What procedures and conditions should I keep it in to promote the proper growth of a rind similar to the tomme de savoie? A medium brown thick rind.
Got it. Here's what you do:
1) Inoculate the milk
2) Make 2% brine with rind slurry. 2% just in case the white mold is really sensitve to salt.
3) Dunk cheese in brine every day for 3-5 days. RH 95%. Temp 55F. After the third time, take a rag and wipe the whole thing down. Let it rest for 1-2 days. The surface should change, get a little funky/smelly, slight whisps of fuzz. Not slimey, exactly, but you should see a color change (orange/red), that's the transition point.
4) Dunk cheese every other day for 2-3 times and wipe down with rag after each time. RH 90%. Temp 55F
5) By this time, you should have a decent bloom of whatever is starting to grow on it. Let it grow out 2-3 days so you can see what's happening. There should be orange/brown/slight white spots.
6) Dunk a few more times, spaced 3-5 days apart, wipe with rag to keep the molds down. Then let it grow out. The geo should take over, make a mottled kind of rind with white and red and brown.
7) From here, cut the temp to 50-51F, and humidity to 85-87F and let it go. Brush down every few weeks at first, then every month or as needed for maintenance. The color will equalize and be more uniform.
Should give you a close approximation of that rind. The brown comes in a little later usually, in 2-3 weeks from the make, and the color intensifies. What you're doing is raising the temp and humidity at first, to get everything to grow, then letting the geo take over and bloom, and then cutting back the temp and humidity and letting the cheese age and rind flora to die off.
