After having used my Tomme-style mold for so long and become comfortable with it, using the stainless steel brick mold was a new experience. I also implemented the seed starter mat for the first time to keep my curd warm while pressing.
The seed starter mat worked very effectively, reaching a peak temperature of 94F with the kettle lid covering the cheese pot. I can now say that the mat was a little
too effective and I should have cracked the lid slightly to keep it a little cooler. Excellent idea though. Kudos to Sailor for that one.
The brick mold is open-ended. After using muslin in the mold for the first several pressings, I removed the cloth and did the final press for 10 hours in the warmed pot. Using the muslin in the brick mold was a little difficult. The cloth wanted to snag on the edges of the mold. Then when I was trying to flip the naked cheese brick in the mold, it wanted to bend out of the mold. I sliced a little off one edge of the brick with the sharp edge of the mold. Very floppy. I measured pH5.10 coming out of the mold.
When I was unmolding the cheese, curd had squeezed out through the holes. I had placed a draining mat on the bottom of the pot and that became embedded in the bottom of the cheese brick, hence the exotic design in the one face of the brick. Yeesh! I don't know whether to shave it off or leave it alone. The follower, cut from a cutting board, was a little tight-fitting in the mold.
There are tiny bubbles in the curd. I'm not sure what to make of that. There are also open spaces, which is okay for this cheese style.
I followed, somewhat, the Esrom recipe from 200 Easy Cheeses.
Cultures used:
- Aroma B 1/2tsp
- SR3 1/16tsp
- KL71 1/64tsp
I used 1/8tsp dry calf rennet and it floc'd in 8 minutes. That's pretty consistent with what the rennet has been doing for other makes as well.
I am determined to keep the rind low and more to the style with this make.
-Boofer-
