Author Topic: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish  (Read 4735 times)

Clean break

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Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« on: February 18, 2013, 10:03:11 PM »
OK a total salvage is under way.
I was going to make cambozola this morning then I realized I only had thermophilic starter on hand after I started heating the milk and cream so I switched to a gruyere recipe using the milk / cream mixture I already had warming.  What I am hoping for is a few tips on how to best proceed after pressing.  I don't know what effect all the fat from the cream has on the aging process and I would like to save this batch but also see if I can get it turn into something interesting (and edible).

1/2 gallon cream top past. milk
1/2 gallon cream
1/8 t thermophilic mad millie
1/4 t calcium chloride
1/4 t liquid vege rennet

cut 1/4" at 24 minutes after 7 min, floc.
stirred gently and raised temp. to 126 over 1 hour
continued to stir for 15 minutes
drained and pressed under whey 8 lbs. for 1 hour (turning 3 times)

That is where I am at now and I just upped the weight to 35 lbs.

The cheese is very very soft and this is my concern.  I am able to easily remove it from the 5" mold, undress it, flip and redress but it is very soft and spongy with good knitting.

Should I continue with pressing and brining as per the gruyere recipe?
How long should I air dry
How long should I leave it in the cave

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and next time I will make a physical inventory before I start making cheese.
Scott

« Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 07:46:24 PM by Clean break »

bbracken677

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2013, 11:05:48 PM »
That is a lot of cream...where did you get that recipe?

I am unsure as to how you should proceed, except to say that if you have a good tight knit then you should proceed to brine next after pressing according to schedule (any idea what your pH is?)

Air dry until the surface is dryish to the touch...here in Dallas that is usually accomplished in 24-48 hours, but our humidity tends to be pretty low.

What were your plans regarding aging temp and RH?


Clean break

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2013, 04:16:44 AM »
thanks bb,
Artisan Cheese making at home by Mary Karlin has a Cambozola recipe calling for that much heavy cream but once I got into the process I realized I only had thermo. and no mesophilic so I ad libbed from there referencing a gruyere recipe in the same book.

Good knit,I will leave it in the press over night and put it in a near saturated brine tomorrow. 

We are a little cooler up here in S. Oregon but we heat with wood so the house is kind of dry and the coolest spot I feel comfortable leaving the cheese open to the air is about 65 degrees and 50% RH. The recipe says dry at room temp. 8 hours or until dry to touch.

I only started making cheese two weeks ago so I have not researched or worked out the optimum drying conditions for my cheese so the coolest room in the house is where it is for now.  My aging cave is pretty nice for starting, a large dorm fridge with external temp control, temp. and humidity sensor with remote display.

Unless I hear from someone with a better idea I think I will brine tomorrow, dry until dry to the touch then age it as if it were a moist gruyere, which I guess just means a short aging time. 

No ph meter but one is in the near future, that is a rabbit hole I have only peered into slightly on this forum but the Extech 100 or 110 seems like totally sufficient for me.  A little more research on that as well.

This cheese making thing is sort of addicting.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 04:31:06 AM by Clean break »

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2013, 12:47:27 PM »
I don't worry about finding a cool room for cheese drying.  All summer it was in the 70-80 range and did fine, even cheeses that took days to dry.  I've had to be more careful in winter with how dry our house air is (we heat with wood too) because with some cheese the outside dries too fast before enoufpgh whey has drained....that's with unpressed cheeses like Brie and Valencay styles where one ladles the curds into molds for draining.

WovenMeadows

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2013, 05:17:59 PM »
My thought with using the thermo culture instead of the meso, is that because of the lower-than-optimal temp for the thermo to work, not enough acid may have been produced in the vat or in the hoop. Perhaps you should leave it in a warmer (e.g. room temp) room for longer than normal, to let the cultures continue to work on the remaining lactose in the curd? Otherwise you might perhaps find the cheese souring, but not in a good way, or producing alcohol from yeasty activity?

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2013, 05:36:24 PM »
My thought with using the thermo culture instead of the meso, is that because of the lower-than-optimal temp for the thermo to work, not enough acid may have been produced in the vat or in the hoop. Perhaps you should leave it in a warmer (e.g. room temp) room for longer than normal, to let the cultures continue to work on the remaining lactose in the curd?

??? 126F is more than enough for Thermos. They only take a few hours to "kick" and do their thing.

Clean break

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2013, 05:47:40 PM »
It was in the press for a total of 18 hours at room temperature (12 hours at 55 lbs.) and it came out pretty firm.  Now it is in a near sat. solution at 55 degrees.  I guess I will leave it in there 8 hours then air dry to touch and continue with ripening as per gruyere recipe. 

Would leaving it in the brine for longer do any good since it seems to have a lot of moisture in it?  Will the salt pull out some of the moisture?
yahoo, off to work to make some money to buy more milk, ph meter, large tomme mold, cultures,.....
Scott


Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2013, 07:29:18 PM »
You pressed and brined a cambozola and you used thermophyllic culture?  That's not how you make a cambozola.  Read this and you'll see where you went wrong.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 07:35:37 PM by Al Lewis »
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Clean break

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2013, 07:44:34 PM »
I bailed on the cambozola when I realized I only had thermophilic culture but the milk and cream were already warming up.  I switched to a gruyere recipe but still used the milk / cream mixture I had started.  Sorry, in reading the first post I wasn't totally clear about that. I just modified that first post to make it a little clearer.
Thanks Al

bbracken677

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2013, 11:48:32 PM »
Should be an interesting cheese!  Cant wait to see and hear about the result! 

Clean break

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2013, 06:55:05 PM »
It turned into a little bit of heaven O0

3 weeks or so in the cave, I dry salted it a few times near the end for some reason.  It has a little flavor but the salt and all that fat make it delicious. 

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2013, 02:44:27 PM »
It turned into a little bit of heaven O0

3 weeks or so in the cave, I dry salted it a few times near the end for some reason.  It has a little flavor but the salt and all that fat make it delicious.
Hooray!! :D

A cheese to you for pulling out a success.

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Clean break

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Re: Help salvaging cambozola turned gruyere-ish-ish
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2013, 02:56:05 PM »
Thanks Boof, This was actually my first cheese EVER from the cave!