Author Topic: A Brie of Sorts  (Read 7536 times)

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #15 on: April 14, 2014, 07:14:28 PM »
Hi,

If you get a bush, you might need two (a male and female plant).  Everyone here says you need two to get fruit, but it's hard to tell because they are in most yards here.

- Jeff

Matthewcraig

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #16 on: April 14, 2014, 07:28:39 PM »
before i get a bush i am going to look into it a bit more, i will update you if the small venture goes any further.

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #17 on: April 14, 2014, 11:43:06 PM »
They can get quite large too.  The ones outside my place are 2 stories high, though they can be kept more manageable with pruning. 

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #18 on: April 20, 2014, 06:37:28 AM »
Spotted white mould starting on the upper face when I flipped it this evening.  The cheese is holding it's shape well, but still has a nice soft feel to it that is the texture I hope for when I'm making these.  As long as the mould develops properly, and it doesn't get contaminated, this should be a decent cheese.  If it's not too thick, and ripens all the way through, it could be a superb one.  If ... well, you can see what can happen if I let myself if over this cheese too long.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #19 on: April 22, 2014, 07:20:58 AM »
Grrrrr!  It seems I'm also getting a lot of wild blue mould growing too!  There's a lot of wild blue mould here and so I tend to get a lot.  Normally not a big deal, but on cams and bries it is a pain.  I was hoping the PC would come on fast enough to prevent the blue from getting a foothold, but to no avail.  I've brushed it back, but of course that takes the new PC growth too.  Hopefully the PC will come in faster. 

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #20 on: May 06, 2014, 05:40:27 PM »
Well, this got wrapped before I could determine if the PC was going to out compete the blue mould (we were going on a family holiday, so wrapped and in the regular fridge for the last dash).  It's coming up on 30 days, so I decided to have a peak today to see how the mould battle progressed.  Turns out, the willd blue has definitely competed well with the PC and the two faces are basically blue and PC; a nice even sheet of both, though the sides are more PC than blue.  Still, the cheese has a good feel to it, and it doesn't appear to have developed any slipskin issues.  I'm hoping the paste will be good, though I'm expecting the rind to be disposable.  Still, it was wrapped back up and will cut into it this weekend.  Fingers crossed it's ok.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #21 on: May 07, 2014, 06:03:33 AM »
Here's the blue contaminated brie.  It weighs in at 808g and measures 16.5 x 3.3, for a density of 1.15g/cm3.  It feels like it's ripened, but the wild blue has ruined the rind.  Oh well, hopefully the paste still has a decent flavour.  We'll see in a couple days.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #22 on: May 10, 2014, 01:12:43 AM »
Ok, it's been about 4 weeks, which is when I expected this to be ready.  And, sure enough, the paste is in perfect form!  The rind is not nice, this  isn't stray p.roc, but just a wild blue mould that tastes dusty and unpleasant.  However, the internals are good.  Has a nice cam/brie flavour, paste is gooey, not runny, and should ooze and slump once up to room temp.  If I can get the rind development right, this will be a winner for sure.  I think next time I'll also spay with p.cad in water, to really make sure the pc takes over and wild moulds don't come to the party.

- Jeff

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #23 on: May 10, 2014, 03:52:43 PM »
Looks great Jeff!!  I tend to get that same blue mold after doing a Stilton in my cave but I found that if I spray the interior with a diluted chlorine bleach solution when cleaning, and then mist all of the interior surfaces with cognac I remove all resident molds and open the cave to a wonderful fruity aroma every day.
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Geodyne

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #24 on: May 10, 2014, 07:41:09 PM »
Without wanting to hijack the thread - misting the interior surfaces with cognac is an intruguing idea. I came home a few days ago from three weeks away, to find wild blues rampant in my fridge, with the back of the wooden shelves (where they meet the condensation at the back of the fridge) and the cheeses covered in wild moulds. I brushed the mould from all the cheeses off and scrubbed then with a vodka-vinegar-brine solution, and bleach scrubbed the fridge. I may try the cognac approach. Do you do it with all the cheeses in the fridge, or remove them first?

I'm pleased the paste on the brie is still nice Jeff. Wild moulds or no, it's a lovely looking cheese.


JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #25 on: May 10, 2014, 08:17:02 PM »
Hi,

Thanks.  Yah, I got to thinking that I think I forgot to put the plastic mats in boiling water to clean them before putting this on top.  Since most of my cheeses develop a wild rind, the mats would have lots of spores.  I'm pretty sure the problem was due to that as I usually don't have quite this big a problem with wild moulds on my bries.  Next time will ensure the ripening box is well prepared.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #26 on: May 14, 2014, 06:05:47 AM »
Had some of this on my lunch today, which was a mix of potatoes, pumpkin, and chicken.  I cut a wedge, removed the rind, and put it in the bowl before heating in the microwave.  And, this is the best melting cheese I've ever had. It melted into a runny and gooey cheese sauce!  Very tasty.  Must work on doing this again, with proper rind development.  Also, must get the b.linens muenster version perfected. 

- Jeff

John@PC

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2014, 12:17:03 PM »
Without wanting to hijack the thread - misting the interior surfaces with cognac is an intriguing idea.
Indeed it is.  I never thought of alcohol (ethanol) but seems to be a logical choice and worthy of doing some tests.

Thanks Jeff for the updates and a cheese for your "best melting blue brie".  You certainly have a "rind" for cheese  ::).

Offline H-K-J

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2014, 01:18:01 PM »
Fantastic looking cheese Jeff, I have got to do a wight mold ripened cheese, looks so yummy  ^-^
A cheese for you ;D
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JeffHamm

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Re: A Brie of Sorts
« Reply #29 on: May 19, 2014, 08:03:29 AM »
Thanks for the cheeses all!  Not much of this left actually.  Most definitely will be trying this again, but will ensure better cleaning of the aging box and mats before hand.  I want to try another muenster too, but age it out and get a stronger rind next time (same protocol, just different rind treatment).  This protocol seems to produce a very good base for these kinds of cheese.  Nice.

- Jeff