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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cooked (Swiss) => Topic started by: Spellogue on June 21, 2013, 12:26:03 AM
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I made an Assiago Pepato using Mary Karlin's recipe last September. I intended to age it for one year. I had the rind headed in the direction I wanted it to go with just little powdery whisps of wild geo. Then about 3 weeks ago B.Linens crashed the party. It looks (and smells) to be a tasty cheese, but not what I was planning.
I'm wondering if there is a reasonable way to retard or remove the B.L. and keep heading for my one year target. The more I consider it I'm thinking I should just let it be what it is now and start to feast on it.
Here are are some pics from late October and today.
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Not that this is going to help you now, but this is why I vac seal everything I'm going to need to age. Even without any ambient b. linens, I make enough stinkies on a regular basis that there is absolutely no way I can keep it from invading eventually. Better luck next time? Looks pretty good, though, pull out that ole vegetable peeler and give it a taste?
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I have gotten a couple of spots like that of B. linens on my blues (I have made 2 blues, it happened both times) and both times they never took over. I lowered the humidity in my aging box (opened the lid) and they just remained little freckles that didn't affect the flavor, aging or texture development of the cheese. I don't know if you will be so lucky, but if it happened twice to me, maybe there is a chance??
I should say that I have been washing (with a plain salt and water light brine, not innoculated with b. linens) some mini-taleggio that I made though, and they don't seem to getting any B.linens spontaneously, so you may have more in your environment than I do.
Good luck
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When I brought the wheel to room temp and found it to be softer than I might have expected I carved into it. It was rather strong. I enjoyed it more when I removed the rind. I normally like to eat he rind on most cheeses, but this one had a bite that I didn't like. Sort of dishraggy, for lack of a better term.
The wheel has evolved into something other than an Asiago, I suppose. The paste is a bit aggressive on the attack, but mellows quickly, to perhaps the longest finish I've ever experienced in a cheese. The finish is of the flavor of a very strong asiago. I certainly tasted asiago, but I had to wait for it, and the front end is a bit shaggy tasting. The peppercorns do add a nice snap.
Should have eaten this one at 6 months. Perhaps I could have waxed it then, or a little sooner, for a keeper. I'll have to try it both ways next time.