Hi,
I've been planning on making another Tomme for a while now. I did some looking around on the board and found Pav's note to use 2% milk. So, I mixed 1.5 and 3.3 % milk to get as close as I could (hit 1.99%). That gives me a 1.78:1 p:f ratio. I backed down on my rennet because my last couple makes floc'ed really quickly, but I noted an airbubble in the syringe with the rennet, so probably added about 1.4 ml. That got me a floc of 19 minutes, bit long, but not too bad. I think up to 20 minutes is considered good for Tomme, though I'm not sure if I'm remembering that right. Not a disaster in any case. Just cut the curds and getting things ready for raising the temperature to cook them. Fun stuff.
Tomme (Pav’s instructions) Sunday, Apr 13, 2014; sunny air pressure 1061; temp 20 C)
3L Homebrand standard milk (3.1 : 3.3 p:f)
8L Homebrand light blue (3.7 : 1.5 p:f) – combined have 1.99% fat milk, with p:f of 1.78:1
2 ice cubes buttermilk, 1 crème freche, 1 MW3
¼ tsp 50% CaCl in egg cup of water
1.5 ml 280 IMCU calf rennet in egg cup water (1.77 last time floc’d at 8-9 minutes)
6.25” tomme mould
1) Add CaCl2 while setting up
2) Add ice cubes
3) Warm 11 litres milk 31.10C (31.1 C : start 7:06 - reached at 7:22 am)
4) Ripen for 30 mins at 31.10C (88 F) (7:11 - 7:52 ; 30.8.C)
5) add rennet (7:53: 31.1 C; noted air bubble in rennet; so < 1.5, about 1.4)
6) floc time (7:12:00 = 19m 00 sec 3x = floc time 57m 00 sec = cut time 8:50:00)
7) Cut into 1/4 inch cubes, let rest 5 mins (5:51 – 9:00)
8) Stir and increase temp to 37.80C (100 F) over 30 mins. (9:06 – 9:33, temp reached 38.3; bit early)
9) Hold at 37.80C (100 F) until the curd is at the right texture. You can tell this by pressing a tablespoon of curd in your hand. It should mat together slightly and be somewhat firm. (??:??am - ??:?? – took an hour last time, but I used FD)
10) Drain in vat or warm colander (10:45 - 11:05 – scooped it with measuring cup, had to empty 2nd pot to store whey in jugs. Curds are matting under their own weight while sitting in the pot). pH should be 6.35 or higher. Let curds mat (draining in colander over pot in cheesecloth and press slightly under whey. Important to get a good knit. Drained and by 11:05 into mould under whey with mortar and pessel on top as weight ~ 5.2kg = 0.37 PSI for 10 minutes – until 11:15)
11) Put into cheesecloth lined molds. This cheese sticks, so soak the cheesecloth in pH 5.2 whey beforehand. (during step 10)
12) Press under own weight + 5.2 kg turning at 15 min (11:30), 30 min (12:00), and 1 hour increments (1:05, 1:30 – going out). (normally flip through the day; with 5.2 kg as weight to emulate stacking, but went out. Flipped again at 6:16 pm and 12:35am; knit looking much better, still a few “spots” though)
13) Press until pH is 5.4 or overnight. (Pressed until 6:00 am; knit good)
14) Brine in fully saturated brine 3-4 hours per lb of cheese. (1258g = 8 h m 18 - 11h 4m 15.7 x 5.9 = 1.10 g/cm3 ; hours 6:30 am – 5:05 pm 10.5 hours; 1201g out of the brine, 14.7 x 5.7 cm = 967 cm3 = 1.24 g/cm3)
15) 15) Leave at12.8-18.30C (55-65 F) for a day at ~70% RH for the outer rind to dry a little before moving to the cave. – I left it out until 5:00 pm (14.9 x 5.6 = 976cm3 and 1168g, for 1.20 g/cm3).
Made Ricotta from approx. 9 litres of whey ; raised to 91.2 C, added ¼ cider vinegar, let sit 25 minutes scooped it out into cheesecloth lined colander (drained until 6:00 pm). Got approx. 316g. Added 6 g salt (1-2% by weight).
Age 3-6 months at 10-12.80C (50-55F), 85-92% RH (or higher if using special rind treatment or making a b linens variant). Natural or oil rubbed rind.