Can I Graft a Cheese Mold?

[waltweissman]

Can I Graft a Cheese Mold?

I have a great goat cheese I brought back from England with the perfect rind/mold.  If I were to put some of that rind in that box with my aging goat tome, will any transference occur?

[GortKlaatu]

Good chance that many of the components would inoculate your cheese, but probably not all.  And depending on what's in your cave, I wouldn't expect your tomme rind to come out exactly like the cheese you bought.  But it sure won't hurt to try and it's a cool thing to do, too.

[FooKayaks2]

Hi Walt

While I have never done it I believe you could scrape the ring off or cut it off then make up a slurry with the rind then use that as a wash solution. I have read posts on the forum discussing that approach. It may have been discussed I. Linux boys Tomme thread or one of our old members abondance threads.
If you do some searching I am pretty sure you will find it.

Mathew

[Gregore]

If any of the cultures on that cheese find the right conditions they will certainly prosper .  figuring out exactly what they like is the hard part .

If I was to use this technique , I would not add it to the milk , but would instead use it a rub on the outside of your cheeses . Store some of the rind in the freezer and make a slurry  to be rubbed on a cheese 24 hrs  or more after salting .

[FooKayaks2]

Hi Gregore

Using as a wash is the way to go I agree

[waltweissman]

Wow, great suggestions everyone.  Thanks.

walt

[Gregore]

It does not even need to be a wash .....
 Just rubbing the old piece  of rind  and then rubbing the cheeses ,  but a wash is more likely to get everywhere more evenly .

[LantGladstone]

Actually I was reading this question perhaps in a different way than the poster intended....Would it be possible to graft a rind?  Like for example could you take a round of nice  aged hard cheese, slice off the rind from the sides and the top and surround fresh curds (with the inside of the rind pointing in) before pressing?  Would it incorporate?

I have no idea why I'd want to do this (but I guess I could make some arguments).  I wonder what issues I'd run into and if it would speed up ageing times etc.  People usually just throw the rinds away if they aren't saving them for soup etc. and if it DOES speed things up it could employ a  nice reuse/recycle sort of philosophy.

[GortKlaatu]

Interesting LantGladstone.   
I love it when folks think in new directions.

[Boofer]

Bear in mind that as the rind begins to grow on the new cheese, conditions may be optimal for early adopters such as Geo or other yeasts to begin work. As the rind development progresses, some early adopters may die off and follow-on cultures kick in and begin to take over, such as B. linens.

With a fully developed rind, you may only get the last cultures that were/are active. Not only that, but you may be incorporating interlopers that have managed to find the cheese during its development or handling. Just a thought....

If the mold on the rind you're trying to recover is PC from Camembert or PR from a blue, your success rate for clean mold goes up dramatically. I have grabbed PR from a commercial cheese, made a slurry, and added it to the cheese effectively. The PR should be taken not from the outer rind, but from the inner paste where it should be fairly "clean". Other forum members have successfully used this technique as well.

-Boofer-

[waltweissman]

Thank you Boofer.

I'm not sure what this mold is.  It is a fantastic aged goat cheese from England.  Any thoughts as to what I am looking at?