Washshed, Leaf-wrapped cheese

[mnml]

I have a cheese that typically becomes a semi-ripened camembert, but it is a smaller, button mold.

Anyway, I have taken one for experimenting, and wrapped it in a nori sushi wrap, wetted with some organic craft gin. I placed this experiment on a bed of hemp seeds, and topped it with slivered almonds, all in a small tupperware environment in my fridge.

I was wondering general methods for washing with the gin. Should I only wash it the initial time I wrap it, or should I be wetting it regularly over time? How long should this sit before it is "ready"?

I know the combo sounds funky, but I was really hoping to develop some kind of scandinavian concept out of this.

[Al Lewis]

You might want to talk to this lady..   http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10288.msg76757.html#msg76757

[Tiarella]

hi!  I'm here to visit as requested!!! .     I think the hemp seed bed may offer a whole bunch of mold spores which could be good or bad. I'm glad you're experimenting because that's the best way to learn. I experiment a lot with making cheese.....doing things that many wouldn't dare. 

You could do a search on Shitake Brie to see a couple of threads I did about my experimentations with that....seems similar except that I didn't do any washing on those but it will give you a sense of how using another full-of-mold ingredient might impact a cheese.  I have washed Mycodore rinded hard cheeses with apple cider vinegar and I did a nice Humboldt Fog style cheese that I washed with whiskey.   Best to let the white PC and Geo rind molds growing strong before you do that. I think I used my fingers to spread the whiskey gently on the white mold.

Somewhere I posted photos of a small button white mold cheese that I packaged by wrapping in brandy soaked heart shaped leaf from the Redbud tree.  I can post it again when I am at my computer.

Recently I experimented with making small Brie-like cheeses without adding any cultures except the Geo and PC rind cultures since I was starting with warm raw milk. I made this cheese in a jar with no heating, no timing of any part of the process, etc.  They all came out really wonderful! I think a search on Lackadaisical Cheese will find that thread.

[mnml]

hi!  I'm here to visit as requested!!! .     I think the hemp seed bed may offer a whole bunch of mold spores which could be good or bad. I'm glad you're experimenting because that's the best way to learn. I experiment a lot with making cheese.....doing things that many wouldn't dare. 

You could do a search on Shitake Brie to see a couple of threads I did about my experimentations with that....seems similar except that I didn't do any washing on those but it will give you a sense of how using another full-of-mold ingredient might impact a cheese.  I have washed Mycodore rinded hard cheeses with apple cider vinegar and I did a nice Humboldt Fog style cheese that I washed with whiskey.   Best to let the white PC and Geo rind molds growing strong before you do that. I think I used my fingers to spread the whiskey gently on the white mold.

Somewhere I posted photos of a small button white mold cheese that I packaged by wrapping in brandy soaked heart shaped leaf from the Redbud tree.  I can post it again when I am at my computer.

Recently I experimented with making small Brie-like cheeses without adding any cultures except the Geo and PC rind cultures since I was starting with warm raw milk. I made this cheese in a jar with no heating, no timing of any part of the process, etc.  They all came out really wonderful! I think a search on Lackadaisical Cheese will find that thread.

I am checking out that now. Here is the link for those also interested: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13028.msg100795.html#msg100795 !

As far as methodology, would it be ideal to continuously reapply the gin wash, since I did not allow for pen/geo growth? It has been in the kitchen fridge for about a week or so. I am new with experimenting at home, and could use some insight.

[Tiarella]

Did you use PC and Geo cultures for the rind?  I think Camembert requires those so I thought they'd be in there.  If you do have rind cultures in there you could stop the gin washing and let them grow if they can.  The alcohol might have been too much for the cultures and if the cheese is very small perhaps the alcohol would overwhelm even the cheese cultures that you are relying on to develop the ripeness.  Actually, isn't it the rind cultures that make this type of cheese ripen?  I think so.

I'm posting a number of photos with leaves.  there are also two photos of ash midline larger cheeses and at least one was washed with whiskey but fairly far into it's rind development.  There's a small ash midline cheese that was also whiskey washed...it's labeled Drunken Haze.  The photos that show the brandy-soaked leaf wrapping the small half cheese....the second photo shows it pinned close using some seed pods from a Stewartia tree.  I like how that looks.  The photo labeled leaf caerphilly is a cheese for which I used honey to stick on leaves that I had frozen and thawed to make them limp so that they would adhere better.  I've also used coconut oil to hold leaves onto hard rinds.  The honey gave way to a LOT of molds and required careful washing to not ruin the leaves.  Can't remember now how I washed it....maybe with vinegar in water?  It was a couple of  years ago.

Somewhere on this forum is a cool thread someone did ages ago and it showed a white mold rind cheese that was decorated with something and washed in ale maybe?  There was some red color from some spice perhaps?  It was spectacular!  Sorry I can't remember how to find that thread.  Keep experimenting.....    and tell me more about what exactly this cheese is.....did you follow a recipe for some sort of cheese?  What type? Camembert?  What cultures did you use.  Can you post current photos of it please?  Off to bed now but will check tomorrow.....

[mnml]

Well, I used to make this style of cheese on the days when we make our camembert-style. The difference is that we do not let it ripen as far as a camembert, resulting in a pleasantly bright, yet creamy flavor and supple, chalky body: great with simple things like nuts, and the more complex fruits and salads.  I acquired this piece fresh out of the brine from work, with which I instantly refrigerated in the walk in. It has not had any time under optimal ripening temperatures, and I do not have any cheese-specific tools or equipment at home. I suppose I could leave it out during the day, as it is pretty cold outside. It can get chilly to warm indoors, with a max of 68 and min of maybe 46. Would it hold potential to unwrap and let it bloom? I am comfortably not at liberty to list any particular cultures I use, nor detail any recipes.

By the way, those cheeses look spectacular!

How wet with brandy were those leaf-wraps for the half-cheeses? They look as if they were dry, yet pliable. I suppose the leaf is merely serving as a unique barrier for a micro-environment. I think my application method may have been too wet. About the seeds, I could change it out like kitty litter  . I kind of intended for them to absorb a little moisture, I did not think about molding though, so thanks for mentioning it!

I was also debating on what leaves you used for those starry canvased cheeses.

My experiment is not yet photo-ready  .

[Tiarella]

The leaves had soaked in brandy for weeks or months  They were very pliable and I think preserved well to avoid decomposition.  The kitty litter image with cheese is a bad one.    The starry leaves are from a plant called Scented Cranesbill here and the latin name is something like Geranium macrorrhizum.  Looking for a photo to send you I googled the name and it took me to my flower essence website.  It surprised me but here's the page.  http://www.foxmountain.net/scented-cranesbill/  this is the site for the medicine I make from flowers and ship internationally.   

I used nettle leaves on another cheese like the soft white ones.  that was nice also,.