Author Topic: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe  (Read 123274 times)

mjr522

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #315 on: July 27, 2012, 03:06:35 AM »
I just finished reading through this entire thread (it's taken me a few days).  I've enjoyed all the discussion and appreciate all the contributions people have made.  It's not surprising that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know--that's how I feel every time I go back to school, anyway.  I'm currently looking at getting a PhD in Mechanical Engineering or Applied Physics.  Too bad I can't convince my department to send me for a PhD in cheesemaking...then I might be able to contribute to discussions like these.   :D

Offline Boofer

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #316 on: July 27, 2012, 03:20:31 AM »
This morning I breakfasted on some fruit with my Reblochon #2 and thought it might actually be closer to a mini-Tomme in texture. I wonder how far apart those two styles are? I've made 4 pound Tommes that were washed rind and had similar texture character. I like this Reb recipe and will repeat it shortly because it's really satisfying, but I fear it's not true to the style.

Maybe I should follow Pav's Tomme recipe but use the Reblochon moulds to downsize the wheels.

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Tomer1

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #317 on: July 27, 2012, 11:03:13 AM »
Your tommes must have really high moisture content if the texture comes out simmilar.

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #318 on: July 27, 2012, 12:55:30 PM »
No, Tomer, other way around...the Rebs were lower moisture content than they probably should have been, but very nice.

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iratherfly

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #319 on: August 07, 2012, 05:58:18 AM »
I do lots of "petit-tomme" cheeses using Reblochon moulds. I love it that a 4 Lbs batch can be split into 4 wheels. I would rather have 4 small wheels than 1 large one (especially on 2-4 months aging project, unlike 8 months old Swiss types that stand to lose lots of moisture and should be large).  In fact, the data sheet from the manufacturer on the ones I import calls the moulds "Tomme-Reblochon" (but then again... Tomme is a generic French name for any round cheese).

You can do Tomme with very high moisture of course. It can be semi soft or you can play with farmstead culture to stiffen it up in spite of high moisture.

I think I posted this photo before, (this is a cheese I opened in January) this is such batch I made with natural rind using Reblochon mould

aka_tico

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #320 on: October 12, 2012, 06:51:42 PM »
greetings all,
I made my first Tomme using this recipe and all went well. being the first attempt I was going for a natural rind so i brine the cheese in 18% salt solution for 12 hours and then put it in my aging container. its at 4'c/85%RH for past 4 weeks and now it has developed blueish mode on the surface. is this OK? was i suppose to wash it every week? trying to find information on rind development and maintenance but most of the information i could find is on complex rind. i would appreciate any help.

Tomer1

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #321 on: October 12, 2012, 10:46:50 PM »
Thats way too cold for anything other then blue (which is unwanted with this type of cheese) to grow on the rind.
Do a search on wild rind tomme. 
 

iratherfly

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #322 on: October 14, 2012, 08:13:42 PM »
aka_tico I agree with Tomer.  I assume the low temperature is because you don't have aging cave or wine fridge?

If that is the case, perhaps you want to consider making it a tad less acidic (shorten the pre-rennet time and flocculation time by about 15%) and then age it for 5-10 days in room temperature inside an aging box -so it begins to develop yeasts and some native fungi as rind.  Then move it to the fridge and take it out for an hour a day to air and increase temp temporarily. This way there will be overwhelming amount of the rind species and they will deter any foreign or pathogenic molds.  After you get some cat's hair mould on it, begin brushing it back gently to build a strong dense mould. This will protect the cheese from contaminants as well as from becoming dry. The rind will contribute to the flavor development, aromatic properties and texture breakdown. It will look good too!

The blue dots you have there looks to me like cross contamination of yeast. Possibly from baker products nearby. It could also be Oidium yeast mold from nearby fruits/vegetables.

If the cheese is moist now, there may still be enough nutrients in it to support late mold so you can try to create it now.  Wash it with light brine (4% salt) first, it will help the rind and hold back some of that yeast which is growing on it now.

