My Attempt at Boofers Taleggio

[Al Lewis]

So I decided to have a go at Boofer's smooth rind taleggio.  Can't think why as I have the box mold and two followers I have used in the past but, it looks really cool so why not.  I used the cultures he used that can be found here and are somewhat different from those listed in the book.  I used 2 1/2 gallons of whole milk and 1 quart of heavy cream. The remaining recipe, i.e. times, temps, etc. I used from the 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses, First Edition pg. 170 as Boofer neglected to share the ones he used.  So this morning, after repeated flipping, I removed it from the tomme mold and found what looked like the surface texture of a sponge. Well into the 18% brine solution for 8 hours it goes.  Instead of flipping cheeses in brine or salting the tops I choose to place a mesh screen on them with a plastic weight.  This holds the top of the cheese below the surface of the brine.  The container is an old Tupperware cake cover the wife no longer used.  Works a charm for brining.  I'll take another shot when it comes out of the brine so you can see the surface.

[GortKlaatu]

Awesome.  Following this with much interest.

[H-K-J]

I have never eaten one of these what is it supposed to taste like?
Enlighten me Al.
I think I will find out where I can get some and try it out.

[Al Lewis]

Taleggio is a stinky cheese.  My first one came out very gooey like a brie but Boofer's seem to hold their consistency to a point that you can slice them.  That's why I'm trying his recipe.  I'll see which one I like best.  Here's a shot of mine and a shot of his.  Mine is the square one.

[GortKlaatu]

All the "professional" Taleggios I've had were somewhere between the two--soft like Boofer's but with a bit of early "goo" close to the rind like yours.
Probably my favorite stinky cheese.

[Al Lewis]

Here's what the surface turned out to look like.  It actually may work to my benefit as the Geo and Brandy will have more area to work on.

[Boofer]

The remaining recipe, i.e. times, temps, etc. I used from the 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses, First Edition pg. 170 as Boofer neglected to share the ones he used.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

I like to post here as somewhat of an historical record for me personally. Fortunately for all the folks here I don't post all of my makes. If I'm trying an experiment, I like to show a progression from the beginning to my palate.

Somewhere along the line I decided posting the details for every make was redundant, so now I try to capture the spirit and high points of the make. Here's where I devoted a little more detail.

You get to a certain point where:

• Heat milk to 90F/32C
• Add cultures, allow to rehydrate, stir in
• Add CACL2 if not RAW milk
• Depending on recipe, immediately add rennet after .1 delta (like Maasdam), or wait for pH drop to 6.4-6.5
• From rennet add, wait for floc time depending on floc factor; confirm floc with spinning bowl
• Cut/whisk curd to desired initial size, rest to heal curd; cut/whisk to smaller size if desired, rest to heal
• Gently stir curds, maintaining temp
• If washed curd, drain 1/3 of whey and wash lactose with equal measure of added 130F/54C water
• Continue gentle stirring while raising temp to 100F/37C or higher for alpines
• Test curds for mat-ability to gauge readiness to drain, pH at whey drain s/b around 6.35
• Drain curds in lined colander
• Transfer curds to lined mould, hand-pressing into the bottom corners of the mould to ensure a tight knit
• Depending on cheese style, no press, press with weight of cheese, or heavy press for a semi-hard or hard cheese
• When pH drops to 5.3-5.4, salt cheese or brine for 3-4 hrs/lb (1.5-2 hrs/kg?)
• Airdry cheese for period of time
• Move cheese to cave
• Flip, wash/wipe, age as appropriate
• Continue to preserve cheese with cream-coat, wax, oil, natural rind, cheese paper, or vacuum-seal
• Enjoy

This rather simplistic outline doesn't take into account all the nuances for each specific cheese style, but covers a lot of the cheeses that I make: Tomme, Taleggio, Tilsit, Hispanico, Esrom, Maasdam, Beaufort. The lactics, cams, and blues are not in this group.

-Boofer-

[Al Lewis]

I totally agree.  As you know I use to posted extensive makes with pictures and every detail and, as you, felt it was all becoming very redundant. I only post details of new makes I do now in case someone new wants to try it, and it actually works.  Not sure anyone bothered to try the old ones I did anyway but there you go.  Anyway, I can get times and weights for just about any make from my books.

[Al Lewis]

Here's a shot of my very "sticky" taleggio this morning.  Been misting with a brine/cognac/geo mixture.  Hoping for a little color soon.

[GortKlaatu]

That is looking good.
I'm following closely, as Taleggio is on my short list for upcoming cheese to make.

[Al Lewis]

Kind of doing a schmier on this one.  That stops the "sticky" stage a bit but the stinky stage is up and running!!!

[Boofer]

Looking good, Al.

-Boofer-