Author Topic: Ash Brie  (Read 11410 times)

Tea

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Re: Ash Brie
« Reply #30 on: December 13, 2009, 09:54:10 PM »
This is day 5 and the cheeses have melded together nicely, so that was a surprise, I didn't really think they would.  Have been turning and airing everyday, to try and stop the rind sticking and ammonia smell.  So far so good.

Tea

  • Guest
Re: Ash Brie
« Reply #31 on: December 23, 2009, 08:11:43 PM »
Update again.  Everything was going well with this cheese, although I noticed that while the sides were getting a beautiful covering of mould, the tops were not.  It was growing, but just.  Finally got to day 10, and wrapped in the special wraps for these cheeses, then put back into the cave for another week, before I transfered into the fridge for the remainder of aging.

I started to notice an off smell in the cave, so cleaned it out, checked the cheeses, and thought, that I had covered everything.  The smell was getting worse and more offensive, and finally I noticed that the brie was looking moist through the paper.  So unwrapped, and the top and bottom were covered in a pink mould, and the smell was horrible.  The skin had also started to slip.

I decided to cut into it before I threw it, and the paste was looking beautiful and even smelt better.  So really annoyed with myself that I have somehow introduced a contaminant into the cheese.

I also think that the cave got too warm on one occasion, so wondering if that was also my problem.  Anyway, not going to do this again until the weather gets cooler, as it is stinking hot here at the moment.

iratherfly

  • Guest
Re: Ash Brie
« Reply #32 on: December 24, 2009, 07:52:51 AM »
What was your temperature during the initial bloom stage?
Do you think that perhaps insufficient drainage may have released whey later which together with high temprature contributed to the incubation of the contaminant? ...also, just as the ash ionizes the surface and stabilize pH levels for the perfect and fast growth of P.Candidum, it may have helped the contaminant too.  What do you think this contaminant may be?

I am aging 3 of these right now (2 goat's one cow's) without much problem, however I did notice it getting out of control in the goat's version and I think it has to do with improper initial curd drainage. (This is a test cheese anyway for a new recipe, if it doesn't work, oh well). I partially opened the aging box and refrigerated at lower temp for 24 hours, we are back in business.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Ash Brie
« Reply #33 on: December 24, 2009, 10:39:53 PM »
Sorry to hear your cheeses went south Tea they were looking very nice. I have very little experiance with this type of cheese but the one thing I did learn is these guys need to breathe! I found turn them often and letting fresh air get to them was critical to keep that awful smell at bay.

In the first batch I made it peelded off the slipped skin and let the cheeses redry and they grew a new skin and became eddible cheeses. Strange cheeses these are!  ;)

Tea

  • Guest
Re: Ash Brie
« Reply #34 on: December 24, 2009, 11:05:05 PM »
iratherfly I am not sure what the contaminant was, but I do think that the cave getting too warm was the culprit.

Deb I was airing the container every day and turning the cheeses daily too.  There was no smell at all, and I had really thought that I had this won.  It wasn't until 2-3 days after wrapping that the smell started.  I did wonder about scraping off the offending layer and starting again, as I said earlier I am struggling to keep the cave cool anyway, as temps here are 35-38 most days.

I am encouraged by where I did get too with this cheese, and I will definately give this a go again once the weather starts to cool.  For now I am going to concentrate on the filata cheeses.