Is this safe to eat?

[Tiarella]

That reminds me, I asked a local cheese monger if he'd be willing to taste some of my cheeses and tell me what he thought.  I expected that he wouldn't be fazed by a tomme style with some, uit not rampant, B linens but he said he didn't like the strong flavored cheeses.  I thought you had to like them for that job.  His favorite was a Mycodore rind one that had been a rampant Mycodore colony that not even olive oil or coconutt oil or even washing with straight cider vinegar could subdue.  My favorite was my tomme with natural rind and buttery, caramel notes.  He said it was crumbly, which it is until it sits out for an hour.  he was very helpful and nice.  I appreciate he was willing to taste the cheeses and I imagine it's an awkward position to be in despite me repeating that I really wanted to know what he tasted, noticed, etc.  ....to not hold back.  He said they were a bit too salty so maybe in the future I'll have to take cheeses out of the brine in the wee hours.  I'll remember and tell ore details another day.  Time for bed.   

[linuxboy]

he didn't like the strong flavored cheeses.

Find another cheesemonger. I'm sorry, I understand about American palates and sales, and all that, but I don't trust skinny chefs, and cheesemongers must at least have an appreciation for the wide range of flavor, and should tell meritorious strong from faulty strong.

My favorite was my tomme with natural rind and buttery, caramel notes.  He said it was crumbly, which it is until it sits out for an hour.

I can understand that. Rheologically, there is a technical measurement for pliability. When we do technical tests for crumbliness, such as by the ball/smush test, we're looking for a specific friability in judging, to determine cheesemaker's ability to manage pH and balance it with milk casein buffering. But it's not absolute. There's a range for novel expression in farmstead styles, especially when dealing with more rare milk.

I guess what I'm trying to say is keeping making what you like to make.

[Tiarella]

Thanks for your perspective, LB.  I had meant to ask him where/how he learned about cheese just so I'd have a sense of his breadth and depth of knowledge but I forgot.  I very much appreciate him taking time to taste some cheeses. I was a bit surprised too that he wasn't a bit more aware of the B. linens range of flavors and a bit more into it.  it wasn't my favorite cheese either but I did like the sense of some "almost" little crystals in it.  He said he could see them.  I know I could feel them as I chewed/savored.  I liked it's bit of bite. 

I remember he commented on my slumped tomme that I had coated in cocoa/oil paste and then later coconut oil.  He said that in his mouth the curds came back apart.  I thought that was a very interesting observation.  It's true and I hadn't noticed that.  It's a moist cheese, not crumbly and I'm stumped trying to think of what other cheese has a similar texture but I know I do have a memory of a similar one.

Thanks for your comment on crumbliness.  I know that the room temp doesn't take change the pliability factor so I guess I should have said that I was amazed at the change in the texture once it warmed up.  It still is my favorite cheese because it has such amazing layers of interesting flavors.  Wish I hadn't lost track of which make it was.  I'll need winter or a better aging alternative before I can try that one again.  I think I used LBC80 in it but the aging and natural rind probably had a lot to do with it.  Or, maybe I should ask, how much of flavor is the beginning cultures, how much is the rind and affinage?  (I'm not expecting it's the same cheese-to-cheese but wonder how you see the difference.)

He also had a great idea for another version of the Mycodore tomme that was his favorite.  I'd told him that at one point I'd washed it in pure raw cider vinegar and he wondered about doing a few washes of that another time.  I had wondered about that also and I do think I'd like to try that.  It gave the cheese the most amazing aroma for quite a while and then the mycodore came back. 

Thanks for the encouragement to keep making what I like to make.  At this point no two makes are alike I'm embarassed to admit.     I am perhaps better at making cheese than taking notes.....and I'm not saying I'm great at making cheese so make your own conclusion about my notes.  Sheesh!  I regularly promise myself that I'll get better at note-taking so someday it'll happen.  Maybe when/if my list of responsibilities dwindles in length.   

[meyerandray]

So not to be a snob...(which I am) I would like to say that asking a cheesemonger who doesn't like strong flavored cheeses for comments on you cheese, well you have to just take his comments with a grain of salt.  That is NOT to say that his comments have no value, it sounds like he actually gave you some great feedback, and he could represent the average palate in your area.  I know that a lot of Americans (I make fun of Americans for their culinary ignorance, please keep in mind that I am a proud American living in Italy and defend Americans on a daily basis, but seeing as we are primarily Americans here, I can let down my guard and criticize) tend to either not appreciate a wide variety of non standardized flavors, or, if they do, they like the strognest, hardest on the palate flavors, almost as a challenge : "look how sophisticated I am, I like this super acidic 8 year aged cheese with larvae in it". 
I have never tasted your cheeses but have to say that I am pretty sure they are delicious, and your creativity and presentation are way above and beyond what I have found for sale in the US, France and Italy, so keep up the good work.
I am really glad you tasted that blue, I just now saw this post, but it isn't uncommon to see blues with pink hues for sale here, by small artisans, but no one has died so far.  You got a lot of blue in that one, I am hoping to have been so lucky.  When had you made that?  I thought it was from about the same time as mine??  Mine is from the 20th of May, I was thinking of waiting until at least the 20th of July before cutting her open, now you have gotten me impatient and curious!
 

