My 3rd Tomme

[Tiarella]

Looks good, Jeff.  if that's a wild rind, mine must be feral.  They are a lot wilder.   :o

[JeffHamm]

Hi Tiarella,

Yah, it is pretty tame as far as wild rinds go.  I was expecting a bit more scary stuff.  But, I brush it back, so it's not too fuzzy, and the humidity is a bit low (which minimizes the growth).  I might try and up it a bit and see what develops.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Finished this one off yesterday.  It was a good cheese to the end.  Sad to see it go. 

- Jeff

[green zebra]

Hi Jeff,
What do you mean by "sad to see it go"...did you toss it in the garbage?

Also, regarding the molds on the cheese...i see you did not wipe away the spots...this may sound like a stupid question, but "why?". I am used to keeping those nasties at bay. So far my 2 week old tomme has shown some blue mold and i have been wiping it all away and it is in my refrigerator cave. It is sitting beside my week old pepper jack that is growing some mold as well. I just keep wiping them everyday. Am i doing this all backwards? ???

Doris

[JeffHamm]

Ooops!  I finished my 2nd Tomme, I posted that in the wrong thread.  Sigh.

I find the black spots I get don't affect the flavour, nor are the "bad" for you, so I don't fuss ab out them.  They are just ugly, but I'm trying to turn that into a feature. :)

- Jeff

[Tiarella]

Ooops!  I finished my 2nd Tomme, I posted that in the wrong thread.  Sigh.

I find the black spots I get don't affect the flavour, nor are the "bad" for you, so I don't fuss ab out them.  They are just ugly, but I'm trying to turn that into a feature. :)

- Jeff

Yeah, maybe get those dark spots lined up to create constellations or a connect the dots drawing!  yeah, that's the ticket!   :D.  Okay, goofing aside, I also like to create that rustic rind and it does start to look better if there's lots of whatever it is rather than a few random spots.  good luck and keep the photos coming.

[JeffHamm]

Just updating the ageing process of this one. It's now 938g and has a great smell of hazelnuts when I brush it down.  I'm not sure what mould I get that results in that smell, but it's common on my cheeses and produces a nice flavour, so I'm not complaining. :)

[JeffHamm]

Well, I decided to bin the balloon gouda.  It had too much of a bitterness to be enjoyable.    So, I decided to open the tomme.  I was worried it would be quite mouldy inside as the knit was not good, and indeed, some of the wild rind has made it to the interior.  However, once I removed that, the taste is very good!  I bought a Tomme de Savoi (sp?) from a French cheese shop nearby (they import a bunch of raw and pasturised French cheeses - very nice) and I'm pleased that the flavour is recognizably similar.  I've got a bit of bitterness from the rind wild moulds, which gets into the interior a bit because of the invasion, but nothing like the balloon gouda.  If I get a better knit on this, this will be perfect.  Thanks Pav for this make procedure.  It's a winner by me.

- Jeff

[mjr522]

I think that looks great, even with the inclusions.  I really like the color--on my display, it looks purple--and I imagine, even though I know I'm wrong, that it has a fruity flavor.  Nice work.

[JeffHamm]

Thanks Mike!  I'm very pleased with the flavour.  The colour is a light brown, with a whiteish coating of brushed back geo.  Next time I'll press under whey, which I seemed to have forgot to do with this one.  That, I suspect, is why I've got a poor knit.  Learning, it's all about learning (oh, and actually doing what you've learned to do on a regular basis too! that's part of it too - oh, and good materials ... I'll stop now)!

- Jeff

[Tiarella]

Jeff, that looks very cool!!!!  A cheese to you for a lovely cheese with a nice rind.  I had some rind mold inclusions of wild blue on my favorite cheese.....just in a few spots but it didn't change the taste.  (wasn't PR)  I'm a bit envious of the hazelnut smell but then I've got a mold that smells like sweet fruit when I brush it off.  doesn't smell before I brush it....just after.  Is yours like that or can you smell it even before brushing? 

[JeffHamm]

Hi Tiarella,

Thanks!  I can smell the hazelnuts mostly after brushing, like your sweet fruit mould.  I'm quite pleased with the quality of the help that settles in on my cheeses.  Apart from the balloon gouda, they've all been beneficial! :)

- Jeff

[Boofer]

the taste is very good!

Thanks Pav for this make procedure.  It's a winner by me.

Good to hear the inclusions didn't outright kill this cheese. Does the blue taste agreeable or have you had the occasion to venture there?

I'll echo thanks to Pav for the Tomme as well as the Gouda and Stilton make how-tos.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

I've not tried it.  It's not just blue, but a variety of wild moulds.  Not appealing, except for the flavour they impart through more distal action.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Well, this one is just being finished off with a nice glass of Single Malt with a splash of water.  Much of it was wasted due to the wild mould that invaded the interior (and though it flavoured the cheese nicely, if you got a mouthful of it, that's another story - just bitter and dusty, not nice).  Still, there was enough salvageable to let me know this is a winner.  Next time just have to ensure the knit is better.  Cheers

- Jeff