Created an extremely weak brine for tomme, will I have issues during aging?

[seasofcheese]

Do I need to remove the blue? what kind of flavour will it add? If it doesn't need removed, I will just do a wash with a weak brine with some geo/carpo mixed in to give them a boost.

[Matthewcraig]

Well unless you want it to have a blue flavour you do have to remove it, not removing it will add a massive "blue flavour and yes that should work

[jwalker]

Do I need to remove the blue? what kind of flavour will it add? If it doesn't need removed, I will just do a wash with a weak brine with some geo/carpo mixed in to give them a boost.

I'm no expert here , but just from personal experience , not all blue molds are good , some impart a terrible taste to cheese , so don't always assume because it's blue , that it's PR.

When I have spotty molds like that on any of my cheeses , I wash them clean , and try to get a consistent coverage of the mold I was going for , Geo , PC , PR , etc.

I've always found spotty mold growth to be dicey , I like to see a nice even coating of the desired mold(s) , of course if you plan on trimming the rind before eating , it may not be that important , I like most of my rinds edible though.

Just my experience , and the way I like my cheeses.

[elkato]

That is correct, the rind in a semi-hard cheese will only impair a certain flavour "if you eat the rind" your cheese will be fine even if you let a wild mix of molds to grow unsupervised and then just brush it once in a while, if it was a bloomy rind, or a washed rind cheese then you really need to see what is growing because the molds will reach inside.

[elkato]

looking at the photos it looks like your tome has very high moisture kind of what a reblochon looks, so in this case the molds will penetrate the inside and change the texture close to the exterior (they won't reach the inside) you might want to create a thicker dryer rind by leaving it outside of the tuper ware and washing a few times with brine

[seasofcheese]

Thank you both for the feedback and advice. It is fun trying for a tomme, but it highlights how much I have to learn. My only other aged cheese was a camembert that I tried a couple yeas ago. I didn't give it enough air and the environment was to humid so I ended up with ammonia patties.

I doubt the blue is roqueforti, it's not common here on the prairies. I have done a vinegar spot cleaning of all the blue mould spots I gently wiped off what I could, though there is some blue left in the crevices. I am hoping the vinegar will knock it back the most. I waited about 10 minutes after spot cleaning and then used a 3% brine wash with Geo/Carpo in the brine. We can certainly pull it out of the tupperware and I will try to pick up a hygrometer this weekend to see the humidity of our wine fridge. The prairies are notoriously dry in winter.

How frequently would you suggest I brine wash?

[elkato]

  Just a few times, you will notice the rind becomes a little dry and translucid (a little darker) when it has formed a protective barrier. then you can let anything grow on it to add character.
even in a small wine fridge without a hygrometer you will get the feel by observation when things are too moist you open the container, when too dry you close it, in this case you want to be much dryer a few days

[seasofcheese]

Update time. Began brine washing, and left the container cracked for a couple days after the first brine wash. Looks like the Geo15 has really taken hold. though the blue stuff cam back. I opened the lid entirely for about six hours yesterday, and some serious cracks developed in the rind on one corner. First photo.

I used vinegar to spot clean the blue mould, and then applied salted butter to the cracks to seal them(as read in some other posts) washed the whole thing with 3% brine and put it back into the container. Got a cheap analogue hygrometer so hopefully that will help me keep things consistent.

The second photo is after the brine wash.

It looks like the gremlins won't let me post pics so I will have do do separate posts.

[seasofcheese]

hope this works

[seasofcheese]

success

[seasofcheese]

There appear to be some voids/gas pockets developing beneath the rind. Nothing looks like it is expanding, but there are some areas that move to the touch. they are mostly on the side of the cheese, and do not appear to be related to the cracks.

Anyone have any thoughts on what that might be?

[elkato]

It is probably exes moisture in the inside. it could develop small flaws in the cheese where the rind becomes soft, but the rest of the cheese will be ok. for your next make you can do the things that help achieve a dryer curd (cut smaller, less coagulation time, more cooking time)