Author Topic: Shitake Brie batch #3  (Read 5564 times)

Offline Tiarella

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Shitake Brie batch #3
« on: February 24, 2013, 04:05:26 AM »
Made a third batch of shitake Brie cheese a while ago.  The two cheeses have been in the regular fridge, wrapped of course, for the past few weeks.  They were made according to the directions I posted (with numerous photos) in another thread.  (although this is not that same batch) 

This batch somehow took on some B. linens.  Can you tell there's a lot of B. linens in the area??   :-\  Seems like almost every cheese invites the B. linens to visit.  I've been concerned about these two Brie cheeses but the one I opened tastes good.  It doesn't taste as magically wonderful as the first shitake Brie I made, partly because of the B. linens.  The PC covering wasn't as robust as usual and it was happier under the bark than up against the paper it was wrapped in.  Oh, and check out how the bark created impressions in the PC on the sidewalls of the cheese.   :o  Very cool!

A mystery is that I could not see any sign of the mid-level layer of ground shitake mushrooms on this cheese.  We looked and looked.  I could see where the top and bottom cheeses met in the middle but couldn't see any shitake.  The paste was quite creamy soft except for just in the very middle.  I sent half of this cheese with our neighbor who had joined us for a  dinner of goat spare ribs, potatoes steamed and sauteed in olive oil with garlic, broiled Brussel sprouts.  This all followed a wine and cheese course naturally! 

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2013, 05:23:10 AM »
I like the look the BL has given it. Very Rustic.
Don't Brie normally have a larger form factor and less height?
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2013, 12:10:21 PM »
Hi Schnecken!  It does look rustic.  That's a good way to describe it.  I like how creamy the inside got without it being too liquid. 

Yes, it's a bit high but only a half inch higher than some Brie I've made before.  Because it's made from two Brie "wafers" stuck together with a layer of Shitake mushroom between them it's hard to gauge how full to fill the forms that make the two halves.....hard to know how much height will drain away since there is no pre-drain.  These are fairly wide cheeses but yes, taller than optimal.   :). My first version tasted like  earthy mild Brie with Shitake.  This one has a bit of tang and the interesting flavor from the B. linens.  Wish you could try it and tell me what you think but I guess that's a more advanced level of technology than the forum can offer so far.  :)

Offline Boofer

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2013, 03:47:34 PM »
Simply amazing. Your treatment/development of this cheese looks superb. True, the inner core looks a little unripened, but the rind and the bark usage are remarkable. Excellent.

-Boofer-
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Offline Tiarella

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2013, 05:21:28 PM »
Simply amazing. Your treatment/development of this cheese looks superb. True, the inner core looks a little unripened, but the rind and the bark usage are remarkable. Excellent.

-Boofer-

Hi Boofer!  Thank you.  The core is actually riper than it looks.  It is creamy (goopy) all excepting the tiniest bit in the middle.  I had trouble finding some un-goopy pieces for our neighbor to compare with the goopy bits.  I like it but would like less B. linens.  The flavor is good but I can't taste the shitake the way I'd like to.    Are you gathering up steam towards a bark cheese of your own?  This one worked out well despite more neglect than your cheeses ever experience.  I think you'd be very good at this!   :D  Did you see my washed curd #3 on that board?  That's the one I opened the night you opened your most recent treasure.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2013, 03:02:00 PM »
I hadn't seen your washed rind #3 until now. I posted to it.

I'm attempting to slack off a little on my cheesemaking efforts. I have a number of cheeses that are coming due for a cutting so that has me distracted. I'm also recently more tasked at my job so I am a little more focused there as well.

But I have several candidate cheeses in the queue for rich, sweet Spring or Summer milk. We have been getting a bit of rain in the Pacific Northwest and the grass is waking up from its little "Winter" nap. There are quotes around that previous seasonal reference because we have had zero real cold weather this year.

