Thanks, Brie. I do understand the purpose (I think) of the saturated brine - again, please forgive my newbie (and fractured mind, at times -
) status, which can lead to confusions; as I understand it, the saturated brine wash is both to ward off unwanted molds (as you say), as the alpine style rinds are extremely clean and taut; additionally, and relatedly, to dry the rind out - either as part of the natural rind, or in prep for the morge treatment, if going with a bacterial surface-ripened cheese.
It's this aspect of drying out that I am confused by; again, looking at Sailor's recipe (and I've seen this expressed similarly elsewhere), there's an initial period of 7-10 days, "during which" molds, etc., will start to form. A saturated solution is then used to wash the rind free of these molds.
But reading Kosikowski, etc., it seems to imply a salting regimen that is continuous from the brining and "initial" drying; so, in a nutshell (I'll try to make this concise):
I. If doing a natural rind, after brining, do you leave the beaufort alone, until molds begin to appear - then wipe it off with saturated brine? This could be anytime, really - 7, 10 days, 2 weeks - but basically, the saturated brine is used to wash the rind; there's no regular, real "salting" regimen otherwise. If so, what is Kosikowski, etc., talking about when indicating:
brining for 2-3 days, then a cool room treatment of: 50-60F, 90ish% RH, and wiping down daily with a salt solution; turn cheese over onto a clean board, sprinkle dry salt over the surface, and replace on shelf. Repeat for 10-14 days]. Then "Hold in a warm room at a minimum of 57F for 4 weeks or more; salt the rind periodically, and permit smearing of the surfaces during curing at 59F
? Does anyone see where I'm getting the confusion, over this initial period, and salting, post-brine?
II. If wanting to do a morge-based beaufort, do you:
(1) again leave the wheel alone for some period after brining (this is the "drying out" period, the setting up of a truly dry rind, upon which corynebacteria, etc., are "layered"); use a saturated brine to keep off unwanted contaminations, and then, finally, after some pre-determined period of "drying"; then begin a 3% morge washing regimen, of every 3, or 6 days (which is it - and what's the reasoning), to the end of maturation? or
(2) Does one leap into a semi-regular 3% morge process, every 3, or 6 days (again, if recipes say "every 3/6 days - which is it, and why?) immediately after brining/drying?
Sorry for the morass, folks - a point I'm clearly but sincerely sticking on, and hopeful of a lantern to guide me out.