Author Topic: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)  (Read 23786 times)

JeffHamm

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #60 on: October 22, 2012, 02:37:10 AM »
That really does look fantastic Boofer.  Well done.

- Jeff

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #61 on: October 22, 2012, 12:27:50 PM »
Just another pic datapoint....

-Boofer-

I would call that a salivation point rather than a data point!  Wow!  You mention the BL being a bit off-putting and washing it off.  Is it that stinky sneaker smell that is off-putting?  I'm curious because I've been thinking of a smeared style cheese but been concerned about how much I'd like that flavor.  Hmmmm.

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #62 on: October 22, 2012, 01:22:46 PM »
My wife enjoys my smeared cheeses by cutting off the linens rind if it's still significantly intact. I have let the linens do its thing for a while in several of my cheeses and then, at some point, I will wash/brush it off under cool, running water. I did that yesterday with my Tilsit #4 and the rind was only slightly smelly, but very edible. You may see some recipes that call for washing off the linens smear after it has worked its magic. It makes for a very dramatically different cheese experience. Very rewarding.

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition...the final hurrah
« Reply #63 on: December 05, 2012, 05:40:39 AM »
Tonight I had taken a vacuum-sealed wedge of this amazing little cheese out of the big fridge in keen anticipation of my eating pleasure.

When it came time to sample the goods, I opened the bag and felt a slickery surface on the flat face. Formerly it had been quite dry. When I cut into the cheese I was quite surprised to see that the inner core was gooey and delightful-looking as before, but just under the rind it had turned crumbly.

The taste was offputting and lacked the original appeal. Let this be a lesson to me or anyone daring to "save" a wedge for later enjoyment. It doesn't work that way. Admittedly, this is a little long in the tooth at 16 weeks. 8 and 10 weeks ago this cheese was simply astounding in every way. Now, not so much.... :(

Perhaps the several pieces I had saved could be used in cooking, but they are no longer suitable to be served discretely.

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Offline Tiarella

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #64 on: December 05, 2012, 12:45:26 PM »
Hmmm, glad you posted this.  Soooooo, if I can't eat all the Reb style that I just vacbagged I should mail it to you to eat while it's fresh?   :D  Is that the moral to this story?? ^-^

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #65 on: December 05, 2012, 01:27:37 PM »
Now you're catching on! ;)

Love your blog by the way...I'm very envious. I would imagine you're no doubt getting off the grid as well to be self-sufficient.

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #66 on: December 05, 2012, 04:41:02 PM »
Thank you for the blog comment!  You and your wife are welcome to visit if you are on the East coast!  We do have a nice guest room suite we offer to interesting people.  That way, since we can't really travel to meet people elsewhere, we still get to make new friends! 

We do have solar panels but we are still grid tied and have no batteries to store energy overnight.  And we can never be self-sufficient because we can't grow chocolate.   :'(  Or olive oil.    :-\  But we do have lots of food resilience here.  We are butchering this weekend....lamb and goat kid.  Just checked the greenhouse to see if it needed watering and grabbed a handful of chickweed to munch on.  Life is good but busy.  I don't remember what it's like to sleep past 7 am. 

You know, about that Reb cheese.....and I do think I should start calling it a "Rebel" cheese.....I just tried another little sliver and I'm not sure I'm so into the flavor.  This saddens me because I think it's quite beautiful.  I'll try it on some bread with garlic/olive oil and a bit of smoked sea salt.  Maybe that'll sweeten the deal for me.  Otherwise I'm going to have to find someone closer than you to dump the cheese on.  I don't think it's flavor would improve being shipped across the country to you!   ???  Although, who knows???????  Maybe that's just what it needs!!!

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #67 on: December 05, 2012, 08:11:32 PM »
Sorry to hear about your Reb flavor. Is it the cheese and the rind? Would it be enjoyable if you do as my wife does and trim off the rind?

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LoftyNotions

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #68 on: December 05, 2012, 09:03:18 PM »
Thanks for the vac bag information, Boofer.

I'd hate to have 8 of them bagged up and ruined. :)

Larry

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #69 on: December 05, 2012, 09:16:08 PM »
Not so much the vacuum bag, but the age. Too long. Eat 'em fresh!

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iratherfly

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #70 on: December 05, 2012, 09:16:38 PM »
I am really not a fan of vaccum in any surface ripened cheese. It suffocates the rind that needs to breath air and remain alive.  Wrap with a proper wrapping paper or if you have a small wedge, you can put it on a cheese board and refrigerate it covered with plastic wrap so the cheese is not touching the plastic so much.

The other thing is, if you just want to see if a cheese is ready - don't cut it in half!!! cut yourself a tiny slim wedge and inspect it. you can even taste a core sample without braking the rind (a slim wedge will also get to room temp fast so it will give you an optimal test). If the cheese is no ready - plug the piece with its complete rind right back into the cheese and continue aging. It's like taking a sample with a cheese trier (but a cheese trier doesn't work very well on softer cheeses). Even if you destroy the wedge, you can insert Saran wrap to seal the place from which the wedge was taken ant it will continue to age.  If you don't do that - you will be amazed to see that rind will grow and heal on place of the amputated wedge. The cheese will continue to age. I promise.

If you happen to cut the wheel in half, you can put a Saran wrap only on the exposed surface. Then re-wrap it with the cheese wrap and continue aging it in the fridge. It will work - you can certainly age half a wheel with no need to vacuum or suffocate the rind and it's not a throwaway.

Otherwise, if you are stuck with too much Reblochon ...you can always make a Tartiflette. Who doesn't like Tartiflette???

KATHRIN; I really think your cheese is premature. You need to age it more.  You made it from goats milk so technically this is a Chevrotin and not a Reblochon and it needs a bit of a different aging.  You would be amazed at how much the flavor and texture can change when you age it longer.
What does it taste like to you right now? Too chalky? Brittle? Sour? Acidic? Bland? 

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #71 on: December 06, 2012, 03:21:49 AM »
So you're saying that if I had just wrapped in cheese paper that it would have survived better even at 16 weeks?

Who doesn't like Tartiflette???
Never had the pleasure.

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #72 on: December 06, 2012, 12:14:45 PM »

KATHRIN; I really think your cheese is premature. You need to age it more.  You made it from goats milk so technically this is a Chevrotin and not a Reblochon and it needs a bit of a different aging.  You would be amazed at how much the flavor and texture can change when you age it longer.
What does it taste like to you right now? Too chalky? Brittle? Sour? Acidic? Bland?

Yoav, when I tried it on a cracker I liked it fine.  I knew it might be a bit immature but it was soft and supple feeling and I have so much of it I didn't worry about opening some.  It wasn't any of the 4 words you asked about with regards to flavor.  A little like library paste when eaten plain.  I really do like the texture a lot; that's great!  The smell isn't super strong but I don't like that a lot......wouldn't dab some behind my ears before going out on the town!   :o

iratherfly

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #73 on: December 07, 2012, 08:27:38 AM »
Well, that's a whole new use for it!  ;D ;D ;D

It's a gentle cheese, especially when young.  Reblochon is not the stinkiest of the washed rinds, it's a mixed rind and suppose to be somewhat herbaceous and milky, not bold and stinky like Livarot or Munster cheeses (not to be confused with Muenster)

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Re: Gooey & Sinful... Fourth Edition (fingers crossed)
« Reply #74 on: December 07, 2012, 12:31:27 PM »
Maybe it's close to hitting it's mark then.  It's not strong smelling.....just not my favorite smell.   :P