Pre-Draining... Or not

[jerryg]

For crotin, Valencay, selles sur cher, etc; what are the pros and cons of pre-draining vs direct ladling of curds?
Does it affect finished flavor or texture?

[NimbinValley]

what do you mean by pre-draining jerryg?  NV.

[jerryg]

Sorry, draining curds in cheesecloth before molding as opposed to ladling directly into molds

[bbracken677]

For a camembert, the traditional method is to ladle directly into the mold....the curds are not even cut.

I would think that would be a workable method for the above cheeses seeing as how they are high moisture cheeses as well.

[Tomer1]

With traditional methods you need an exact mold shape and keep refilling it as the curds lose moisture.
With pre-draining you have more liberty but it takes practice to know when to drain so you reach that same moisure level.

[Boofer]

I offer this poor example of a decision not to predrain, and the results. If I had predrained the curd and then put it to the mould I would have ended up with a more uniform cheese. As it was, The first curds went into the mould very warm & wet. I had to wait for them to settle and drain before I could add more curds. You can see that the last half of the mould has cooled, drier curds. :o :(

FWIW....

-Boofer-

[bbracken677]

I have absolutely zero experience with semi-lactics...but I can attest that the traditional method in France with cams involves direct scooping of uncut curds into the forms. The idea is to maintain as much moisture in the cheese as possible. I believe I used a x6 floc multiplier, didn't cut the curds and I didn't pre-drain.
I can see how waiting for the curds to drain in forms while maintaining curds in vat to add to them could cause some problems.

[iratherfly]

This depends on the type of cheese and type of mould.

The Italians commonly make their goat cheeses (caprino) in a fast-draining mould that are really a lattice or mesh. This is a great way to skip the cheesecloth.

The French are split about pre-draining. They use moulds that are like containers with small weeping holes because they want patient and slow drainage. However, in the case of Crottin they often pre-drain in cheesecloth sacks. Those who don't pre-drain, age their cheese longer at lower temperature and drier conditions.  Some of these lactic cheeses such as Sainte Maure are required to NEVER be pre-drained, however these are moulded in bottomless moulds so they do drain faster.

My personal opinion is to pre-drain Crottin, Valençay, Selles Sur Cher. Not pre-drain anything in a bottomless mould or a Caprino mould. Does that help?

[jerryg]

Thanks Yoav, that's a big help. 
I'm in the middle now of making some crotins; half pre-drained, half direct ladled. So will see if any difference in the result.