My first Tommes

[Propercocker]

They are mixed milk, my goats and some Amish cow from down the road. The natural rind one is just over a month old, and I've been fighting black mold on it, but I seem to be winning. It now has some blue too, but I figured that was better than the black, so I've been letting it go. The second is a couple of weeks old. I'm washing it with red wine/salt. It seems to be growing some white fuzz, but its hard to tell due to the wine.

[Tomer1]

Maybe point out your washing regiment? 

[Propercocker]

The wine one--I poured maybe 1/4 cup pickling salt in a quart jar, filled it to the top with the wine. I've been washing it with about 1/4 cup of that mixture every 2-3 days, and I plan to stop when I run out of that jar of salt/wine.

The other one I brined, and have just been rubbing off the undesirable growth with salt. Maybe that doesn't make it a true Tomme...

[Boofer]

The wine one--I poured maybe 1/4 cup pickling salt in a quart jar, filled it to the top with the wine. I've been washing it with about 1/4 cup of that mixture every 2-3 days, and I plan to stop when I run out of that jar of salt/wine.

The other one I brined, and have just been rubbing off the undesirable growth with salt. Maybe that doesn't make it a true Tomme...

That's a lot of salt for a wash. 12.5% wine brine.   Perhaps a better ratio would be closer to 2-3%.

How long did you brine it? What was the brine ratio?

You may want to consider using a little vinegar & salt to gently remove the unwanted growths. I wouldn't permit the blue to continue. I would assume you were not intending to create a blue cheese, correct?

-Boofer-

[Propercocker]

Hey Boofer, thanks for the comments. I didn't brine that one, hence the lots 'o salt, but perhaps that was a mistake. I tend to be a bit of a wing it and go kind of gal, but sometimes that gets me in trouble... And math is SO not my strong point, so I have no idea what the ratio is.

I've been using salt and vinegar to remove the black mold. I've kind of let the blues go, hoping to outcompete the black. Once again, maybe an incorrect logic. That one was brined, I don't have my notes in front of me to see the amount of salt I used...

[JeffHamm]

Hi Propercocker,

I've attached an excel workbook that can help you with working out a lot of the math things in cheesemaking.  Check the page called "Brine Time" and there's a utility there that can also be used to calculate how much salt (in grams) to add to a volume of water to give you the desired percentage solution, or to figure out what percentage solution you have when you combine some salt with water.  Some other useful tools in there too.

- Jeff

[Propercocker]

Thanks JeffHamm!

[Boofer]

Wow, my head is spinning. So much math!      

Good job, Jeff.

-Boofer-