Revisiting Tomme (#7)

[Boofer]

I made my Tomme #6 two years ago. I figured it was time to give this style another try. This make followed the process in my previous efforts, #4 and #6.

make started: July 26, 2014
initial pH: 6.67 (with buttermilk added)

1 gallon Pride & Joy Creamery whole raw milk
2 gallons Cozy Vale Creamery whole raw milk
3 ounces cultured buttermilk ( I thought this might offer an added bit of character. )
1/4 tsp Kazu
1/16 tsp TA-61
1/8 tsp PLA
1/32 tsp mycodore ( I don't want too much "earthy" character, but figured this guy had to be involved. )
1/64 tsp Geo 13 ( I wanted to ensure that the Geo would be a player. )
1/32 tsp dry calf rennet

7:00AM Stirred in cultures; ripening temperature: 90F
7:45AM pH 6.58 @ 88F
8:30AM Rennet added; floc factor: 3.5
8:48AM Floc'd in 18 minutes
9:33AM Cut curds with knife, then whisk
9:45AM Completed whisking; stirring gently and raising temp to 100F
10:15AM pH 6.28 (expected 6.4-6.45); washed with 1 gallon 130F water
10:30AM Pressed for 15 minutes with 16 lbs under whey to knit
10:45AM Flipped, rewrapped, pressed for 15 minutes with 16 lbs under whey to knit
Drained whey.
11:00AM Flipped, rewrapped, pressed for 15 minutes with 16 lbs without whey in pot to knit
11:15AM Flipped, rewrapped, pressed in pot with 3.5 psi
2:15PM Removed from press; pH 5.12!!  Arrgh!! It's a runaway!   ( I expected 5.3-5.4 )
When I went to remove the plyban, it stuck pretty good to the cheese. I eased it away from the cheese with a little vinegar added to the whey and gently teased it from the cheese rind.

Into the brine for 6 hours and then flip for another 6 hours.

I'm hoping the acidity wasn't too great going into the brine and that the brining stopped it from proceeding further.

Checking it today, the Geo is making a decent early appearance. I washed the wheel gently with a simple brine to spread the Geo around and to encourage further rind development, including the yeast from the PLA.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

That's a great looking tomme Boofer.  A cheese to you.  I've got a very interesting tomme on the go, with a good dose of wild linens and wild geo for a rind.  I'll age it out until Nov or so, when my parents come to visit, and I'm quite interested in finding out how it has turned out.  I had a previous wild rind tomme turn out great, except for the fact the mould got all through the internals so much was lost, but the salvageable bits were well worth the effort.

- Jeff

[Boofer]

Just keeping tabs on the rind development....

-Boofer-

[Spoons]

Looking good Boofer! That's one heck of a starter cocktail!

[Boofer]

Seemed like time for a datapoint. The rind is still predominantly Geo.   I could probably have left that extra Geo out of the mix. Still, there does seem to be some other factions trying to set up housekeeping.

I aggressively brushed & scrubbed the rind with brine a couple days ago to knock the Geo back. You can see some wrinkling of the rind from the Geo. Don't want that so much. This isn't a lactic after all.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Hi Boofer,

Looking good though.  I've got a tomme on the go and at around 2 months I think it was still geo and wild b.linens.  Since I don't blue glove when handling my cheeses, the linens get transferred a fair bit.  But, the rind progressed over the next month or so and eventually started filling in with other helpers.  You've added more to your mix, so they will show up.  Just a matter of the environment getting just right for them.  The geo will do its thing then die back for then ext round.  It will happen. 

[Boofer]

Well here's another experiment I'm embarking on.

I just happened to be taste-testing some commercial cheeses to give my palate some perspective. One of them is Abondance from France. When sampling it for breakfast this morning, the rind seemed to call out to me....   Tomme #7 might just benefit from some outside help.

So I scraped the rind and mixed it with some distilled water. I poured the suspension into my little sprayer and lightly misted the wheel. Take that, Geo! This should be interesting. I have either doomed the cheese to a nasty trip to the dumper or I have discovered a delightful treat for the palate.

The cheese is being aged in a minicave inside the cave at 53F (12C). I should have some idea how this may proceed within a week.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

This could be interesting.  Looking forward to seeing what happens.

[Spoons]

Intriguing indeed!

[John@PC]

When sampling it for breakfast this morning, the rind seemed to call out to me....  

Ah, the siren's song of the goddess of cheese .   Really good experiment (I've got a similar one going that I'll post on another thread).  Looking forward to seeing your results.

[tally]

I made my Tomme #6 two years ago. I figured it was time to give this style another try. This make followed the process in my previous efforts, #4 and #6.

 Pressed for 15 minutes with 16 lbs under whey to knit

How exactly do you do this? Are the curds in a mold inside the vat with whey filling the space so the mold is submerged? What kind of weight do you use?

[Boofer]

How exactly do you do this? Are the curds in a mold inside the vat with whey filling the space so the mold is submerged? What kind of weight do you use?

The curds are put into a muslin-lined or Plyban-lined mould, the follower is put on top, and the pressing power is applied. The first pic shows the moulded cheese (Tomme #5) inside the pot which has warm whey-brine up to the shoulders of the mould, and then the whole thing is inside of a bigger lobster kettle that has warm water surrounding the pot (several inches, not too full). The combined weight of my press lever and plunger/ramrod/piston is 11 pounds before I add any additional weight. I added a five pound barbell weight to the end of the lever, delivering 16 pounds to the knitting cheese. After the rind was sufficiently closed/knitted, I believe I then applied pressing power to the tune of several psi over several hours.

The second pic attempts to show three small Reblochon moulds sitting in warm whey with a 10 pound barbell weight for pressing power. That translates to around 3.33 pounds per cheese.

The third pic shows the same as the second pic, but the whey has been removed. Then the cheese is pressed for several hours while keeping the whole thing warm.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Approaching the four month point in aging this cheese....

The rind was pretty much steered by the Geo from the beginning. I washed & brushed it to try to minimize the classic toad skin and to keep the Geo at bay, but it was determined. Fortunately, its effects didn't dig deeply into the paste. It did a great job of protecting the innermost goodness of the wheel.

At four months the cheese is very slightly piquant...more of a nuance. It is creamy and the texture is pliable, with a slight tendency to break if bent too far. The rind is not entirely offputting, but the rindless cheese delivers more direct pleasure to the tastebuds.

I believe I am considering adding a touch of buttermilk to other cheese styles. Yum!

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

A cheese to you Boofer!  I'm currently enjoying a bit of my 4th tomme as I type.  It too became home to geo, but I let it run wild.  Probably for a bit too long as it started to ammoniate, but I think I've caught it in time.  I've since brushed it right down, and after cutting I let it air before sampling.  Then, it's a very nice result, though a touch bitter near the rind (which, like yours, is best removed). 

- Jeff

[John@PC]

Beautiful cheese Boofer with a great presentation in the picture.  A cheese as well .