The Undiscovered Country

[OzzieCheese]

See... Star Trek and cheese have something in common.  A man going where he hasn't been before - sorry that was bad  . 

I'm goin' in ... my first washed rind and I'm using G.C's recipe for a Reblochon type cheese.  I don't have a Control sheet for this yet but I'll post details as they progress.  One thing noticed in the recipe is a 40% fat milk which I think is supposed to be 4.0% .  Also I don't have the cultures but I've made the following subs
1 dose (1/8 tsp) MO036R for MM100
my own mix of B.Linens + Geotrichum candidum 1/2 and 1/2 out of the packets and mixed then added one drop (my mini spoons) of the mix.
TA50 - this is a slow Thermo which I don't have and the only one I have at the moment is a fast one so I omitted it.

Got the milk to 34 and now ripening for 90 minutes...

scary..

[Stinky]

Cool cool. One helpful thing Alp said is that if you don't want it to be very linensy use less water. For a very stinky cheese you might dip the brushes in multiple times, but you wouldn't want to do that with a less odorous cheese. So don't go too overboard.

With that I wish you good luck.

[LoftyNotions]

Mal, I don't know if you saw this, but iratherfly posted some really good Reblochon information here: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9928.msg72988.html#msg72988.

Your Malembert affinage knowledge will serve you well also. Reblochon is one of our favorite cheeses.

Larry

[OzzieCheese]

Thank Stinky and Lofty, I will keep your sage advice in my mind. Thanks for the link - I'll spend some time reviewing that as well.

Added the rennet - and 1.6 mls is not enough for the floc time stated so the Floc time was 16:30 so the cut time is 45 minutes from the renneting time.

Cut the curd and let settle for 5 minutes.

Now stirring for 45 minutes to see if we can get the pH down to 6.4-6.3.

Back soon.

-- Mal

[OzzieCheese]

I am actually getting a bit miffed on chasing pH readings.  After 60 minutes still sitting at 6.56. So, after 60 minutes am getting impatient so I'm going to let the light pressing time.  So into the large moulds.  I bought these for this purpose but I forgot the size wont fit into the ripening container - luckily the store are open tomorrow and it will be draining for the rest of the day and brining so I'm not really concerned.
I've given the pH marker away I'll record but not be driven by them.  Stupid thing......
So I'll flip and maintain like the cams until tomorrow and let see what happens.  I'll brine if the pH starts dropping too low but I'm not concerned - it'll get brined tomorrow when I have a ripening container.  Not going to waste this lovely milk even if I just let it drain till tomorrow.

-- Mal

[OzzieCheese]

Here is the Promised "Cheese Porn".

Well the cheese is in the brine at the moment and here are a few pics.  The final size ended up 7 1/2/ inch X 2 inch.  The fun is going to be after - the stinky bit !!

-- Mal

[John@PC]

See... Star Trek and cheese have something in common.  A man going where he hasn't been before - sorry that was bad  . 

May the force be with you Luke Mal. Trust your instincts and avoid the death star of "late blowing".  Yoda says "a good cheese it will be".  Oops.... , that's Star Wars, sorry .  Lay in a new course Sulu at warp speed and make it so Scotty .  Speaking of Star Trek and Star Wars here is a very entertaining parody (warning: only for SW and ST fans).  Now back to cheese (while wondering what type of cheese they made on Vulcan ).

[LoftyNotions]

Has it turned slimy yet Mal?

John, hopefully Mal isn't having Trouble With Tribbles. 

Larry

[Gregore]

Not that I am an expert or anything but  when I make them I like to leave them a little past the slime stage , just until they have a little white  residue showing . It seems that if I don't none of the other things happen in the allotted time frames. 

It seems to help the linins come on stronger and sooner

[OzzieCheese]

Tis day 3 and and no slime - so I'm going to start washing. I don't mind extra stinky cheeses  - from the ones I have tried they are very nice. This is my washing solution
1 Litre(quart) of non-Chlorinated water
1 teaspoon of cheese salt
and a 1/16 tsp of my 'Mix' of B.Linens and G.C.
as I'm still turning daily - Turn cheese wash the upper surface and sides - next day turn cheese - wash the upper surface and sides repeat until slimy and signs of B.Linens appear and then place in a colder part of the fridge and wash once a week until desired softness.

How's that sound ?  Beer/Ale washes to come later. At the moment I just need to perfect washing and ripening.

-- Mal 

[LoftyNotions]

Well, I just confessed to having questionable math skills, so work through this with me.
1 teaspoon of salt weighs approximately 6.6 to 6.9 grams, depending on grain thickness. I measured 2 kinds of salt to come up with this.
The morge wash for a Reblochon should be around 5 to 6% salt.
1 liter equals 1000 grams.
6% of 1000 grams equals 60 grams.
Assuming your salt is close to my salt, you'd need 7.25 to 7.5 tsp salt for 5% or 8.5 to 9% for 6%. (approximate)

The 1/16 tsp of your mix sounds ok to me.

Larry

[OzzieCheese]

@Larry... This is where I'm confused ... G.C has in her directions
after 3 day wash with a 3% brine every other day for 3 washings.  Then, wash with B.Linens solution twice a week for 3 weeks.  Her B.Linens solution is 1 quart to 1/2 teaspoon salt then add the culture powders.

Does that sound a bit off or would it still work ?

-- Mal

[Gregore]

 G.C has in her directions
after 3 day wash with a 3% brine every other day for 3 washings.  Then, wash with B.Linens solution twice a week for 3 weeks.  Her B.Linens solution is 1 quart to 1/2 teaspoon salt then add the culture powders.



-- Mal
[/quote]
Wash every day for the first week with 5% then after one week wash every other day with same solution .  The quoted recipe is way to low in salt.

Washing early will make cheese less stinky , unless you have linens running wild in your cave.  The reason for letting it sit until it gets slimy is to bring out the geo so the ph raises and the linens then can prosper .

 Linens is one that is hard to grow in my cave so I find that an extra 2 days before washing( I like to see the white of the geo starting)  helps the linens .

 You should re-read iratherfly's recipe page  he mentions he got it from some one who actually does this for a living. And I can say that it make a reblochon way better than can be purchased here in the USA , and as good or maybe a little better than the ones my wife brought back from Switzerland .

But I am sure that no matter what you do it will still be delicious.

[LoftyNotions]

@Larry... This is where I'm confused ... G.C has in her directions
after 3 day wash with a 3% brine every other day for 3 washings.  Then, wash with B.Linens solution twice a week for 3 weeks.  Her B.Linens solution is 1 quart to 1/2 teaspoon salt then add the culture powders.

Does that sound a bit off or would it still work ?

-- Mal

From what I've measured, 1/2 tsp of salt in a quart (liter) of water is less than a 1% brine, so that's probably a typo. A 3% solution would probably be fine for this, but iratherfly makes a pretty good argument for a higher salt concentration. I've never done it with 3% for comparison, but I've had good luck with 5%.

Concerning adding B. linens after 3 days of washing, I don't think it really matters if it's in the wash earlier. When conditions are right, it will take off.

I agree with everything Gregore says. I've had excellent luck following iratherfly's directions also. Other than the 1/2 tsp salt typo we're talking relatively minor course corrections. any path will get you a delicious cheese.

Larry

[Stinky]

I suggest a higher salt solution than 3 percent, with maybe a sixth of the liquid some wine. It works absolutely great for me.