Esrom - The third time's the charm...

[Boofer]

Ah, Esrom, you wiley cheese. You have tested me before. I have learned much since our last meeting.

Rising at 4:30AM yesterday morning, I was greatly anticipating making this cheese. The second effort was earlier this year and I had . . . a few problems.

Somewhat following the recipe (as before) from 200 Easy Cheeses, I put together what should ultimately be a more pleasing product. I had contemplated taking the easy route and just using my Tomme mold, but instead decided to give the more difficult brick mold another try. This mold conforms more to the true Esrom brick style.

A few details:

• 4 gallons creamline whole milk
• 1/2 tsp Aroma B (meso)
• 1/8 tsp SR3 (b. linens)
• 1 tsp CACL
• 3/32 tsp dry calf rennet
• started at 90F
• 5x 4x floc factor

The make went very well. This time I used Plyban (plastic cheesecloth). Interesting stuff. What I found was:

• it lays flat against the cheese and adheres (like wet tissue)
• it folds flatter and takes up less room so there are fewer chances of creating creases
• it doesn't stick to the cheese like cloth
• it doesn't create weave markings like muslin
• it doesn't melt in boiling water (I was wondering how I would sterilize it)
• it isn't costly...it is an affordable alternative to muslin

The discovery that it adheres (but does not stick) to the cheese allows the entire block to be encased with the Plyban, allowing it to be handled more easily as a more firm unit rather than as a loosely-bound block of curds. This was important when removing it from the brick mold, flipping, and rewrapping it. The Plyban was a lot easier to rewrap the cheese with too. What a dream! 

I pressed in the kettle (not under whey) using 15 lbs for 5 hours, flipped & rewrapped, and pressed for another 5 hours with the 15 lbs. The pressing took place at room temp of around 70F. I brined for the same amount of time, getting up at 3:00AM this morning to flip the cheese in the brine. It was out at 8:00AM to airdry in a minicave at room temp for 24 hours. Tomorrow morning it will be consigned to the white cave. Taleggios are in the black cave.

I am pleased with the knit this time. Overall, the cheese looks good. The weight seemed a little high. That is most probably because of the brining and the 5x 4x floc factor. We'll see how it goes.

Edited 11/11/2011: to change the floc factor. I guess I got confused with the factor I had used in my Taleggio #2 which was 5x. I rechecked my notes for this make and the factor was indeed 4x after having floc'd at 8 minutes.

-Boofer-

[linuxboy]

Bravo; your technique and final outcome look excellent. Hard to tell if it is a little moist... might need to watch temps and keep them in the lowerish range (48F) to slow down proteolysis. Exciting to see the tweaks and improvements you've made to take product quality to a higher level.

Also, perfect time to make stinkies right now, given the high humidity and perfect temps we have here in the PNW. Hope it turns out well

[Boofer]

Also, perfect time to make stinkies right now, given the high humidity and perfect temps we have here in the PNW.

Let's see...Esrom, Taleggio... what's next? Hey, how about a nice Livarot or a Pont L'Eveque?

Thanks for the kudos. Seems like both caves are coming down to 50F or a bit lower now.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Thought I should include a description with pic of the style.

Smells really nice this morning and the sides are beginning to relax a bit into what the traditional shape will become.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Getting a little nasty growth after the second week. Washed it off easily.

This brick feels good. I am optimistic. 

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

The flat surfaces were a little touchy when I tried to flip the brick. They had a tendency to smear because the paste was pretty moist at the center. I lightly sprinkled coarse salt on those areas and kept the cheese standing on its edge. In order for it to stand on its edge I had to remove shelves and readjust so that the minicave lid could fold back.

I have also been wiping it down with SR3 & LR in 3% brine. The edges and corners are showing a little stress and dryness because of the decreased humidity with the lid wide open. Yesterday it seemed like the excessive moistness on the faces had diminished so I laid it back down and closed the lid. Fingers crossed. Need to up the humidity and get the linens growing properly.

Starting to smell funky. 

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

The rind is still amazingly soft and smearable. This is definitely very different than my second effort. This cheese promises to be moister and creamier.

It has been a challenge getting the rind environment under control. From last Thursday until today, there is surprisingly few foreign incursions. That's good. Today I merely wiped and rubbed gently. There continue to be a few wet spots on the surfaces. I cracked the minicave lid slightly to try to reduce the surface moisture. The linens seems to be coming along fairly nicely at this point. You can see the definite change in color from my last posting to today.

I didn't include KL71 in this make. I wonder if that would have made any difference in controlling the rind environment. Seems like if I could add something to firm up the rind, that would be a positive improvement.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Still very soft at the middle. Perhaps 4x floc was a little too moist.

I rubbed with salt and a bit of vinegar today to knock back some errant blue and to try to dry the rind a little more.

Lots of nice linens color though. 

