Sheep milk Reblochon

[elkato]

This is my first attempt at a washed rind cheese, I followed Boofer's recipe and the make went as follows:
Reblochon Nov 9
3 gal Frisian sheep milk pasteurized 15 sec. at 161F (going to use raw milk next time)
waited to get to 89f
Added Sacco 032 culture and a microtad of ms 064 cp and Sacco geothichium  waited 60min.
floc. time=13min x 5= 65min.
cut 1in cubes rest 15min.
whisk into hazelnut size
rise temp to 92f slowly
rest curds 15 min.
fill molds, got 5 wheels 5inch.x1inch and 1Pound each
flipped and re-dresed at 10 min with 5 pound weight
left 6 hr. with 5pound weight
left 8hr. inside mold without weight or follower
left 2hr in whey/brine 1gal whey/ 4 cups salt. flipped at 1 hr.
left to air dry for 5hr.
put inside Tupperware box on top of mat and into 50f cave

Now my question,
I didn't have b.Linnens at the make, it will arrive Monday (4 days after the make) so I will have to apply it in the washings with the 2% brine, so how exactly should I do these washes? what are the amounts of water/salt for 2%? do I start washing without BL? can you recommend something I else I probably missed?
I will update the results of the progress of the wheels, and thank you in advance!

[DNM]

I'm new here and have been making reblochon cheeses for a few weeks, with the help of some of CF's cheese gurus' posts.  I am wondering how your reblochons are coming along.  Here is a picture of ours aging. 

[Boofer]

Elkato: I'm sorry...it looks like your posting fell through the cracks and no one responded. 
By now I would expect you would have been washing with the linens and should have good color showing. Do you have an update with pics, hopefully?


MaryP: Wow, what a spread of Cams! Hey, wait a minute...what's with that one in the back leaning away from us? Doesn't want to get involved? Excellent effort.

-Boofer-

[DNM]

Haha, yes, that one (and the one in front of it) shows what happens when you think you can make two types of cheese in one day...  the press was taken up with another cheese... I figured that since the reblochons don't need so much weight, I could just put something on top, so they started slanting... there was no fixing it.  I kept trying to move the weight around, they kept falling to the side... I finally thought of putting a cutting board on it, but by that time both cheeses were set in their slanted ways, so there you have it.     

I guess I should explain that we have a Jersey cow which freshened in September.  She lost her calf during birth, so we had to hit the ground running....  It's taken us a couple of months to get used to handling 5 gallons of milk a day...  But, no matter how much milk we have, we can only make one type of cheese per day. 

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Elkato 2% brine means 2% salt in the water. If your water is 1 litre you use 20g salt (1 litre is roughly 1Kg). Add a pinch of B. Linens and wait 24 hours.

Spray with an atomizer or wipe it with a cheese cloth dunked into this brine

[elkato]

Thank you Mary, and Boofer!
The reblochons are 2, 1/2 week old.
 for their first week of life I didn't have b.linens so I just flipped them daily and the last 9 days I have been washing them in brine with b.linens and Geo. it has been only a couple of days since a slight sign of Geo has appeared on the surface, of course wen they are starting to smell like a Camembert but no linens growth yet, should I cut back on the washing to every other day?

[elkato]

Gurkan
 thanks a lot for the wash info, very usefull as I think I had the percentages wrong and didn't wait that long before washing, that is probably why I have no b. linens showing yet!

[fied]

I ususally don't start a b. linens wash until about a week after the make. Then I wash every two days for six days, then every 3 days for 2 or 3 washes (by which time the colour and smell should be developing), then wash them with brine every 4 days for a couple of weeks, then once a week, if necessary, to keep the rind supple. If the humidity in your cave is high enough, the cheese might not even need the once-a-week treatment; if it doesn't, I just wash and dry my hands and smear them over the cheese to spread the b. linens. The finished cheese rind shouldn't be sticky, but has to be soft and supple, so humidity is important.

[elkato]

Thank you Fied, very usefull information!

[elkato]

Update!
47 days since the make, for the longest time about 30 days there was no linnens at all, then I was able to get some KL71 yeast and made a new brine and proceeded to wash with it and almost overnight the linnens came with a vengeance, I think I over did the linnens wash!
 last night I washed them with 3% brine (no Linnens) to knock it back a little, I would like to achieve a rind like I have seen in pictures where you get some geo powder and it seems dry not sticky

Does it get that way with a little time or should I lower humidity or something?
 by the way the cheese is still firm (just a little softer than before) I just don't know when you can tell it is ready

Merry Christmas to everyone!
(in the picture a reblochon after brine wash next to a new tomme)

[Boofer]

Yes, you certainly do have some deep color there.

I would like to achieve a rind like I have seen in pictures where you get some geo powder and it seems dry not sticky

Is your rind sticky?

Wow, I can't get over that linens color...in a Reblochon!

If you haven't stopped washing, now would be a good time. Then, just brush or rub them lightly.

-Boofer-

[elkato]

Yes Boofer the rind is sticky! it has so much linens growth that the it looks like fresh orange paint! Fied said (in a few replies earlier in this thread) that the rind should be dry, not sticky, he mentions that (I think) the last washes are done with just brine (water+salt) no linens
do you think that is the trick to knock the sticky goo to a point it dries?

[Boofer]

To be honest, I have only done Reblochon once. The rind was not sticky. The linens was an accent, not the main character. The PC, Geo, and KL71 balanced out the SR3 (linens). The rind had a slightly powdery feel due to those other three components.

I don't have enough expertise to say whether you can reverse or limit the linens character at this point. It seems closer to my other washed rind cheeses that are supposed to be strongly linens in rind character.

If it were me, I'd try to minimize the humidity...maybe mist with some Geo. Otherwise, chalk it up to experience. Check your notes where it may have gone off the track and correct it next time.

-Boofer-

[elkato]

Update! I cut open one of the wheels at 51 days, even with what I thought was overgrowth of linnens the paste is still half way soft, the inner core is not yet done, but the flavor is really good,kind of nutty sarong but not overpowering, not acid, just a bit salty, I will let the rest of the wheels age for 2-3 more weeks
for the next make I will add PC, press with less weight, and decrease brine time,

[george13]

Hello elkato, just curious as to your Reblochon in the picture of Dec 26.  Was that more of a yellow rather than orange color, that's what it looks like to me.  and, can you tell me if that yellow eventually went away.  I have that on my cheese right now, and although the flavor and inside texture are great (I made it on Jan 29) the rind is bothering me, and I am running out of time I think (40 days).  Thanks