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OudeKaas

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2013, 11:43:36 PM »
This looks absolutely fabulous, and I would echo the above comments on the look and "rusticity". I know from my own recent experience how easy it can be to have uninvited B.L. elbowing its way into batches, and not always in a good way! Sorry to hear these did not match your prior version in the taste you were looking for - funny how sometimes you nail something and then it can be hard to repeat that orignal experience.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2013, 12:01:09 AM »
This looks absolutely fabulous, and I would echo the above comments on the look and "rusticity". I know from my own recent experience how easy it can be to have uninvited B.L. elbowing its way into batches, and not always in a good way! Sorry to hear these did not match your prior version in the taste you were looking for - funny how sometimes you nail something and then it can be hard to repeat that orignal experience.

You are SO right about nailing it and failing it.  I seem to be having troubles getting the correct amount of salt on these cheeses and then there is that B linens thang going on.  I opened the second one of this batch just last Saturday and man oh man had it turned into some incredibly stinky Shitake mushroom something cheese!  It was too stinky for me but loved by the stinky cheese lover population of our dinner "party" (don't know if it really classifies as a party if it's folks talking about livestock stuff after a day of trimming and shearing.  "Party" is probably reserved for people with better table conversation than us). I think it was a really good cheese for those who like that stuff.  Wish I'd taken photos.  The line of Shitake showed up nicely on it.  I have of it still in my fridge and I'm afraid to look at it now.  Maybe that's why the kitchen stinks when we open the fridge these days.
 ;D

High Altitude

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2013, 04:16:01 PM »
All this Brie talk (and Boofer's camemberts I read about this morning) have me getting excited to start my first such make!  I still don't have the right ingredients or molds, but that is soon forthcoming.  And lucky for me, I'm the only one in the house that likes those "soft goopy" cheeses  ;D!

Where did you get your bark Tiarella (beautiful name)?  What is it exactly?

Thanks for the inspiration....your Shitake Brie looks just fantastic!

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2013, 05:11:39 PM »
Hi High Altitude,

I use birch bark that I peel off of living trees.  (not harming them)  I have a few threads about shitake Brie cheeses on the board......

Here's my first make:
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10578.msg80104.html#msg80104

Here's my tutorial with so many photos to take that I forgot to salt it and ruined the batch.....sigh:
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10706.msg81364.html#msg81364

And a short thread when I was worried about some flecks of wild blue mold showing up.
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10449.msg78414.html#msg78414

And my forum name is the latin name (first part anyway) of a small woodland flower that grows here and is a favorite of mine.  I grow several varieties and it grows wild in the forest surrounding us also.

High Altitude

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2013, 12:45:20 AM »
Thanks T...will check those out :-).

Offline Boofer

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2013, 09:51:28 PM »
All this Brie talk (and Boofer's camemberts I read about this morning) have me getting excited to start my first such make!  I still don't have the right ingredients or molds, but that is soon forthcoming.  And lucky for me, I'm the only one in the house that likes those "soft goopy" cheeses  ;D!
Nope, sorry, never done a Camembert. :(

Perhaps you're referring to a Taleggio, Reblochon, or Pont l'Eveque?   Maybe "Gooey & Sinful"?

-Boofer-
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Offline Tiarella

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2013, 10:54:00 PM »
All this Brie talk (and Boofer's camemberts I read about this morning) have me getting excited to start my first such make!  I still don't have the right ingredients or molds, but that is soon forthcoming.  And lucky for me, I'm the only one in the house that likes those "soft goopy" cheeses  ;D!
Nope, sorry, never done a Camembert. :(

Perhaps you're referring to a Taleggio, Reblochon, or Pont l'Eveque?   Maybe "Gooey & Sinful"?

-Boofer-


Boofer, just accept that once you become a legend all kinds of amazing feats will be attributed to you, even those you didn't do!!   ;D. And maybe even cheeses that smell like amazing feet will be attributed to you.
 ;D

High Altitude

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Re: Shitake Brie batch #3
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2013, 12:57:29 AM »
We just assume you've done it all, Boofer  :P.  Hmmm, wonder who's thread it was that I was reading.....