Smooth Rind Taleggio (#4)

[Boofer]

I felt really good about my last Taleggio but I was troubled by the lands & grooves that the standard Taleggio mould followers created in the cheese. Although I managed to control the wild blues and other foreigners that tried to set up house, I thought there might be a better way to build a cheese. For this cheese, I followed the recipe from the Taleggio Terzo.

I had seen Meadow Creek Dairy's Grayson awhile back and it looked attractive, having a lot of the good features of the Taleggio, but without the lands & grooves.

So I crafted two Lexan followers to replace the groovy ones. They seemed to perform well but I think the next iteration will have whey drainage holes. The flat faces of the cheese ended up with fairly good-sized divits. I'm hoping that the rind treatment will help to fill those in sufficiently.

You can divide the cheese made in this mould by using a quad-cutter. Unfortunately, the one that was designed is half the size that it needs to be. So I crafted a more reasonable quad-cutter. I haven't tried it yet, but I see it being used for Taleggio and Pont l'Eveque, at the minimum.

It's in its minicave in the cave @ 46F. Fingers crossed.

At the end, I've attached some representative pics of Grayson...the cheese.

Edit: I wanted to call this cheese "Grayson", but that belongs to Meadow Creek Dairy, so I renamed it to a smooth-skin Taleggio. Now I'm thinking although the traditional groovy followers encourage errant blues, the grooves may enhance the draining and maturation of the cheese. I'll take this cheese through to completion and make a judgment call then.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

This is the 3 week point. Time to wrap up the cheese and move it from the 52F cave to the colder big fridge for the next 3-4 weeks.

The rind, even though pock-marked from using the Lexan plates, has remained blemish free. That's one of the issues I was dealing with on the previous effort. The other interesting point was the relative lack of linens development, but I can feel the greasy presence of Geo. I have aired out the cheese every other day to encourage linens growth. The RH inside the minicave has remained in the 90's. The texture of the cheese has become softer and promises to deliver a tasty end product.

When I removed the cheese from the minicave and lifted the plastic mats, There was evidence of wild blues beginning to set up shop.

I wrapped the cheese in breathable cheese paper just as I did in the previous make. I'm anxious to see the results in another three to four weeks. That previous make has been deliciously consumed.

I'd like to redo the idea of the Lexan plates but add a mat on each flat surface to facilitate whey drainage.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Another week and this cheese feels so good...you can feel the softening under gentle pressure as I turn the cheese every other day. Ah, the anticipation...two more weeks!

I feel driven to make another one. I guess I'll wait just a bit.

-Boofer-

[Revilo]

These look really great. Definitely on my To Make list. Been wanting to make a Vieux Pané/Pont L'eveque type cheese... just running out of space   

[Boofer]

Today marks six weeks...so, time to cut.

Opening the cheese paper, I was a little shocked and disappointed that some errant blues had found their way in. Because of all the nooks and crannies created by the flat Lucite plates, it's very convenient for nasties to grow. I now am encouraged to return to the standard Taleggio followers. They permit the rind to close up for the most part and assist in draining residual whey.

I did my best to clean up the blues with cotton swabs, helped by vinegar & salt.

The cheese cuts well even though it is fairly soft. It is soft but not oozy and drippy. Very creamy texture with a very slight tang. Seems like it may have acidified just a tad too long. Not at all objectionable though. The salt level is good since I backed off and didn't brine it as long as the previous effort. The rind is relatively free of linens which was one of my goals. That may be a contributor to the onset of the blues...less rind protection.

-Boofer-

[H-K-J]

AC4U Boofer looks excellent buddy
I would try this yet after reading the description I'm not sure if I am brave enough to give it a go

[Boofer]

Thanks, H-K-J!

You should give this a try. Did I mention "creamy" or "delicious"?

Using the standard Taleggio form, I use 3 gallons and that seems to be the ideal volume of milk. It's so attractive, I'm fighting the urge to repeat again, but Mal has me focused on Epoisses, so I'd better stay on track.

Although I did encounter a bit of errant blues action, I'd still like to create a smooth-rind Taleggio like "Grayson".

There's a lot of magic to this cheese style. I like it a lot!

-Boofer-