Author Topic: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue  (Read 4410 times)

caithd

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Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« on: February 05, 2013, 09:53:09 PM »
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice!

My husband and I run a small sheep dairy and have been experimenting with cheeses for about 2 years. We currently have used the W34 French molds to make a raw sheep's milk Tomme. This year we would like to add a blue cheese to our line up and are looking at investing in some more molds. We haven't had the best luck washing cheese cloths well enough (since we are selling the cheeses) or with getting a smooth rind with the disposable so are looking at the Kadova molds.

What would be the best molds for use making a Tomme and the best for a Blue? Is there a mold that would suit both cheeses?

Also, what are the best proportions (height vs. diameter) for both a Tomme & Blue cheese?

We will be milking 35 sheep this year so will likely need 12-16 of each type of mold.

Tomer1

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2013, 12:40:50 AM »
I think you should try the plyban fabric, it works great and very easy to clean and sanitize beween makes.

Regarding blue cheese, it really depends on what type of blue are you trying to make\recreat.  Stiltons use bottomless cylindrical tall molds while gorganzola\rouqfort are more round and can be made with any plain mould which is tall enough so you dont get a flat disc after draining, even a basket mould if you dont mind the imprint in rindless blues.

caithd

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2013, 09:33:05 PM »
Thanks Tomer for the suggestion of Plyban...yes, we used it almost exclusively last summer. We found when making our Tomme with the W34 molds that we got too many wrinkles in the cloth and not a smooth surface as we used to with the cloth. Have you found this before? How do you sanitize the Plyban? We have never used it more than once.

As for the molds, I am thinking the St. Paulin Kadova mold (200mmx112mm) will be great for our Tomme and hopefully a Blue cheese too. Not sure what type of Blue we'll try yet, since we haven't experimented with any Blues before. We do have lots of baskets around that we've used when making Feta.


linuxboy

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2013, 09:55:07 PM »
Do you cut the plyban to size, either in three pieces (top, bottom rounds, liner sheet on side) or make a bag out of it by fusing together? That tends to work well

Tomer1

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2013, 10:04:51 PM »
Quote
How do you sanitize the Plyban?

Bleach solution. 
Im not sure what type of plastic its made of.  if it nylon it will not hold up to boiling water temp. 

caithd

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2013, 11:44:22 PM »
Quote
Do you cut the plyban to size, either in three pieces (top, bottom rounds, liner sheet on side)

Yes, that's exactly what we've done. Cut a circle for the top and bottom and a rectangle for around the height of the curd. Always seem to get wrinkles which, with our natural rind, seem to collect more mold in those spots than others.

Quote
Bleach solution.

We used a diluted solution of 35% hydrogen peroxide. We're an organic farm so haven't used bleach before. Will have to look into that.

Thanks for the input!

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2013, 12:49:50 PM »
I haven't used the plyban much because it seems stiff, unwieldy and made more wrinkles than I like.  I never tried cutting pieces of it though.  I do notice that my synthetic cheesecloth bags are a much softer material and would probably work better.  I think I'll stick to cloth though for the majority of my molding although now I'm a bit curious about using cut pieces of the plyban.  How do you keep the pieces from moving around while you get the curds into a mold?  And how do you work it with a cheese that needs flipping several times?

caithd

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2013, 02:50:40 PM »
Hi Tiarella, yes, the plyban is stiffer at first. Apparently it does soften up after a few uses although we've only ever used it once per sheet. Our cheese kitchen doesn't have a stove (we head our milk in a 60 gallon vat by running water through the double jacket) so we haven't found a good way to wash natural cheese cloth yet.

Quote
How do you keep the pieces from moving around while you get the curds into a mold?  And how do you work it with a cheese that needs flipping several times?

Thats been our problem - trying to keep it in place while adding curds. Once you're ready to flip the curds tend to be knit together enough that you flip and rewrap as usual, but we always seem to have wrinkles too. You have to be careful too that little pieces of the plastic plyban don't come off (it seems to "fray" if your cuts aren't perfectly smooth).

Any other suggestions out there to best use the plyban? Or best ways to clean natural cheese cloth?

Offline Boofer

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2013, 02:53:46 PM »
Quote
How do you sanitize the Plyban?

Im not sure what type of plastic its made of.  if it nylon it will not hold up to boiling water temp.
The plastic cheesecloth (Plyban?) I use works well with boiling water. Not a problem at all.

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caithd

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2013, 03:13:01 PM »
Thanks, Boofer! I had no idea you could boil plyban - just assumed you couldn't since it was plastic. Maybe we'll have to consider getting a hot plate for our cheese kitchen so we can boil the cloths.

Still wondering about the Kadova molds to do away with the need for cheese cloths completely.

Anyone with experience with them? Are they worth the investment? We likely need 16 molds. I'm thinking the 7.9"x4.5" St. Paulin mold would work for both a Tomme and possibly a Blue cheese. If we find a Blue recipe that needs a taller mold we can always buy some of the cheaper French molds down the road.

Thoughts?

Offline Boofer

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Re: Kadova Molds for Tomme & Blue
« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2013, 10:26:18 PM »
Anyone with experience with them? Are they worth the investment?
I have only used the small Kadova moulds, but they cut out the need and hassle of using cheesecloth, muslin, or Plyban. Nice. :)

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