Author Topic: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party  (Read 28508 times)

LoftyNotions

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #45 on: October 24, 2012, 01:01:39 PM »
Thanks for the video, Yoav, that's very helpfull. I think I'll have to practise still a bit before I can wrap them so quickly...

For now, I'll be happy to just get mine fully covered. :)

iratherfly

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #46 on: November 11, 2012, 07:29:02 PM »
...So, I've been away following that hurricane; have you opened the cheese yet? How is it aging?

LoftyNotions

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #47 on: November 11, 2012, 07:33:43 PM »
I haven't opened any yet. My wife took one to NY to share with our kids, and they thought it was great.  I'll probably get my first taste Tuesday night.

I have 2 more makes that I need to post. Busy roasting coffee today.

Hopefully you made it through the storm(s) without any damage.

Larry

LoftyNotions

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #48 on: November 14, 2012, 08:49:20 PM »
I opened my first one last night, day 42. Boofer's titles "Gooey & Sinful are very appropriate.

I'm probably a little bit early on this cheese, since the center is still solid, but it's a great way to compare changes over time. Like dbudge, I have 12 of them queued up (well, 10 now. :) ).

The odor wasn't nearly as strong as I expected. The only real linens color was along the edges. Flavor was very mild, buttery with just a hint of acidity.

I've never had a real Reblochon, so I don't know how close this is, but whatever it is, it's my wife's new favorite cheese. Definitely worth making!

Larry

Offline dbudge55

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #49 on: November 14, 2012, 09:05:20 PM »
Yay! Looks great! A cheese to you.
Laissez le rouleau grand fromage - Dave Budge

Offline Boofer

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #50 on: November 15, 2012, 06:57:00 AM »
Think I'll move to Montana. :D

Right on target, Larry. Maybe a little early. I opened one a little early, saw it wasn't quite there, rewrapped it, and put it back in the fridge for a while longer. It really is an amazing little cheese, huh? Not too difficult to make either, right? Especially with the roadmap that iratherfly shared with us.

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

LoftyNotions

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #51 on: November 15, 2012, 03:17:09 PM »
It really is an easy cheese to make, thanks to iratherfly. It's nice not to have to stand and stir for hours at a time. PH targets along the way are kind of a new challenge, but the timing in the recipe makes that pretty easy to stay on top of. (Or at least reasonably close.) :)

It's also nice to not have to wait 6 months to 2 years to eat it.

Larry

Tomer1

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #52 on: November 15, 2012, 06:00:44 PM »
Quote
It's nice not to have to stand and stir for hours at a time
Alright! anothe reason to make it :)

iratherfly

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #53 on: November 15, 2012, 07:30:03 PM »
A cheese for you from me too!
Your cheese looks fantastic, though I am with boofer; it seems like you can wait even longer.  The linens will intensify over time but if it's too mild for you - you can just wash it more.  Having said that, Reblochon is a mild cheese; It's on the milky side indeed and shouldn't be too acidic. It's not terribly stinky and it's also not crazy orange-red but rather a little bit of pale orange and a little bit of white (though it is acceptable to have it stronger and more orange). That's why this is a MIXED-RIND cheese; it's semi washed and semi bloomy.  You can add to your wash R2R yeas and SR1 B.Linen and get it all crazy and funky if you want.

I went through so many bad recipes and confusing/conflicting/inconsistent info on this cheese, that once I got it all cross-referenced and checked with cheesemakers and the info I got from the National Dairy School in France ...what do you know? It worked consistently well and was so easy. I realized that as long as you understand the target of this cheese by knowing its story and essence, and have the right fabrication data + a few useful tips - It's really one holly grail that anyone can make.

By the way, if you have a few of those wheels made, this is the season to make Tartiflette with them! A warm comfort winter casserole/gratin dish of potatoes, lardons, cream, optional white wine, onions and mandatory Reblochon - LOTS of it. It's easy to make and everyone always love it, from children to discerning adults. A version replacing the white wine with champagne is called "Tartiflette Royal"

LoftyNotions

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #54 on: November 15, 2012, 07:50:40 PM »
Thanks for the cheese, iratherfly.

I won't open my next one for probably 2 weeks or so. I really like the flavor as is, but will probably push the stink-limit with some kind of washed/smeared rind cheese in the near future. I'll keep the SR1 and R2R in mind. :). I sense another supply order in my near future.

I have the Tartiflette recipe you recently posted, and will be making that for a French meal we're going to in the next month or so.

I really appreciate all your help along this path.

Larry

iratherfly

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #55 on: November 15, 2012, 08:50:31 PM »
Awesome Larry!
By the way, I just made some Tartiflette the other night from one of my Reblotins. Was sooo goood! Who needs thanksgiving?

Peynirci

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #56 on: November 29, 2012, 04:04:11 AM »
Iratherfly, I've been searching for a few hours for your recipe for reblochon and can't seem to find it anywhere!  Can you help me out and share the link?  I'm still figuring out how to navigate this forum and use its search feature.

Offline dbudge55

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #57 on: November 29, 2012, 04:08:07 AM »
Ask and you shall receive. http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9928.0.html

Welcome aboard.
Laissez le rouleau grand fromage - Dave Budge

Peynirci

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #58 on: December 01, 2012, 04:59:14 PM »
Thanks dbudge.

I noticed the comments earlier in the thread about pine and spruce boards.  If you're still looking around for spruce, you may want to try searching for specialty lumber stores.  It took a few hours of searching but I eventually found one right in my own backyard in Lancaster, PA.  The lumberyard specializes in local and exotic woods, supplying cabinet makers, instrument makers, and others.  They had spruce and pine so I ordered some of both.  I decided to get the pine kiln dried but rough sawn (i.e. not planed) so that the cheese would sit up on the board a little bit, which should help reduce smothering the culture on the side of the cheese that is face-down on the board.

The spruce that I bought was green and they didn't want to kiln dry it for me because they said the sap makes a terrible mess in their kiln, so I bought the planks green and am seasoning them outside over the winter.  I plan to cut them into shelves in the Spring.

If you're in the mid-Atlantic region, here is the lumberyard I used.  My order was quite small, only about 8 planks and about $30, but they were very helpful and accommodating.  http://www.groffslumber.com/

I did a little reorganizing and here's a pic of how the cave looks with pine shelves.  I would think I shouldn't be mixing different types of cheese in here so I'm looking for another fridge on Craigslist so that I can keep my mold ripened and washed rind cheeses in separate caves.

As always, thoughts and suggestions on improvements are most welcome.

Offline Boofer

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Re: My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party
« Reply #59 on: December 01, 2012, 05:47:42 PM »
I decided to get the pine kiln dried but rough sawn (i.e. not planed) so that the cheese would sit up on the board a little bit, which should help reduce smothering the culture on the side of the cheese that is face-down on the board.
Does it seem like the rough-hewn boards would poke into a softer cheese? Looking at the shelves in the cheeseries online, it would appear that they are fairly smooth. The caution is that when washing the cheese wheels, the side that goes down on the board does not get washed. It gets washed when the wheel is flipped. Does that make sense?

I would grant that the boards should probably not be planed, sanded, and smoothed as fine as glass, but a little finishing might be better than completely rough.

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