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

I'm thinking this should have a 3-3.5x floc and be pressed for longer time. This was 15lbs for 5 hours, redress, flip, and press with 15lbs for another 5 hours. I don't believe the applied pressure (weight) needs to be any greater, just for a bit longer to expel a little more whey.

After 30 days, I don't believe this should be quite this moist at the center. The rind never really firmed up sufficiently. When I gently lift the cheese off the mat to rub it or wash the errant blue away, some of the bottom surface comes away stuck on the mat.

On Wednesday when I lightly sprinkled salt on it, the surface wept fairly quickly.

Now I'm wondering whether this should be brined or just dry-salted. I'm not sure what the Danes do.

I just did a search and found this: esrom cheese manufacturing indicates that the cheese is brined.

...and this: EU document on Esrom which seems to say a larger brick offers better quality. I believe my size and weight characteristics for this cheese are spot on. The document also seems to say that the cheese is dry-salted.

-Boofer-

[Aris]

To prevent the cheese from sticking you can put parchment paper below the cheese. I use sushi mat which is terrible for this kind of cheese because of sticking but when i use parchment paper, its the paper thats sticks to the mat not the cheese. It can be easily peeled off from the mat and the cheese without any damage to the rind. The cheese will still continue to dry even wrapped up in parchment paper. About your cheese being moist, maybe should open the lid a little bit to reduce humidity. My beer washed cheese at 47 days is also moist in the center but its fully covered in b. linens.

How long will you age this? and what was the pH after brining?

[anutcanfly]

When you wash these types of cheeses with ale and wine, when do you begin the washes--after B. linens has made strong appearance or can you start right away? What I am asking is B linens hurt/impeded by these washes?

[Boofer]

To prevent the cheese from sticking you can put parchment paper below the cheese. I use sushi mat which is terrible for this kind of cheese because of sticking but when i use parchment paper, its the paper thats sticks to the mat not the cheese. It can be easily peeled off from the mat and the cheese without any damage to the rind. The cheese will still continue to dry even wrapped up in parchment paper. About your cheese being moist, maybe should open the lid a little bit to reduce humidity. My beer washed cheese at 47 days is also moist in the center but its fully covered in b. linens.

How long will you age this? and what was the pH after brining?

The parchment paper doesn't get soggy? I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

The lid is cracked to reduce the humidity. In the past I have wrapped in cheese paper between 5 and 8 weeks and then moved to the main fridge for another month. I think I'll take it out of the minicave, wrap it in parchment paper and age it on the cave rack. That should allow it to dry a little better without causing the edges and corners to dry too much.

I didn't take a pH reading after brining.

When you wash these types of cheeses with ale and wine, when do you begin the washes--after B. linens has made strong appearance or can you start right away? What I am asking is B linens hurt/impeded by these washes?

Sorry, I haven't washed this with wine or ale. Just SR3 and 3% brine. I have done a Tomme with wine and that was after the linens had started to come on. I'm not sure now whether the wine did anything to the linens. The wine was part of the 3% brine.

-Boofer-

[Aris]

Boofer,
It does get soggy but it is still pliable and doesn't tear easily like a normal paper. Don't store the wrapped cheese too long in the fridge or else it will have cracks on the rind. I've had a cheese before that got cracks because i left it for a day or two in the fridge while wrapped in parchment paper. Parchment paper lets the cheese breathe to the point it will lose moisture fast inside a fridge.

Anutcanfly,
With my beer washed cheese, i started washing it with beer after 8 days. At that time it has already formed a light orange rind on the sides but a bald top and bottom. Iirc at 20 days, it is fully covered with light orange rind. I also wash it with B. Linens brine alternately or at the same time. I don't follow a schedule, i just wash with beer or brine or both when i feel like it or if it looks dry. At 47 days old, still no sign of molds and has a good orange color. To answer your other question, Beer doesn't seem to impede the growth of B. Linens, it actually helps it grow faster and prevents molds from growing. But with my other cheese which is washed with Bourbon whisky, it has developed a B. Linens rind but it is not softening at all like my beer cheese. I think the high alcohol content of the whisky either killed the B. Linens or slowed its activity dramatically.

[Boofer]

Boofer,
It does get soggy but it is still pliable and doesn't tear easily like a normal paper. Don't store the wrapped cheese too long in the fridge or else it will have cracks on the rind. I've had a cheese before that got cracks because i left it for a day or two in the fridge while wrapped in parchment paper. Parchment paper lets the cheese breathe to the point it will lose moisture fast inside a fridge.

Yeah, I would wrap in parchment paper and put into the cave to age a bit. The humidity in there is a lot higher than the normal fridge but still low enough to encourage more rind drying without being excessive. It has worked well for me in the past with other cheeses that need a little more drying.

What type of cheese gets a Bourbon wash?

-Boofer-

[Aris]

I have no idea. It's just one of my silly experiments. I'll post some pics later.