd is at the right texture. You can tell this by pressing a tablespoon of curd in your hand. It should mat together slightly and be somewhat firm. (4:45 pm)
9)   Drain in vat or warm colander. pH should be 6.35 or higher. Let curds mat and press slightly under whey. Drained and by 5:00 into mould.  Flipped at 5:15 and 5:45
10)   Put into cheesecloth lined molds. This cheese sticks, so soak the cheesecloth in pH 5.2 whey beforehand. (at 5:00)
11)   Press under own weight turning at 15 min (5:15), 30 min (5:45), and 1 hour increments (6:45). (flipped through the day; with 2.5 kg as weight)
12)   Press until pH is 5.4 or overnight. (Pressed until 5:30 am )
13)   Brine in fully saturated brine 3-4 hours per lb of cheese. (1.698kg = 9.33-12.44; 15.4 x 7.6 = 1.20 g/cm3 ; hours 5:30 am – 6:30 pm 13.0 hours;  1696g out of the brine, 15.6 x 7.5 cm = 1433 cm3 = 1.18 g/cm3 ; the extra height is probably due to the light pressing)
14)   Leave at12.8-18.30C  (55-65 F) for a day at ~70% RH for the outer rind to dry a little before moving to the cave.
•Age 3-6 months at 10-12.80C (50-55F), 85-92% RH (or higher if using special rind treatment or making a b linens variant). Natural or oil rubbed rind.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 07:20:42 AM by JeffHamm »

iratherfly

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2012, 09:19:26 PM »
13)   Brine in fully saturated brine 3-4 hours per lb of cheese. (1.698kg = 9.33-12.44; 15.4 x 7.6 = 1.20 g/cm3 ; hours 5:30 am – ?:?? pm ??.? hours;  ????g out of the brine, ??.? x ?.? cm = ???? cm3 = ?.?? g/cm3 ; the extra height is probably due to the light pressing)
1.7kg is about 3¾ pounds.  Do 13 hours, or 6½ per side of cheese (turn them in the brine after 6½ hours of the 13, that is)

Which aging regiment are you going to  take?

JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2012, 12:49:10 AM »
Hi iratherfly,

I was thinking 12.5-14 hours.  I've asked my wife to flip it before she goes out at 10:30, which is as close to the mid point as we could get.

I'm thinking I'll let this develop a natural rind, so I'll air dry it a couple days, then move it to the cave.  If I can keep it from cracking, then I'll age this one out to around 6 months.  At that point, we may reassess.  Will see what cheeses are in the fridge at the time and how it's progressing.

- Jeff

iratherfly

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2012, 07:04:25 AM »
Are you going to wash it? Or do you want crazy wild rind, a-la Tomme de Savoie?

If you want to go wild, put it in aging container. Go extremely humid (92%-96%) and watch the "horrific" poil de chat take over. It will look scary but fear not! It will be awesome and mushroomy and do miracles to your texture. Aim for 2 months minimum. 3 months optimum.

JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2012, 07:29:26 AM »
Hi iratherfly,

Thanks for the tips because I'm going to let it go wild a al Tomme de Savoie, so more or less leave it be.  My one maintenance routine is that I generally brush down the wild molds whenever I see blue showing up.  This seems to help let the other molds dominate, and once they are firmly established I can leave them to it.  Otherwise, we seem to have a fairly aggressive wild blue that sort of takes over and I want to see how the others do.  This has worked really well on my staffordshire make, so I'll try it again with this tomme.  I've got a container that will be able to be kept very humid, so I'm looking forward to this experiment.  I've posted a photo above, showing it out of the brine.  This one is a bit heavier than the first one I made, but not as tall.  I cooked the curds longer, to expell more whey, but I've also used a better quality milk this time.  The difference was very noticable in terms of the quality of the curds. 

Anyway, I'll try and keep some postings on this one as the rind develops.  I'll put warnings up so that little ones may be removed from the room before viewing.  :)

- Jeff

Tomer1

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2012, 10:05:44 AM »
Will dry salting make it more difficult to do natural rind treatments in hard cheeses?
Should the salt be devided into two saltings (like you do with blues) or is it ok to just crust the wheel? :)

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2012, 02:13:18 PM »
You can just feel the excitement in the air! My hair gets all tingly!  ^-^

This looks to be a fun one to watch, Jeff. I'm so fascinated with what natural rinds do. It is magical, or put another way...
It will be awesome and mushroomy and do miracles to your texture.

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

JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2012, 05:28:16 PM »
Hi Tomer1,

don't know about dry salting.  I've brined this one, but other methods are possible.  I know I'm getting a decent wild rind on the Staffordshire, and it was milled and salt added to the curds before pressing.  Others, such as the semi-lactics I've made, I've dry salted the cheese (but semi-lactics are quite different).  I can't think of a hard cheese make of my own where I've dry salted the cheese itself as the primary technique.  However, my guess (and that's all it is), is that molds will find their way regardless.

And yes Boofer, I'm hoping something very exciting does develop.

