Author Topic: 200 recipies Raw Milk Tomme  (Read 1959 times)

susanky

  • Guest
200 recipies Raw Milk Tomme
« on: May 14, 2011, 09:16:38 PM »
Has anyone made the raw milk tomme recipe in '200 easy recipies' book?  It doesn't call for any culture.  So I suppose it relies on the normal flora of the milk.  I'm presuming that you will get a very different cheese with different milks.  I'm thinking of making one from my Brown Swiss milk, then one from the Jersey milk to compare (the cows from different farm so likely different flora).  But will the flavor be dull without adding one of the cultures with a known flavor profile?  I hope lots of you have made them so you can share your experience! 
Susan

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: 200 recipies Raw Milk Tomme
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2011, 03:06:38 PM »
Quote
But will the flavor be dull without adding one of the cultures with a known flavor profile?
Maybe. It all depends on the bacteriological quality of your milk.

I would make a clabber. Do this. Leave fresh milk out in a waterbath of 80-85 degrees. Like you do for yogurt, but at lower temp. Wait until it coagulates and note how long that takes. Take it out and smell it. It should smell like buttermilk, like a soured kind of milk. If it coagulates quickly, say 6-12 hours, you have enough native bacteria that you don't even need a starter (either one you make or a commercial one). If it takes a long, long time, then you need a starter. If it smells "off", then you need a starter like MA4001 to increase acidity really fast and outcompete the other bacteria.

If it does take a long time, but eventually coagulates in 18-30 hours, you've just made your own homemade starter. Some people call it a clabber. From here, you can either take a few spoonfulls of the starter and reculture it a few generations so it becomes stable, or you can take that clabber and add 1.5% by weight to the raw milk in place of the usual DVI culture. This will give you a more predictable flavor profile.

To sum: try it out on a small batch of milk first and note the time it takes to coagulate, and also note the overall sensory qualities by using your nose and taste buds.

There are more reliable methods of doing all this, but you need a lab.

I personally am against using no added starter for cheesemakers who are starting out. If you're made cheese for a while and have developed natural lactic bacteria ambient to your environment, then it's possible. But even then, it's still easier and more reliable to use clabber as a starter or save whey and use whey as the starter.

susanky

  • Guest
Re: 200 recipies Raw Milk Tomme
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2011, 04:14:28 PM »
Thanks linuxboy.  That's a big help!  I'm going to try it, just because I am now curious.  Still may use started.  I don't know why I never thought to save whey to use for a starter.  Could I even freeze it? 

I am in the middle of trying Sailors Mother Culture recipe.  I was making one each thermo and meso.  They were holding temps pretty well but once in a while I'd turn on the heat just for a few minutes.  Don't you know I walked away once and forgot all about it (OK, really .. who amonst us hasn't done THAT!).  It was 160!  I immediatedly plucked the milk out and cooled it but I fear I killed the innocent bacteria.  How do I know?  The thermo I once forgot but to about 130.  I'm hoping it is OK.  Can someone remind me the fatal temperatures for these groups of bacteria?
Susan

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: 200 recipies Raw Milk Tomme
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2011, 06:30:20 PM »
Quote
Could I even freeze it? 
Yes, whey works about the same as bulk starter in terms of the bacterial concentrations. Use the same inoculation percentages.
Quote
How do I know?
Plate it out on a slant, or if that's not possible, propagate some to a new generation and see if the heated milk is still good as a starter.
Quote
Can someone remind me the fatal temperatures for these groups of bacteria?
Fatal to what log reduction level? Typically, you don't want to go above 110F for meso and not above 135F for thermo. Varies with strain, though. Leuconostoc, for example, won't survive too well beyond 105F. Depends, bacteriology has a lot of gray in it in terms of survivability.