Mycodore - Using To Wash Rinds (Morbier)

[dttorun]

I did a 3 gal morbier last weekend but when the b.linen spraying time came I find out that I ran out of it. So, I decided to try mycodore instead. I was wondering what are the pros and cons. What can go wrong?
Is there a commercial morbier cheese made this way? Or, I need to give a new name to this cheese? Mybier? :-)
Thanks for any comment.
Tan

[iratherfly]

That's cute, Mybier.  Bier in french actually mans Beer, and frankly you would get a really nice wash and natural B.Linen growth from beer, especially because if its great hearty yeasts.

Mycodore is better for wild rind growth or post-wash growth on Savoie style cheeses. It's not so great in my opinion for washes. It is also pH sensitive and sensitive to salt so if your wash is over 2% salt it may not grow at all or worst -compete with B.Linen.

On the other hand, cheese like Reblochon gets washed with nothing but simple brine of water and salt. the B. Linen would still  come out and be lovely. Putting your own B.Linen helps you speed up the growth and select the desired strain (for color, aroma and strength selection) but B.Linen would come out as long as you wash with a brine of 3%-4%, give the cheese enough air and humidity, and de-acidify the surface - something that Geo or Yeast can do for you.  My word of advice, keep the Mycodore for cheese where it is effective and use salt water, or a brine of beer + 3%-4% salt.  If you already put geo in the cheese than no need to add it to the wash.  Also no need to add geo to beer wash.

[dttorun]

iratherfly, thanks for the reply. I had to brine wash morbier with 12% salt for 8 hrs as per recipe. So, I shouldn't expect mycodore to develop due to too much salt? Also I did not add any geo while spraying mycodore.
Tan

[iratherfly]

You brine washed it or brined it?  You first need to brine the cheese to make it salty, create rind and protect from pathogens. To do that you must leave it in brine which is at least 18% salt and at least 3 hours per side for each 1 lb of cheese.  (Your 12% may seriously undersalt the cheese and moreover - attract pathogens). After you brined the cheese and let it dry for 3-5 days, you move it to the cave and begin aging it. A week after that you would want to begin a brine wash regiment. That is the WASH part and here you would use 3% of salt only. It helps the bacteria.

Many ripening bacteria types do not grow in the acidity or salt conditions of cheese but the spores are not dead.  As soon as the surface deacidifies and bacteria such as geo can build a rind, bacteria such as mycodore can climb on top of it and build itself on a cushion of geo which won't be as salty as the surface.  To remind you, mycodore is a plant/soil pathogen. Historically it made its way to cheese not from the milk, but from the aging environment, the wood planks and in the cheese caves of the French Savoie.  As cheese ages, it develops different acids, different protein to fat ratio, modified fats and proteins and a new balance of minerals.  The ripening bacteria will begin to wake up when that balance is right.  It is mostly not immediately after brining the cheese but in the weeks  to come.

As for the geo - you can include a pinch of it in your wash. It will help create a rich and de-acidified rind. In late stages (after the b.Linens painted your cheese orange and you stopped washing) geo will re-appear in a form of a white powdery bloom over the rind. It's a good thing.