Yesterday I cut Big Stinky, my first serious effort to make a washed rind cheese. It still is a bit firm in the centre but it has a very nice munster aroma.
This was from a 3 litre make using only 3 tablespoons of homemade kefir as a starter and a regular dose of liquid calf rennet. Kefir Inoculation time was 1 hour at 35 degrees C, 90 minutes rennet set, curds cut to 1 cm, 30 minutes cooking at 35 degrees with occasional stirring and then drained into a reblochon mold.
I pressed lightly for about 2 hours. dry salted to 2.5% after a day and air dried unmoulded for another day. Originally I had reblochon in mind but the cheese turned out closer to a munster because I moved the cheese from my 13 degrees basement room to my 8.5 degrees fridge "cave" before geo hat fully bloomed (seems I was too impatient
)
I prepared a brine from the whey and harvested b. linens from a commercial French munster to wash he cheese every other day until the rind was established. This was after roughly two weeks. The cheese was flipped every day but I had to leave for a 5 day business trip after a while which resulted in the rind getting overgrown with while mould. I didn't bother to remove it because the b. linens rind was already fully established.
I guess I shold have waited a week longer or so before cutting but the margin was already feeling rather soft. Not too bad for the first try.