Author Topic: Doing My Second Taleggio  (Read 16733 times)

Offline Al Lewis

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Doing My Second Taleggio
« on: February 07, 2015, 09:30:04 PM »
Decided that since I already had a washed rind cheese in the cave I would do a second.  The wash timing is the same so a little more effort for two cheeses instead of one.  I really enjoyed the Taleggio I did last year so I decided to do another using 3 gallons of milk this time.  I used the recipe from "Artisan Cheese Making at Home" by Mary Karlin and just increased the amounts by 1/3.  For the meso I used Flora Danica.  The B Linens were provided in the form of Danish's PLA LYO 10D.  I used this before in makes and like the color it gives and the speed at which it develops.  I had to drop one of the cars off for an oil change at the local Wal-Mart so the wife convinced me to get the milk there.  Probably not going to happen again as it turned out to be rather poor for cheese making.

3 gals HP Whole Milk
3/8 tsp Flora Danica
Pinch of B Linens
3/8 tsp calcium chloride in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water
3/8 tsp rennet in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water
salt for brining
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2015, 09:37:59 PM »
After the usual steps of heating the milk to 90° F and adding ingredients I let it stand until I got a clean break.  Then cut the curd to 3/4 inch squares.  Let stand for 5 minutes at 90° and then stir gently for 30 minutes removing 2 cups of whey every 10 minutes.   I then let the curd rest for 10 minutes prior to putting it into the mold.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2015, 09:43:43 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2015, 09:43:01 PM »
The next step calls for preparing a mold with wet cheese cloth however, I have a Taleggio mold with two bottoms so I don't bother to line it.  I simply put the bottom in and fill it.  Then I put the other bottom on the top to hold everything while I flip it.  Works out great provided you sit the mold up on something so you can get your hands under it to pick it up and flip it.  Then, once you have your hand under it on the bottom just push it up so the top is level with the top of the mold and flip.  That way there's no chance of the cheese trying to slide down sideways. ;D
« Last Edit: February 07, 2015, 09:54:26 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2015, 09:57:11 PM »
Here's a shot of the first one I did.  As you can see it had a good color.  I put the b linens in the milk and then again in the salt brine spray that I misted it with every other day.  I added another gallon of milk to this one to try and get it a little thicker but the poor quality of the milk negated the extra gallon. :P
« Last Edit: February 08, 2015, 02:35:23 AM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2015, 04:18:58 PM »
After allowing this thing to settle for 12 hours I placed it into a 54° F brine.  The recipe calls for a 50° - 55° brine.  Here's a tip for this.  Make your brine up when you make the cheese.  I made mine in one of the washed out milk jugs from the make.  Then put it into your cave.  If your cave is 54° like mine is the brine will be that temperature when it's time to use it about 12 hours later.  Then I just place the cheese in the ripening container with the brine and popped it back into the cane, covered, for the 8 hour brining cycle.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2015, 04:29:18 PM »
With the brining complete it's time for the drying box for 24 hours.  When I do this I always keep one of the mold bottoms on the bottom of the cheese.  This maintains the pattern and gives the cheese some structural integrity when flipping.  Believe me these things will break in half at the drop of a hat without it.  I even continue this during the aging process.  With the ripening container washed and dried I put 3 paper towels in the bottom with a rack on them and sit the cheese on that.  It will now dry for 24 hours at room temperature, or until dry to the touch, while being flipped about every 6 hours.  I'm drying it on top of the cave covered in a single layer of butter muslin to protect it from any "outside incursions".   :o  While this is happening I made up the brine solution for misting this cheese when flipping it while ripening.  I added a little b. linens to mine to give the outside a little boost in developing.  I keep it in a small spray bottle in the cave to maintain it's temperature.  Once dry they will get misted every other day, when being flipped, until a good outside layer of b. linens develops.  You may also want to add a small amount of annatto coloring to the mister so you can actually see if you are getting the right coverage.  ;)
« Last Edit: February 08, 2015, 04:35:03 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Danbo

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2015, 04:33:50 PM »
Great descriptions... :-)

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2015, 04:35:45 PM »
Thanks Danbo!  Hope it helps someone!  ;)
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Offline Danbo

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2015, 05:00:54 PM »
Maybe at least me when my mold cave is ready for new adventures...

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2015, 09:21:19 PM »
There is one more thing I should address in this make and that is the use of a optional attachment to the mold.  You can purchase a divider for the inside of the mold to make four smaller cheeses rather than one big one.  I would not recommend you use this until you have reached the brining stage.  You can then insert it into the mold and cut the cheese into four equal parts prior to brining.  My reasoning behind this is twofold.  One the divider only extends halfway through the mold.  To have it completely divide the mold you would have to purchase two if them.  Second, there is a reason a manhole cover is round.  Cheeses in a round mold, like manhole covers, cannot rotate in the vertical axis when flipped unless very thin.  Square cheeses however can, and will, make every attempt to do so.  I learned this the first time I tried to flip the Taleggio mold without pushing it up from the bottom first.  The dividers edges have small dimples on them that lock it into the holes in the mold so it would be an easy task to insert it into the top of the mold, with the cheese in the bottom, and push the cheese up to cut it into four equal squares prior to removing it for brining.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2015, 01:57:23 AM »
This one is taking a little more time than normal to dry.  Still have it out at room temperature.  Should be able to put it in the cave tomorrow. ???
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2015, 05:28:02 PM »
Well this one is finally in the cave in a container to keep the mold in and other molds out.  I'll start washing it, read as misting, tomorrow and we'll see where it ends up. :o
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Offline H-K-J

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2015, 06:03:13 PM »
And one more cheese for Al
Lookin good buddy >:(
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Offline Danbo

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2015, 06:16:30 PM »
Make it two cheeses - it looks great. :-)

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Doing My Second Taleggio
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2015, 07:25:25 PM »
Thanks guys!  Can't wait for the b linens to cover this baby.  8)
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