My First Reblochon. Might As Well Join The Party

[LoftyNotions]

Yep, this is kind of like raising children. :) You watch them grow up and hopefully make something of themselves. Speaking of children, I think these need their diapers changed.

Who wants to be the godparent?

OK, anyway... This was day 11. I have pics both before and after the wash. Next wash in 3 or 4 days.

[Boofer]

Yep, this is kind of like raising children. :) You watch them grow up and hopefully make something of themselves. Speaking of children, I think these need their diapers changed.

Who wants to be the godparent?

OK, anyway... This was day 11. I have pics both before and after the wash. Next wash in 3 or 4 days.

Yeah, okay, I'll be a godparent.... Here's my address. Go ahead and send them over for me to look after.  :)

-Boofer-

[LoftyNotions]

I was thinking more along the lines of you coming over and making them less stinky. ;)

Anyway, day 12. Edges are getting more squishy. Getting close to wrap-up time.

[LoftyNotions]

Day 13. Not a whole lot going on with them right now. I'll wash again tomorrow and then decide whether to wrap them up or not.

[LoftyNotions]

Day 14. Washed the cheeses again today after 3 days. I really don't see much color change. When I squeeze the edges, I can see the sides bulge out now.

Decision time... do I wrap in a couple days or wash once more???

[Boofer]

Stinky, huh? Looking good.

Ohhhh, the anticipation.... :P

-Boofer-

[LoftyNotions]

Day 20
I haven't bothered to post any pictures the last couple days because there wasn't much change. They've been through 2 weeks of washing, so right or wrong I decided to wrap them and put them in the regular refrigerator today. Grand opening maybe 3 or 4 weeks.

The edges are nice and soft. I expected more color change, but I'll take what I got.

My wrapping skills need MAJOR work. :)

[Boofer]

You know, they look like little floured rounds of dough.

Nice wrapping & labeling. A cheese for your efforts.

-Boofer-

[iratherfly]

Gotta love the label!

Use a smaller one next time though so the wrapper have more breathing surface unblocked.

They look fine!  The orange will continue to develop.  You can always encourage the B.Linens with a bit of coarse salt for abrasive action when washing. More important than the look - how do they smell?

[Tiarella]

How do you keep them so clean, so uncontaminated by other stuff.......

[LoftyNotions]

Gotta love the label!

Use a smaller one next time though so the wrapper have more breathing surface unblocked.

They look fine!  The orange will continue to develop.  You can always encourage the B.Linens with a bit of coarse salt for abrasive action when washing. More important than the look - how do they smell?

I used the larger label because as a novice cheese wrapper I could just barely get the "paper" around the cheese. It's kinda holding a lot of loose ends together.  ;)

My wife complains every time she goes down the basement, so I think they smell just right.  :)

[LoftyNotions]

How do you keep them so clean, so uncontaminated by other stuff.......

It seems that the Geo and linens keep everything else from growing. 1 week of every other day washes, 1 week of 2 washes. Flip every day.

[iratherfly]

I hope your wife doesn't smell ammonia but just good cheese!

Kathrin, when you wash cheese its a lot easier to prevent foreign things from growing because you keep washing it over and over again, knocking down whatever contaminants are attempting to take hold.  By the time you stop washing you have such overwhelming majority of your desired flora that it's difficult for contaminants to compete.  And then of course, there is a matter of using good sanitizing practices: The wash bottle should be sanitized, the wash cloth should be sanitized, so is the box and the boards, and everything needs to be away from contaminants, trash, baking, pickling, meat curing etc.

EDIT:
Re wrapping, I forgot earlier to add this video. Slow it down. this is how you wrap a cheese such as this. If you can't get it right, head over to a good cheese shop and make friends with the cheesemonger. They do this all day long...
Maison Fischer : Emballage du fromage de Munster

[LoftyNotions]

No ammonia, just a nice funky cheese smell.  She really doesn't mind it, she just likes to have something to whine about. And I give her SO few reasons! :)

Thanks iratherfly. That video is very helpful. I was trying to start at one corner and work my way around.

Larry

[hoeklijn]

Thanks for the video, Yoav, that's very helpfull. I think I'll have to practise still a bit before I can wrap them so quickly...