Author Topic: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall  (Read 21935 times)

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2012, 01:35:57 AM »
b.linens can be sooo slow!

Offline Boofer

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #31 on: April 05, 2012, 02:56:22 PM »
Okay, I've just read a recipe for Port Salut which is also a smear-ripened cheese. It calls for the smear to be on the cheese for 12-15 days and then to brush it off under running water. Then presumably you would dry the cheese and either vacuum-seal it or wrap it in special foil.

This is a revelation for me. My Esrom #3 was pretty tasty (still have some in the big fridge) but the linens smear had not been removed and was fairly off-putting when eating the cheese. If I can let the smear do its thing and then remove it to have a finished cheese without the offending smear rind...I think I'll have a winner.

I don't believe the idea of removing the smear rind has been mentioned in any of the smear-ripened cheese recipes I have seen.

So my course of action at this point is to continue with the smear for another week, which will make it around 14 days, and then follow the brushing/washing regimen to remove it. A day or so to dry it off and then I'll vacuum-seal it for another month of affinage. I expect that the middle of May will be a good time then to cut into it.

-Boofer-
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JeffHamm

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #32 on: April 05, 2012, 05:22:57 PM »
Hi Boofer,

Interesting.  I ended up removing the smear rind that the washed-rind Butterkase that I made (up?) developed, but that was due to not letting it air out enough and it started getting a bit amonia smelling.  I still cut the rind off, even after removing the linens, since it was quite strong with off flavours, but the interior paste was very nice.

- Jeff

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #33 on: April 05, 2012, 08:19:18 PM »
I have 2 different recipes for port Salut and both wash off the B.linens after 12 and 15 days.

brush off any surface growth under a stream of floating water on 12th – 15th day.

Brush off rind flora after 2 weeks and wash to get a cleaner rind.

The Esrom recipe I have from Danlac doesn't even use b.linens but the one from 200 cheeses does.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #34 on: April 11, 2012, 12:56:49 AM »
A couple more days and I'll wash off all this gorgeous color.  :'(

But that's a good thing!  ;D

You can see in these pics that this is my best smear yet!

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #35 on: April 11, 2012, 05:35:05 AM »
I love the smell of linens in the morning!  Well done!  From wondering if it was going to happen at all to best smear ever is covering all the bases.  Nicely done.  A shame it has to be washed away, but that's part of the process.  Maybe wash 1/2 then get a photo before finishing off the clearance.  Congratulations and a cheese for perserverance.

- Jeff

Offline Boofer

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #36 on: April 11, 2012, 03:14:09 PM »
I love the smell of linens in the morning!  Well done!  From wondering if it was going to happen at all to best smear ever is covering all the bases.  Nicely done.  A shame it has to be washed away, but that's part of the process.  Maybe wash 1/2 then get a photo before finishing off the clearance.  Congratulations and a cheese for perserverance.

- Jeff
Thanks, Jeff. I had to give you credit in the photo...you saw the pink before I did. Maybe "couldn't see the forest for the trees"?

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anutcanfly

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #37 on: April 11, 2012, 03:31:30 PM »
That color is intense!  Hope you can recreate it on purpose!

Tomer1

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #38 on: April 11, 2012, 03:51:25 PM »
Maybe you could freeze the smear and try and reuse it in the future.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #39 on: April 11, 2012, 04:04:41 PM »
Maybe you could freeze the smear and try and reuse it in the future.
Wow, that's an interesting idea. It would seem like a morge mother culture.

I've attached the PLA makeup. I'm not sure if that would be possible for the combination.

Perhaps one of our more learned members could offer an opinion.

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Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #40 on: April 11, 2012, 11:04:26 PM »
Very nice looking rind you got going there Boofer!

george

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #41 on: April 12, 2012, 09:46:03 AM »
Ooooh - pretty!

JeffHamm

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #42 on: April 12, 2012, 05:17:55 PM »
yes, pretty in pink!  Seeing smear in a photo is like spotting Elvis in a mall - it's only really cool if you're right!

- Jeff

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #43 on: April 14, 2012, 06:39:52 PM »
Today was washday. Time to come clean.

I was unsure how this would go. The smear was pretty thick and I thought it might extend into the paste and create an awful mess removing it. Not so. The smear came off with brushing and water. I was left with a red-tinted cheese with a very firm rind. After removing the smear, I dried it and resealed it for continued aging. Still targeting around D-Day/June 6th for cutting this open.

Sorry, Jeff, I had it in mind to try to only remove half, snap a picture, and then proceed with removing the rest. Once I began, it became clear that this was just too messy to do that.

-Boofer-
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JeffHamm

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Re: Esrom (#4) with Herbes de Provence...another brick in the wall
« Reply #44 on: April 15, 2012, 04:46:55 AM »
Interesting.  The colour looks much more intense now that you've removed the smear!  Elvis has left the building. :)

- Jeff