Author Topic: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind  (Read 3037 times)

WovenMeadows

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1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« on: March 27, 2013, 01:19:02 AM »
Cut into my first Caerphilly make today. Was made on 1/13, so aged about 2.5 months. Was made according to Caldwell's "Milled Curd Cheese with Crumbly Texture and Mold-Ripened Rind"...aka Caerphilly. I didn't have detailed make notes for it, and I wasn't yet testing pH on my cheeses, so I can only presume I hit the temp, time, and texture targets more or less. It was raw milk with some MA11 culture, but no mold cultures added. Aged it in a plastic tote with a damp towel inside as well. At first I had it in my basement for a couples weeks, but the basement was quite cool, about 45 degrees, and not much was happening on the surface other than a faint white dusting and smell like you get on cut cheese in the fridge. I may have washed the rind a couple times right at first. I then moved the cheese to, of all places, my bedroom, which at the time was about 55 degrees (lol!), when growth on the rind really took off - first some orange linens type growth, quickly followed by the fuzzier browns and whites.

I haven't eaten a caerphilly before, but it seems to match the descriptions I read. A crumbly texture, except for the may 1/2inch near the rind, that softened a bit, with some of that fungal flavor that comes from some bloomies and washed rinds (geo. cand. action?). Center, crumbly portion of the cheese was quite and just faintly acidic, very mild cheddar flavor and perhaps more like a mild dry jack. Nearer to the the rind was more complex, with a bit of the fungal notes as well as a touch of gruyere-like nuttiness, ever so faint. All the tasters were quite pleased with it.

Couple questions: I presume the flavors and complexity would increase with further aging? Or are there traits of this type of make that actually make it better young?
Secondly, I wonder should it "normally" be more tangy/acidic? In which case I probably didn't get the pH as low in the vat as the recipe called for (which has been my experience with other makes since I have started monitoring pH).

CheeWilly

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2013, 02:05:34 AM »
That looks great. I am brand new to cheese making so I can't help with the questions but had to say the cheese looks very delighful.

JeffHamm

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2013, 04:21:17 AM »
A cheese to a fantastic looking wild rind.  Your tasting notes sound right on for caerphilly.

- Jeff

WovenMeadows

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2013, 11:04:42 AM »
Thanks Jeff, and CheeWilly. Now, to see if I can duplicate it, lol! My second make I got mixed up, thought it was a gouda/edam, and ended up waxing it before I realized. My third make, done just a few days ago, I inoculated with Mycodore - curious how different if at all the rind will be.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2013, 12:14:39 PM »
Wow, a cheese to you for creating such a beautiful rind!!  I want my Tomme and Caerphilly makes to have rinds like that but so far I haven't the perseverance to air them out each day and some B linens seems to jump into the mix.  I would love to hear details about your Mycodore experience....mine have created thick felty white rinds that wrinkle.  The smell of early Mycodore rinds is heavily to me.....first asparagus and then mushroom.  Do keep us posted please. :D

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2013, 11:22:36 AM »
WovenMeadows, I do hope you'll share your Mycodore experience with us.  Also wanted to mention that with this make you could consider adding some LBC80 or MD88 as an adjunct culture that doesn't add a lot of acidifying action but helps create a more mature flavor on a young cheese.  At least, this is what I've been told.  I don't have enough volume of milk to make side-by-side batches with and without to test.   :). If you do a comparison of culture impacts I hope you'll share. 

WovenMeadows

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2013, 01:20:53 AM »
At the moment I only have a tomme and now another caerphilly inoculated with the Mycodore - very young, and nothing is really going on on the rind yet. Do you know if Mycodore rinds should be washed at all (say, at first), or just brushed?

Offline Tiarella

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Re: 1st Caerphilly, w/ mold rind
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2013, 02:41:20 AM »
At the moment I only have a tomme and now another caerphilly inoculated with the Mycodore - very young, and nothing is really going on on the rind yet. Do you know if Mycodore rinds should be washed at all (say, at first), or just brushed?


I am just guessing about most of this.  Mine got very thick and felty and I started brushing it.  It didn't keep it down for long so finally I washed it with a whiskey and salt solution.  that turned it dark leathery brown.  it's stayed that way since.   :D  Not sure what to think.  I don't even remember how long I had planned on aging that one.  I posted photos of it in a thread I started asking folks for their comments on about 5 different rinds.  Oh, just found the thread.  Here it is:  http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10923.0.html

Do tell me if you notice interesting smells on your mycodore rinds. 

Blessings, Kathrin
« Last Edit: April 30, 2013, 02:17:48 AM by Tiarella »