Author Topic: Skin Slip/slippage and Slippage Blisters in Washed Rind Cheese  (Read 2619 times)

silverjam

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I have read a few posts on skin slippage but they relate mostly to brie/camembert etc so I want to start a new thread specifically related to my problem.

I make mostly washed rind/smear ripened cheeses such as Limburger, Talleggio, Tilsit, brick etc. Most of my cheeses work out well but I have had a few stuff-ups over the years with skin slippage and I can't seem to figure out why. Here is what has happened as a some examples.

Port Salut: Was going along nicely with rind washing with 5% brine. After about a month it started to soften, looking good then bang, overnight the skin split and cheese oozed out. I put it in the fridge with the hope the lower temp might set it a little and it did but it was sill oozy.

Tallegio: Similar thing happened to PS. but this time I had only been washing them for about 4 weeks and they developed a few blister like slippages then over night they oozed and looked horrible. All I could do was vacuum seal them but even after a few more weeks of ageing they were still pretty bad with slippage.

Limburger developed two blisters around an inch in diameter and oozed. I put it in the fridge and it seemed to calm down with the slippage.

Current cheese: Fennel infused Esrom (recipe from 200 cheeses - Plain Esrom that is). It developed a blister on the under side that I noticed when turning the other day and the sides look a little wrinkly and falling. I am worried I might lose this one too so I have stopped washing and are turning twice daily (Sounds like I am nursing an older person back to health). The oozing site seems to have slowed down but I am worried it will go full slippage like my Talleggios and the Port Salute.

I should note my aging humidity is not so high (around 80-90%) with the temp around 12'c.

I have made many other cheeses that turned out ok so I am trying to refine where I went wrong with these examples.

I also think as a theory it is possible my cheeses are too thick. It seems to happen to cheeses that are larger, and in the Talleggios case I made them a little thicker than usual (only because of the yield I got from the milk).

Also what are the suggestions once it starts to try any stop or even fix the problem?

Vacuum seal?
Wrap in double sheet "smear ripened cheese" paper.
Fridge?
Decrease humidity?
Turn more regularly?

Ive tried them all with the fridge (4'c), turning regularly and decreasing humidity (to the low "standard fridge" level) for a few days showing the best fix (but not an absolute fix).

Perhaps I am stuffing up more at the manufacturing level or with pH etc? I don't focus a lot on pH and I know I should. I also have heard it is possible I am not draining the curds enough.

Any thoughts?

Silver.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Skin Slip/slippage and Slippage Blisters in Washed Rind Cheese
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2012, 03:21:33 AM »
Slip skin is generally attributed to Camemberts and such but any cheese can get overly soggy. Just looking I would think these were pc covered cheeses.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Skin Slip/slippage and Slippage Blisters in Washed Rind Cheese
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2012, 03:01:14 AM »
No just looks like PC from here. I see you are using a container is it closed? They do look to wet to me from the picture. Is the cover drippping on the cheese? Any moisture in the box?

FRANCOIS

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Re: Skin Slip/slippage and Slippage Blisters in Washed Rind Cheese
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2012, 12:43:38 AM »
Ditch the container if you don't need a lid.  If the cheese takes up a considerable amount of the volume in a container you are probably suffocating it.  Cheese produces copious amounts of ammonia as it ages, which is heaveier than air.  Your container will allow it to build up until it spills over the sides.  Excessive ammonia around the rind will cause all sorts of issues and keep the good bugs from growing.