Author Topic: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4  (Read 10370 times)

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #15 on: November 29, 2012, 09:18:41 PM »
I wanna be a Boofer-T when I grow up. ;)

Offline Boofer

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #16 on: December 19, 2012, 02:13:37 PM »
This was my target when I started this cheese:

"I looked at the date, June 23rd, and a spark of inspiration was lighted. How about a nice Beaufort that would be ready for Christmas in 6 months? Okay, but it has to be more elastic and less crumbly than my previous 3 efforts."

Today, after I wiped some more white and blue mold off the cream coating, I decided to cut the cheese.

Wow...bullseye! I did indeed hit my target. The texture was hard but flexible...very much in keeping with the alpine style. The salt level was spot on. Then my tastebuds lit up! There's the nutty character! Excellent alpine flavor and it lingers on the palate.... It's difficult not to overdo the sampling.

There are some discussions on the forum about cream coating. This confirms its effectiveness for me. It protected the cheese and then peeled off very easily. That may not be true for all cream coatings. YMMV. This one works. I was worried that the mold I started wiping off the cream coating had penetrated through to the cheese itself. Not at all. The rind is dry and free from infection.

I divided the cheese into eight wedges and vacuum-sealed each one. Someone else will enjoy this cheese for Christmas. :D

I only wish that this was a larger wheel. I'm afraid it will disappear quickly. :'(

Another checkmark goes in the WIN column.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

bbracken677

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #17 on: December 19, 2012, 02:30:16 PM »
Congratulations on an outstanding Christmas cheesey success!  A cheese for you!  Merry Christmas!

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #18 on: December 19, 2012, 04:32:23 PM »
What a very nice looking cheese especially that rich colour.
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

JeffHamm

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #19 on: December 19, 2012, 04:34:55 PM »
Very nice outcome!  A cheese to you for hitting the target.  So, I should be expecting that to arrive in the mail fairly soon then? :)

- Jeff

hoeklijn

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #20 on: December 19, 2012, 07:56:56 PM »
And of course a cheese from the guy who sort of convinced you to try cream coating ;). What an excellent cheese that became! I bookmarked it because I will try this one some day...

Offline Boofer

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2012, 12:12:35 AM »
Thanks, guys. Good stuff.

And of course a cheese from the guy who sort of convinced you to try cream coating ;). What an excellent cheese that became! I bookmarked it because I will try this one some day...
Sort of? No, you were very instrumental in swaying me to use cream coating. Thanks for that.

My Horseradish Cheddar was cream-coated as well and it has begun showing white growth on the coating. I wiped it down this morning with vinegar along with the Beaufort. According to linuxboy, the natamycin in the coating loses its potency after 6-8 weeks. The Horseradish Cheddar is too young for that so it must be the aggressive culture (terroir?) in my cave network...or I just need to wipe down my cave walls. But is that something I want to do? Don't I want to develop a culture inside the caves to mimic what a natural, real cave has going for it?

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

linuxboy

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2012, 04:18:25 AM »
Natamycin begins to break down right away. After 4 weeks, typically, there is enough residual left to keep molds at bay.  6 weeks, you're pushing it. 8 weeks, barely any is left. For a coating with a typical 800 PPM natamycin in it, i doubt you you get to 8 weeks. 4-6 weeks is more likely

hoeklijn

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2012, 07:29:47 AM »
Don't I want to develop a culture inside the caves to mimic what a natural, real cave has going for it?
-Boofer-

Mmmm. Not something that I want. I sometimes have different types of cheeses in my cave and I want to prevent cross contamination as much as possible. When I had different caves for blue and white, yes, I would try that and call one of them Cave de Roquefort...http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/soci-t-des-caves-de-roquefort-mro

Offline Boofer

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2012, 02:21:37 PM »
You're most likely right, Herman. I too try to segregate my cheeses when I'm doing a blue. I use a laptop cooler to circulate the air inside the cave. No doubt it has all sorts of cultures attached to its fan blades which then swirl their spores, rods, or other progeny throughout the cave. ???

At any rate, my current setup seems workable for the most part, so I probably won't change anything. I'll just continue spot vinegar-wiping where I need to. I think a little cave terroir is preferable to a clinically clean refrigerator. I'm not performing surgery...I'm making cheese. 8)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

hoeklijn

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #25 on: December 21, 2012, 07:32:38 AM »
Well, I'm not too fanatic about sanity. Now you mention it, I never cleaned the fan that is in my cave. I think at the moment it's once in a month that I clean the cave...

mbox

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #26 on: February 22, 2013, 07:26:58 AM »
Looking at Boofers beautiful beaufort cheese it kinda suggests that my non swelling Emmenthal may be a close relative to it?
The 2 on the back of the Cumin Leyden are the 2 non swelling emmenthaler's



mbox

hoeklijn

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #27 on: February 22, 2013, 07:53:51 AM »
Sorry Boofer, missed that one completely....
Yes, sometimes that happens to me when I skip the cleaning several times. Normally once a week I clean all coated cheeses with a cloth with water and vinigar.

Offline Boofer

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Re: My "I Want to Be a Beaufort When I Grow Up" cheese #4
« Reply #28 on: April 05, 2013, 08:03:48 PM »
This cheese is so good...I'm sorry I didn't make it larger than I did. It's at the top of my list for remakes when the cows are munching on rich green grass again.

Boy oh boy, if you're looking to make a semihard or hard cheese, I can't say enough good things about this style. :D

Very nice.

-Boofer-
« Last Edit: May 16, 2016, 03:25:18 PM by Boofer »
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.