[Boofer]

I'm glad you summoned up the courage to sample your Danger - Close blue. If you hadn't, you might always have wondered.

Glad too that you got the cheesemonger to offer an opinion. I have found that the folks I share my cheeses with (mostly family members) have a limited cheese palate, previously relegated to the common types found in the supermarket. I certainly am no great cheese expert, but I have had the good fortune to expand my cheese palate knowledge through purchases and cheesemaker mimicry over the years. Previous to this, a moldy cheese was destined for the garbage can. That mindset is where most of the previously mentioned family members are. With that in mind, my expectations for an informed opinion are, at the least, subdued. Seems like your cheesemonger may have similar attributes as my family members.

Part of my motivation for sharing cheeses is to give the recipient a different perspective on cheese and expand their cheese vocabulary: Reblochon, Esrom, Saint Paulin, Pont l'Eveque, Beaufort, etc. These cheese names don't show up in the selection in my supermarket's dairy case.

I would agree, if you still desire such an opinion, to seek out an alternative cheesemonger. I would also follow the suggestion that you make what you like. I've narrowed my focus with that strategy.

-Boofer-

[linuxboy]

He said that in his mouth the curds came back apart.

In judging, this is considered a technical fault. But that's only because we set up a somewhat arbitrary standard for what is "perfection". There's a stylistic definition. If you created something new and interesting, it might be its own style. So that's what I was trying to say, there is a kind of agreed upon standard, but the continuum of acceptability is rather big.

[Tiarella]

He said that in his mouth the curds came back apart.

In judging, this is considered a technical fault. But that's only because we set up a somewhat arbitrary standard for what is "perfection". There's a stylistic definition. If you created something new and interesting, it might be its own style. So that's what I was trying to say, there is a kind of agreed upon standard, but the continuum of acceptability is rather big.

Thanks for explaining what you meant.  I agree about the arbitrary standards and it was neat to find out about that one.  I was going to him to see how those standards applied to the cheeses I was making.  I wish you could have tasted all of them......he's not a cheese maker so his experience is lacking that context.  I do really appreciate his time and willingness.  Like Boofer, the comments of friends and family don't mean a lot although I guess I allow some weight on the comments from an elderly couple who live in NYC, travel the world, eat at the James Beard House, etc and say the cheese is amazing and as good as they buy in NYC.

Celine, my blue is from the last few days of May so it's young.  I just had to open it because it smelled so skanky on the rind and I didn't want to keep trying to do right by it if it was a lost cause.  Don't know if I should vacuum bag it or what now. It probably needs more aging....itnis based on a tome recipe after all.  Thanks for ,eating me know you've seen blues with pink tones.  I'll get over my surprise......

[Spellogue]

That was some quick blue growth. Sounds like a wonderful cheese.  How was the reddish tinged part?  Do we suspect that was some strain of B.L.?  Did you sample the rind?     I'm anxiously awaiting the only two little blues I started so far this year.  I hope they'll take off the way yours did.  Was this the "belted" cheese that floated high in the brine?

[Spellogue]

I'm still hoping to find a local, equally cheese obsessed tasting buddy here.   I have a few foodie friends, but we don't get together all that often.  I just keep trying to get my cheese in front of everyone I think might enjoy it.    I think it's great that you asked a local cheesemonger for a critique.  Perhaps you might get more opinions from other professionals too.  I'd like to do that too.

[tnbquilt]

I have a couple of friends with really good taste buds. Maybe 4 friends. I share my cheeses with several people, but I listen closely to what those few have to say about texture and flavor. I know that they are not cheese mongers, they are foodies who really enjoy various flavors. They have a good vocabulary for describing the flavors too. Some times I taste something and I can't describe the flavor but one of them will.

I had a cheddar with an after taste that I shared with them, and a few other people, and most people didn't taste the off flavor at all, the few with the good taste buds did. Most people could taste the cheddar flavor and said it was a good mild cheddar.

One said the flavor reminded him of foot odor, and another said kind of mildewy which was also my opinion. My husband, who is not good at this tasting thing, said soap. Everybody said that I was my own worse critic and was worrying too much. We tasted that piece of cheese until it was all gone and then we started tasting the Gruyere, which is really good at 3 months old. I still have 3lbs of Gruyere left for aging for a little longer.