Author Topic: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese  (Read 11344 times)

Spellogue

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #30 on: July 24, 2013, 05:19:58 PM »
How thick should I shoot for on the gooeyness under the rind?  The gooey part is my favorite but the creamy chevre in the middle is a close second.

In my Valencay I look for a rather firm translucent layer under the rind rather than a gooeyness.  The ash helps me to achieve this. I keep them cooler (43-43F) with a bit lower RH by venting the ripening box.  Once brought to room temp the proteolyzed layer will be less firm than the rest if the pâté, but not at all fluid like a Camembert or Brie. Usually, in this style, the chèvre ball in the middle will retain a slight chalkiness.

I'm still tweaking the recipe, but I usually do my Pouligny Ste Pierres with a more fluid layer than Valencay.  The Pouligny has no ash.  Both of those cheeses are lactic coagulations.  If I recall your recipe you used a rennet concentrated coagulation in this make.  I don't know if that will have any impact on the gooeyness factor, but I'm curious to know.  So far I've only used ash on lactic coagulated goat cheeses.  I'm watching your cam post too.  I plan to try ash on a rennet coagulated bloomie soon, time permitting.

As for ammonia, personally I can hardly tolerate much more than a hint when eating most cheeses.  Heavy ammonia mid-ripening can be a sign that yoir cheese needs more air circulation. Using microcaves i run into that. Venting for circulation is a balancing act with maintaining RH. You're likely OK at this point, perhaps just a bit more air circulation will keep it in check. So long as it hasn't run rampant, airing the cheese before serving will allow the remaining ammonia to dissipate.  In all but the worst cases I find ammonia to reside mostly in the rind. the rind can be removed before consuming, as a last resort of course.

Your progress on so far on this make looks stellar to me.

Smurfmacaw

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese - The Tasting
« Reply #31 on: August 03, 2013, 01:19:53 AM »
I think it's about ripe enough.  Very slight ammonia smell that dissipated after setting it out  for a while to warm up to room temp.

Smell is mushroomy and something else I can't quite describe but really nice.  Familial units agree it smells yummy and being female they have very discerning smellers!

When I cut it there is a nice layer of ooey gooey goodness all around the center firmer cheese.  Just the right amount of gooeyness.  Center has a nice lactic goat cheese flavor without being to tangy.  Over all nice and mild.  There is a definite mushroominess from the gooey part....very nice, I like it a lot. The margin is gooey without being liquid.  Slowly oozes.  Center is very smooth and creamy in texture and again not too sour.  Nice saltiness overall surprisingly.  I was worried a little bit at the small amount of salt but it turned out just right.

Not one to usually pat myself on the back but this one is a home run. Pav (aka linuxboy) at WaCheese deserves the credit, it's his recipe.  You absolutely can't go wrong with this one.  It's definitely going to be a standard.  The family loves it, I love it and it's a fun make....how can you go wrong. 

Here's a few pics.....

Smurfmacaw

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #32 on: August 03, 2013, 01:29:52 AM »
Just wanted to add, this is my personal favorite of the cheeses I've made so far.

linuxboy

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #33 on: August 03, 2013, 03:51:57 AM »
You nailed it based on the pics. It's about standards in cheesemaking. Like when you learn to cook, you start with eggs and knife skills. Same thing, with cheesemaking, you start with a semi-lactic or a tomme because it forces one to learn good skills and standards.

Nice one. Cheese to you.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #34 on: August 03, 2013, 11:08:09 AM »
That DOES look like a great make so another cheese to you.  There's a thread somewhere on this forum with photos of a bunch of different things done to cheeses like this.  Don't remember how to find it but some were washed with different liquids for very cool effects and additions to flavor.  There's also leaf adornment that works well on these.  (I vacuum pack and freeze the leaves in a flat stack and when thawed they are limp and adhere to the wet, just ashed cheeses)

How many days were these in your cave?  What temp was it at?  I've got a batch going now but I've got my cave at a lower temp in an attempt to slow the PC on a Star Anise Humboldt Fog style cheese that's also in there.   :D

Smurfmacaw

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #35 on: August 03, 2013, 05:28:45 PM »
Katherin,

they had sort of a varied life in the cave.  First two weeks were at 54 degrees.  Next week at 40 degrees in the kitchen fridge.  Then I cooled a cave down to 48 degrees and the spent their final week in there.  All the time they were in boxes to keep the humidity up.  I took them out daily for an exchange of air and to pat down the mold.

I'm going to keep one cave a little cooler (48F) from now on to facilitate these types of cheese since I like them so much.  This one was really good.  Next time I'm going to make with raw goats milk to see if it makes much of a difference.

A cheese this good that is ready on only four weeks is awesome.

Spellogue

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #36 on: August 04, 2013, 02:46:37 AM »
That is a beautiful cheese.  I'm very interested to hear your observances in comparing raw and pasteurized versions.

Smurfmacaw

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Re: First Ever Bloomy Rind Cheese
« Reply #37 on: September 13, 2013, 06:09:51 AM »
Will be trying the raw goat version tomorrow.....