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #323 on: October 17, 2012, 06:25:30 PM »
Iratherfly, is it possible to have natural rind cheeses in the same wine fridge as cheeses I want no molds on?  And if so, how?  My fridge now seems to have enough cheese in it that it's quite humid so I'm not putting all cheeses in mini caves now and the ones that are in mini cave boxes have their lids ajar to allow airflow.  Obviously it's a little hot bed of activity!  But if I let a cheese "go natural" won't all that flora and fauna spread throughout the cave anywhere that the bio-terrain is welcoming?  And how do I realistically make the bio-terrain of some cheeses less welcoming.....remembering that I'm also busy farming and running a business instead of lounging around eating cheese bonbons and thinking of affinage needs of all the different cheeses?   ;D

bbracken677

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #324 on: October 17, 2012, 07:55:03 PM »
.remembering that I'm also busy farming and running a business instead of lounging around eating cheese bonbons and thinking of affinage needs of all the different cheeses?   ;D

Hahahaha!  This really made my day!  Thanks Tiarella!    :)

aka_tico

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #325 on: October 17, 2012, 08:21:40 PM »
iratherfly so far i have made several fresh, Feta and Cam cheeses. I (wrongly) assumed that after initial aging a Tomme should go to the food fridge as well. the blue mold is powdery and smells (tastes) like the bread mold. I'm guessing is an Aspergillus? are they all considered pathogenic?
since your post I have moved the wheel to my beer fridge which is set to 13-15c. before doing so I scrubbed and wipe the cheese with a 14% brine. i also bought a piece of Tomme from the local fromagerie and cut the rind to pieces which i mashed up in a 2% solution. i have been wiping the cheese with it for the past couple of days as well as leaving the cheese on the counter for 15min. i will report back as for the result. meanwhile, thank you for the help.

iratherfly

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #326 on: November 17, 2012, 08:49:35 AM »
Sorry for the late reply. I missed this post. Bread yeast is typically saccharomyces cerevisiae. Not pathogenic but definitely a cheese defect.  You can certainly age some Tommes in the fridge partially but I would give them no less than 6 weeks in the cave.  In any event, your correcting treatment sounds good except you don't want to do this next time with a 14% brine. It's not saline enough to kill what you need to kill, but it is saline enough to kill geo, linens and yeasts that you do need.  2% brine for the morge is too low (though it's probably meaningless since you rubbed the rind with 14% rind already). Trust the abrasive action of the rubbing to do the job.  Use a brush or toss some coarse kosher salt on the surface and use a wet strong cotton cloth and rub vigorously. Do it every few days and eventually you will get the invaders to recede.

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #327 on: November 19, 2012, 03:50:18 AM »
.remembering that I'm also busy farming and running a business instead of lounging around eating cheese bonbons and thinking of affinage needs of all the different cheeses?   ;D

Hahahaha!  This really made my day!  Thanks Tiarella!    :)

I'm glad!  But of course I do aspire to someday lie around eating cheese bonbons and maybe reading a book series that involves cheese mysteries.   ::)

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #328 on: January 30, 2014, 01:26:44 AM »
Quote
emphasizing Mycodore and KL71 more, linens less, if at all. I may bag the linens and just go with geo, mycodore, and the KL.

KL when it goes too far and overtakes is not very pleasant. And a slow linens bloom at 88% RH is really, really nice (to me). It gives an additional breakdown to the paste and increases sliceability. I'm not the world's biggest fan of KL for tommes. Prefer DH or candida utils. I like some KL in certain blues. Individual preference...

Yoav just posted my favorite rind for tommes: PLA and mycodore, and that's it. I agree, it's a brilliant culture blend, gives a rustic, very French tomme.

Pav et al, old post, but I'm returning to basics as I feel I've forgotten so much.  We've talked about getting a thick, mushroomy, mold-centric rind; part of why I'm going with a larger milk amount is to better afford the thicker rind.  I know 85% favors mold development.  I suspect it's dicing brunoise into demi-brunoise, but what would you think about starting with this RH then ramping up to 88%, once everything else has settled in?  In other words, all else being equal, would you expect any appreciable difference in flora balance between a cheese that started on the low side (85%) then ramped up to 88%, and one that started at, say, 88% and stayed there?
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linuxboy

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Re: Tomme Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #329 on: January 30, 2014, 03:28:25 AM »
The lower humidity will give you slower yeasting and slightly faster molding. But thing is, you're dealing with micro amounts on a small scale. A measurement or viability issue can shift the flora to one side or another more than slight humidity change. I deal with humidity changes in 5% increments for ease. 85, 90, 95, that's all I emphasize these days. Between all those, usually there's a big enough difference in growth.