Gooey and Sinful...Second Edition

[Boofer]

This is my second effort at Reblochon. The first effort was almost a year ago.

I had bought 2 gallons of whole creamline to make Mozzarella over the weekend, but things happened and...well, this is Plan B.

Initial pH: 6.66 (uh oh... )

2 gallons Twin Brook whole creamline milk
1 quart Twin Brook fat free milk (bought for my wife, but she didn't want it.)
1/4 tsp MM100
1/32 tsp TA61
1/32 tsp LH100
1/32 tsp Geo13
1/16 tsp SR3
1/16 tsp PC
1/32 tsp KL71

1/32 tsp Renco dry calf rennet in 1/4 cup distilled water
1/2 tsp CACL in 1/4 cup distilled water

5/20/2012:
5:00AM When collecting cultures, I dosed 2 cups of distilled water with SR3 for subsequent washing; into fridge.
5:15AM pH 6.66 With a ripening temp of 88F, I stirred the cultures in.
6:00AM pH 6.58 Stirred in CACL and rennet.
6:18AM pH 6.51 Floc'd in 18 minutes. I'm using a 4X multiplier this time because the form factor is thinner than last time and it should ripen faster.
7:30AM pH 6.36 @ 88F Cut the curds to 1 inch, rested 10 min, then used whisk to cut to 1/4 inch, rested 10 min.
7:50AM Raised temp to 91F to scald, then stirred for 15 min.
8:20AM Drained 1.5 gallons whey back to rinsed bottles for making brine. Tossed the remaining whey.
8:30AM pH 5.99 Packed curds into 3 Plyban-lined Reblochon moulds.
8:30AM Pressed in pot using 10 lb weight, which applied 3.3 lbs to each mould, for 15 minutes, then flipped & rewrapped. Repeated.
9:00AM Removed Plyban. Pressed in pot naked using 10 lb weight, which applied 3.3 lbs to each mould, for 60 minutes, then flipped & repeated.
11:00AM Removed moulds from pot to drain overnight at room temp.

5/21/2012:
6:30AM pH 4.80 Into brine for 1 hour, flip, and in brine for a second hour.
8:30AM Out of brine, dried off; into minicaves for drying/airdrying for a day.

-Boofer-

[DeejayDebi]

Looking very nice Boofer!

[Boofer]

We're in the first week. The cheeses have had two washes of light brine & linens. The PC/Geo is coming on now. It's still very early in the program.

-Boofer-

[DeejayDebi]

It's coming!

[Boofer]

Working with the PC/Geo....

Looks like everything is progressing on-track at this point. Washing with 3% brine dosed with SR3 every other day.

-Boofer-

[hoeklijn]

1/4 tsp MM100
1/32 tsp TA61
1/32 tsp LH100
1/32 tsp Geo13
1/16 tsp SR3
1/16 tsp PC
1/32 tsp KL71

That's an impressive list Goofer! I spent my Sunday reading as much as I could on Choozit cultures and find it hard to figure out what to use where and how much. That is, if I am able to buy them, I bought some different cultures in Germany (well, talking about different cultures  ) and I'm still figuring out how they relate to the Choozit types. Where did you find the knowledge that guided you to use this list for your Reblochon?

[Boofer]

1/4 tsp MM100
1/32 tsp TA61
1/32 tsp LH100
1/32 tsp Geo13
1/16 tsp SR3
1/16 tsp PC
1/32 tsp KL71

That's an impressive list Goofer! I spent my Sunday reading as much as I could on Choozit cultures and find it hard to figure out what to use where and how much. That is, if I am able to buy them, I bought some different cultures in Germany (well, talking about different cultures  ) and I'm still figuring out how they relate to the Choozit types. Where did you find the knowledge that guided you to use this list for your Reblochon?

I tried to study Brie's and SueVT's recipes and guidance for the first effort which turned out okay. Also, that effort brought forth a pretty good discussion which might help you. I didn't have Geo15 which would have been more appropriate. I used Geo13 which is all I had available at the time.

If you have Thermo C, it includes helveticus along with the thermo so you wouldn't have to use both TA61 and LH100. Again, I used what I thought would give me suitable end results.

This will be only my second Reblochon make so I'm still deep into the learning curve. This is the first time use for the genuine form factor moulds though, so that should hopefully improve the ripening towards the center core.

Hope that helps.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

They look really good already.  Will be very nice once they bloom into full colour mode.

- Jeff

[Boofer]

The linens has made its appearance and I have stopped washing. For the past several days I have been merely rubbing and airing them to keep the surface growth down. Still fairly firm...no softening yet.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Ooo, looks good! 

I keep meaning to ask, what are the dimensions of your moulds for these ones?  And how thick is each cheese?

- Jeff

[hoeklijn]

Looking good! And how's the smell at this stage? I have to redo these, because my first attempt turned into a good buttery Camembert with a slightly more taste and smell, maybe caused by the BL. Anyway, I served most of it at a party and the remainder at work and people loved it. Me too 

[Boofer]

Ooo, looks good! 

I keep meaning to ask, what are the dimensions of your moulds for these ones?  And how thick is each cheese?

- Jeff

From glengarry, I'm using true Reblochon moulds for these puppies. The cheeses are around an inch (2.54cm) thick. My first effort at this style was a little on the fat side, but they still turned out pretty wonderful. 

Looking good! And how's the smell at this stage? I have to redo these, because my first attempt turned into a good buttery Camembert with a slightly more taste and smell, maybe caused by the BL. Anyway, I served most of it at a party and the remainder at work and people loved it. Me too 

They're showing a slight stink to them, but the softening hasn't really progressed so the smells that accompanies that isn't there yet.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

We're about 5 weeks in to this cheese at this point. It seemed like the one cheese I started ripening in the Tupperware container was ready to go. It was moister and softer than the other two in the larger minicave. The humidity in the smaller container did a better job of facilitating the ripening. I also saw this in my Fourme d'Ambert #2.

Three days ago I decided to scrub off most of the linens. I used my cheese brush under cool running water and then dried them off and put them back in the cave. I'm not too fond of excessive orange (linens).

The first cut showed me that the cheese was ready. Although mine looks somewhat similar to the examples from the Reblochon site, my rind is substantially thinner than the ones shown. The paste texture was soft and fairly consistent throughout without the hard unripened core that my first effort showed early on. I should say that later in the process, that core did fade away. The taste was smooth and creamy with just the right level of salt. No off-tastes of ammonia or bitterness. Wonderful.

I wrapped the rest of the cut cheese in Formaticum paper. Although I had previously wrapped PC and PR cheeses in cheese paper I bought at The CheeseMaker, iratherfly suggested this paper so I thought I'd give it a try.

The other two cheeses are a bit harder and less ripe than this one. They'll continue to ripen in the minicave. Hopefully, they will  ripen successfully if given the time.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Now that is what we like to see!  Well done Boofer and a cheese to you.  That looks like a splendid result.

- Jeff

[Boofer]

Thanks, Jeff. I'd like to repeat this again with some more summer milk. Yum!

-Boofer-