My first and only bloomy semi-lactic was a disaster but having recently sampled some of the French varieties, I decided to give it another go. The recipe is basically Caldwell's with a couple of changes. I omitted the Geo because I didn't have any. To help to prepare the surface for the PC (in the absence of Geo) I decides to try ash.
The make went this way:
Day 1:
- 2 litres of full cream, pasturised but unhomogenised milk were warmed to 22C.
- 1/8 tsp of MM100 and 1/16 tsp of PC were sprinkled on top, left for a minute or two and then stirred in.
- 2 drops of animal rennet, dissolved in about 15 ml of water were stirred in.
- The vat was placed in an insulated container with lukewarm water to maintain the temperature and left overnight, apart from occasional adjustments to the temperature.
Day 2:
- After 22 hrs the curds were ladelled into moulds and returned to the insulated container.
- One was flipped after about 10 hours, but I decided not to flip the others, which were in pyramid moulds, at this stage.
Day 3: (Today)
- All 3 were flipped, about 20 hours after moulding.
- After another 4 hours, they were flipped back into the moulds and the bases sprinkled with salt. They were then sprinkled with finely ground charcoal.
- 30 min on they were demoulded and the tops sprinkled with salt and charcoal. Total salt was approx 2% of the weight of the cheese.
- The cheeses were placed, on a rack, in an almost sealed container in the cheese fridge at about 13C.
That's where I'm up to so far. Now it's just wait and see. If they work out I'll post an update. If not, I'll scuttle off under a rock and have a good cry (or just make a different cheese.)