I am working on my first Tomme (first hard[ish] cheese for that matter) and have mad a bonehead mistake.
Make was textbook, 13 minute floc, 40 minute set. Curd cutting was a little messy, but during stiring I was able to cut the larger curds so that all was fairly uniform. Whey expulsion was good, curds matted readily, but were easily broken up. pressed by hand under whey to load the mould, then 12 hours under 4kg weight.
Stupidity struck during the brine making.
I had been mixing saline solution early in the week(long story), and made a 20% saline instead of 20% brine meaning 80g salt in 4L water instead of 800g. I soaked my 2.2kg tomme in this for about 6 hours, realized my mistake, fixed my brine, and then restarted my soak leaving the cheese for 15 more hours in the corrected solution. My cheese came out with a relatively firm rind that is well knit, not slimy.
After 12 hours drying, it is rather patchy but otherwise seems fine, texture is uniform with no soft spots. Brining and drying temperature have been higher than ideal, closer to 19C RH is between 60-70%(uncontrolled).
Do I need to take any precautions or extra step with this cheese to compensate for my earlier stupidity or just keep drying it?
Thanks,
D