Thanks iratherfly for the tip that 3 months is optimum.  I was thinking more like 6 months, but 3 is better.  That should put it right about New Years.  Nice.

- Jeff

Alpkäserei

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2012, 01:40:34 AM »
I have tried dry salting and salt washing before in the hopes that it might possibly impede the growth of molds and such, as an alternative for the wine-based wash that I now use. It doesn't work. We have aggressive white and blue molds living in our 110 year old cellar where we age our cheese that doesn't even slow down for salt. I'll stick with the wine.

I've considered letting some cheese go some time, letting the molds and whatever other subterranean creatures may be lurking have their way with it. But it scares the dickens out of me. And I'm too much in love with the traditional process that I'm using that maybe I'll never be willing to so radically depart. :-\ 

So I'll be watching your efforts to see how it goes for you, and maybe I'll find the courage to do it myself :o


JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2012, 06:35:04 AM »
Hi Alpkäserei,

I've not had a lot of luck with brine and vinegar washes to keep the mold at bay, but then, I think it probably works best if you give a brine wash every couple days for the first month or so rather than after the molds have got a foot hold. 

These wild rinds are traditional for tommes.  But, so is a b.linens washed rind, or you could do a wine washed rind version.  Pav's tomme is designed to be very versitile, so you could find something that doesn't keep you up at night! :)

- Jeff

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2012, 01:36:06 PM »
Jeff, I decided to go with the milder rind for my Tomme #6 and it came out very nicely. I started it in early June so it's just about ready to be sampled. I'll be using my new toy (that my wife is giving me for Christmas ;)) to sample it.

The rind treatment for this one was a 3% brine with PLA.

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

JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2012, 05:03:52 PM »
Hi Boofer,

I checked your #6 thread (as apposed to #8 wire) and there's no photo of the rind as it now stands!  The cheese, in all it's naked glory, looks wonderful, but show us how it is dressed up in its Sunday best as apposed to its birthday suit! :)  Especially since I would love to see how this PLA treatment turns out.

I've not seen anybody selling these (we're sort of limited to flora danica, some mad millie mixes, and a the odd thermophile; can get LH and b.linens, but not much else around).

- Jeff

Tomer1

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2012, 05:18:53 PM »
Quote
I can't think of a hard cheese make of my own where I've dry salted the cheese itself as the primary technique.  However, my guess (and that's all it is), is that molds will find their way regardless.

Obviously its a different ball game with moist soft cheeses.
Im not trying to retard growth (dry salting will obviously wont work, blue mold has no problem overcoming salt)
but wondering if it will make it harder to grow wild geo and linens.

I really dont like brining, I find that I often overshoot the final pH target - espacially during summer.
I prefer to dry salt and put it in the cave to stop acidification untill salt is well diffused.

JeffHamm

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2012, 05:30:26 PM »
Hi Tomer1,

I was just thinking, by dry salting, do you mean adding salt to the milled curds?  I took it to mean just to put salt on the outside surface, like with cams, etc.

I brine some, and don't find it a problem, but then, I don't have a pH meter so I have no idea where I am on that curve.  Sometimes, ignorance is bliss! :)  Well, until things go wrong and you have no idea why.

- Jeff

iratherfly

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Re: My 2nd Tomme
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2012, 08:50:09 PM »
Will dry salting make it more difficult to do natural rind treatments in hard cheeses?
Should the salt be devided into two saltings (like you do with blues) or is it ok to just crust the wheel? :)
In my experience, this isn't an issue at all. I dry-salt all my cheeses and almost never bother with brine (only when the brine is an infusion for the cheese with something cool mixed into it). It works perfectly fine (Tomer, you have tasted my cheese so you've tasted my Tommes so you know how they turned out dry-salted).  I actually like it much better than brining. I feel that brining is a great idea if you are doing a batch with lots of wheels or you need to make identical cheeses every day and dump them all into a brine bath without thinking about it too much.  In manufacturing environment brine makes a lot of sense: Make one brine, use it repeatedly. Save a lot on salt because one brine will serve many cheeses.
...BUT, for a single cheese (or for just a few wheels), you would actually use FAR more salt than you would need in dry-salting. Think of it; if you saturate 1 gallon brine to 24% you will use roughly 2 lbs / 1kg of salt. Is that worth it for one 4lbs / 2kg cheese? Dry salting the same cheese would only require 3.5 oz /100g salt! That's 90% less!!!) And then, there is the work; you need to adjust the pH and temperature, maybe test salinity or maintain the brine for future washes, use and sanitize extra dishes/bowls/utensils, take up room in the fridge if you want to keep the brine. None of this fuss when dry-salting, right?

And the cheese? Salt absorption, osmosis, phage protection and rind formation? Totally the same.

As for your question about double salting: You only need to do this with cheese with specidic recipe for curd salting and secondary rind salting. With very wet delicate cheeses such as Chèvre or Saint Marcellin, it is a common practice to salt only the top with 50% of the salt, wait 6 hours, turn and salt the not-yet-salted side which is now the new top. No need to do this with Tommes. My 5 cents