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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Washed Rind & Smear Ripened => Topic started by: mcbethenstein on October 09, 2009, 02:06:47 AM

Title: Muenster rind development
Post by: mcbethenstein on October 09, 2009, 02:06:47 AM
Hi everyone,
I'm Paula. I'm new to cheese making and this forum. Although I have done a lot of research through these pages I haven't found the answer to this question yet. My question is what does the rind development look and smell like on a muenster? I have 11 hard cheeses (but still have yet to taste one of them yet!) under my belt and have been able to follow the directions from Rick Carroll to a "t", but I'm wondering what are the best conditions for the brevibacterium linens to develop is. I have them in a cooler at around 60deg, and it is quite moist in there. But it has been about 7 days since spraying the bacteria on the surface and there really is no change in the color, but there is a pretty strong smell so far. How long does it usually to take to see orange?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Paula
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: Alex on October 09, 2009, 08:03:36 AM
Wellcome to the forum Paula,

Usually I add the B-linens at the beginning of process with the starter and so on. It doesn't has to make difference.
But, you HAVE TO wash the rind with brine.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: mcbethenstein on October 09, 2009, 05:35:34 PM
I've been washing...or rather making my mom wash it every other day as recommended... it's just barely noticeably pinkish orangeish... but that could be from the annato in the recipe, not the bacteria. I'm just wondering what others experiences are as far as amount of time before the smear starts turning orange/red.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: linuxboy on October 09, 2009, 09:40:52 PM
b linens strains differ in coloration. Some of them turn a light pale yellow-orange straw color, and some turn a very deep almost red-orange. Do you know which strain you have? Also b. linens doesn't like pH below 5.85. Typically, yeasts (Debaryomyces or Kluyveromyces) create a more basic foundation on the rind, also producing nutrients for b linens, and then b linens can live. See here for a previous discussion:

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1858.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1858.0.html)

The brine needs to have yeast and b linens.

Edit: Also, what b linens eats can determine color. Different yeast combinations produce different byproducts, and that can change color.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: FRANCOIS on October 10, 2009, 06:34:53 AM
Are you using Carrol's "meunster" recipe?  It can take as short as 5 days to start seeing b. linens (assuming you are suing SR3).  You need high humidity.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: mcbethenstein on October 11, 2009, 11:47:46 PM
I just double checked. I got the LR strain from Dairy connection. I wasn't sure which to get when ordering. Next time I'll try the SR3. And yes, I'm using carrol's recipe.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: mcbethenstein on October 12, 2009, 06:15:05 PM
OK, so with enough time the answer finally came to me. Yes, my bacteria is growing, but since I bought the LR version, I can't see it very much, but I can definitely smell it. I was at the grocery store and saw some fresh Limburger out... I could smell through the foil and parchment wrap that the "smell" was the same as my muenster, which I believe also uses b linens. I think that since I know the bacteria is working, but not very bright, I will rub the rind on the next washing with some annato to make it darker... then follow the directions for waxing in a few days. I'm so glad to learn this batch is NOT a bust.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: Minamyna on June 19, 2010, 04:43:40 PM
Hey -- on the same theme--

I forgot to wash mine and got some blue mold. I washed it off today but my cheese is so orange its hard to tell if the correct mold is growing?

Is there any way to salvage this? My muenster is about a week/ week and a half old.

Also I can't seem to get my humidity above 86%-88%. It's in a ripening box with a closed lid, temp has been around 57- 59 degrees...

What should I do?
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: MarkShelton on June 20, 2010, 02:59:09 AM
Really? I have the opposite problem. I need to open the ripening box to reduce the humidity. Where do you have the ripening box?
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: Minamyna on June 20, 2010, 05:21:01 AM
I live in Wyoming @ 6,000 ft where it is very dry. I keep them in our special pantry basement (it's basically a "cave", but its ambient temp is between 65-70 degrees) and I set it on the concrete floor to keep it as cool as possible.
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: MarkShelton on June 20, 2010, 08:47:49 PM
Ah, I see. I live in Illinois where the summer RH is normally in the 60-70% range. Once I took a trip out to South Dakota and the locals were lamenting the high humidity. I don't think it got over 50%. Its pretty dry out there compared to here.

Anyways, I think you can fix it pretty easy. My ripening box is set up like this: inside the box, I have a plastic grate. It's about 1/2" tall and rigid to support the cheese above the bottom of the box. Over that, I have a food-grade, flexible plastic mesh. This is what the cheese sits on. With this setup, you could put a wet paper towel in the bottom of the box, underneath the grate. This will boost humidity without having to contact the cheese. Make sure to keep the lid completely closed, and you should be able to boost the humidity. Alternately, a small cup filled with wet paper towels might help also.

I got my supplies from thecheesemaker.com (http://www.thecheesemaker.com/). Check out the supplies page for the mats and grates (platforms). I have seen the mats on other sites as well (dairyconnection.com (http://dairyconnection.com/commerce/catalog.jsp?catId=8) has 2 different mesh sizes) but not the grates.

Hope this helps!
Title: Re: Muenster rind development
Post by: DeejayDebi on June 28, 2010, 02:14:04 AM
I got a packet of the LR from Dariy Connections to see what the differences was it comes out a bright yellow like florecent yellow markers for me. Very weird color for cheese! My niece thinks it's really kewl though. She has the only day glow cheese in town.