Chaource . . . Boofer sinks into semi-lactic

[anutcanfly]

That wrapping paper does cause problems.  Someone mentioned that paper as being a problem, so I didn't use it on my last bloomy rind and it did much better! 

[iratherfly]

Huh, that was probably me... I have a long history of bad-mouthing paper around here.  I think that a few hobby cheesemaking manuals/kits out there are telling people to wrap their cheese as soon as they see bloom. People take this misguided instruction very seriously, wrap prematurely and kill their otherwise successful cheese. Some of these instructions also fail to mention taking the cheese out of the aging container once it is wrapped.

So a few words about paper for anyone having issues with it (or issues with cheese that as wrapped in it...)
Don't get me wrong, I have 6 types of wrapping paper in a box here. I think it's fantastic for the preservation and maturation of stable cheese past the affinage stage, or for packing a slice at a cheese shop; but paper is no cheese cave and should not be used as an affinage accessory.  It works particularly badly if used in combination with an aging container. It's either one or the other, not both.

Paper produce breathable micro-climate so it keeps the cheese at 90% RH when it is refrigerated at normal 50%-75% RH environment of . If one puts the wrapped cheese it in a container that is already 85%-90% RH, then the paper will lock the cheese in a 100% RH environment. Anything above 100% turns into water beads. Surface saturated => PC growth inhibited => Geo growth goes uncontrolled through the roof => accelerated proteolysis due to Geo growth causes bitterness and ammonia to appear just under the rind => the under-rind liquifies, causing possible slip skin condition => dry mold such as PC on the rind recedes => surface flora dies as rind suffocates => cheese aging ceases. The result? Cheese with slip skin, bitter flavor an liquified/soft under-rind area, under-aged center is sour, flaky, and brittle. It's stinky, but not a good stinky.

Paper does work better when it is applied onto stable cheese and kept in a breathing box (such as wooden Camembert box) or a purpose-made cheese box with vents (such as the ones often used for Crottin, Brillat Savarin, Cabécou and others).

Even then, which is the right paper to use? There is no "one-paper-fits-all" here. Blue, bloomy, washed, harder cheese, moist or dry, or cheese that was already sliced all require different wrapping materials. The choices are endless: cellophane, foil, crystal paper, kraft paper, polypropylene, hydrophobic paper, wax and parchment in a variety of layered arrangements, thickness and perforation patterns are made for very specific results with specific cheeses. It takes a bit of experimentation to find the best thing that works for YOUR cheese, the way YOU make it, in YOUR aging environment (by "you" I mean anyone of course).

I personally achieve the best results with perforated cellophane for bloomies, foil for blues. For everything else I use this French made wrap called Expeco; a two-layer paper; one layer is extruded perforated polypropylene and the other is kraft paper that has hydrophobic coating on the side that doesn't touch the cheese. This paper is reversible too, each side is better for different types of cheese.

[Boofer]

Yoav, thank you for that dissertation. Well said and another cheese comes your way.

John, any way this detail finds its way into the wiki?

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Yes, great information on the use of wrapping paper with bloomy cheeses.  A cheese to you from me as well.  Thanks.

- Jeff

[Boofer]

Thanks, Jeff. 

-Boofer-

[iratherfly]

So much love here!

By the way, I wrote another post with photos on another Chaource thread here today. I pointed out that Chaource and several other semi-lactic bloomies of the Champagne region are so incredibly sensitive that they have devised an industry standard to how they are packed, shipped and stored.  Perhaps this is what we should try to adopt here too. They put them inside a paper cup (like a coffee filter or the paper cup used for cupcakes and muffins). that goes inside a wood box (like a Camembert box, just smaller chaource size). That box is then shrink-wrapped with perforated film. I think we can replicate this in home environment easily (just instead of shrink wrap we can attach cellphane to the top of the box with a simple rubber band and then puncture it with needle. I think this will work well. Can't wait to try.

[FRANCOIS]

Honestly it's just a marketing gimic.  You'd be amazed at the plethora of packaging materials and engineering involved with designing them.  There's really no reason you can't wrap these cheeses, except visual smooshing of the mould of course.

When I do new packaging for moulded cheeses I have a 10 page document I fill out and send to designers in France.  It includes information not only about the cheese (fat, protein, water, ash, pH, rind cultures) but also shelf life, shipping temperatures, time in chillers, distribution temps and humidities.....even carboard box details and palletisation.   I tell them if I want paper, foil, a box or whatever plus price points and they come back with a selection of solutions for me.  It's pretty advanced.

[iratherfly]

Be that as it may... these semi-lactics just don't take it as well as Camembert and the box+paper+ perforated shring wrap or the perforated cello wrapping seem to always work without suffocating the rind. Obviously there are external factors as you said. I do washed rind in parchment or crystal paper that has a second layer of cello and I do blues with foil. Camembert types - I only wrap when they are ready for storage or marketing and I do that with two layer paper or perforated cello, but for these all of my one-to-one testing (taking a few from the same batch with different wrappers and side by side aging them, refregirating them, shipping them in chilled containers together across country) the ones with the perforated cello always were the clear winners. Will they survive under regular wrap? Sure. They aren't as good or long lasting though. I also personally prefer that as this cheese ages it would lean towards dryness instead of ammonia.  I have not tried the wood box+paper+perforated shrink wrap myself but I have purchased a lot of cheese like that and from some reason it's only the bloomy semi lactics that they package this way: Chaource, Charolais, Epoisse, Langres, Lactic Robiolas etc. Why do they only do this with semi lactics? Hmmm... Interesting