My Fourme d'Ambert first attempt

[OzzieCheese]

The cloying, piquant aroma of Bleach, the soft bubbling of boiling water, the almost melodious clanking of my stainless steel implements and pots, all those familiar sounds and smells that herald in the beginning of another cheese making session.
First off before I start, I'd like to loudly acknowledge the wonderful work that Jim Wallace from New England cheese making supply company does in providing over 100 cheese recipes - for free mind you - that we all can benefit from.  This cheese is inspired by him and I hope I can do it justice.

I've been away for too long and this morning was eagerly looked forward to and anticipated. The choice of cheese was a long decision in the making and blues and washed rinds are the in favour at the moment as the days are cooling off.

My ingredients differ slightly in both type and quantity due to availability and working with the ones my supplier gives me I know how they operate and the timings.  Please check Jims recipe for a bit of history and wonderful images as well - Thanks Jim!!
https://www.cheesemaking.com/FourmeAmbert.html

[OzzieCheese]

I don't currently have a Process sheet for this so I'm typing this as I go - photos as well. 
for those new to the forum here are the teaspoon measurements I use

•Drop = 1/64 teaspoon
•Smidgen = 1/32 teaspoon
•Pinch = 1/16 teaspoon
•Dash = 1/8 teaspoon
•Tad = 1/4 teaspoon

Jim offers two variations to the these cheese :
•The Ambert tends to be a drier curd which allows for more caves in the cheese and;
•The Montbrison tends to be developed with more moisture nad as the curd compacts more due to the moisture, the bluing tends to be more streaky than cave like.  It also it can develop that lovely red rind if the conditions are right.

I'll be attempting to set the cheese up for the Montbrison variation.

Ingredients.
10 Litres of Maleny milk - now officially Australia's Best Milk.
350mls of their pure cream - as PC loves to go to work on this and I love the wonderful taste it produces.

1 Dash of MA4001 (MA4002 alternate)
1 drop of PC
1/2 Drop of GC - cos I like to mix it up a little
2 mls of 200 IMCU rennet - this I know with allow for a longer coagulation time but with also help retain more moisture. (Jim use 1 ml of Single strength but, I don't really know what that is in IMCU's)
1 Dash of Calcium Chloride - the milk is still pasteurised so this helps with curd firmness.
Salt - depending on eventual weight of the curd going to use 4% but you will need to read how that is applied in this case as it is not all at once.

[OzzieCheese]

Pics:
well you have all seen my kitchen by now but just in case, this is chess making - NOT open Heart surgery - but it is clean and that's where I leave it.  Stainless steel cleans better than plastic.
The Maleny ladies work and recent award - that's why I just love their milk.

Milk has been brought slowly to 32 Deg C and the cultures, CaCl2 and moulds added and is now ripening for 60 minutes.

Back soon...

[Schnecken Slayer]

You are very lucky to have access to that milk. It seems the stores down here want to supply the cheapest product and damn the quality!

[Al Lewis]

Another adventure with Mal!  I can't tell you how much I love watching these. Like you, I too have ventured into Jim's recipes from time to time and found them, nearly always, to produce an outstanding result.  I am also extremely jealous that you have palms trees outside of your kitchen window.  My neighbor has one out front but for the most part this place is a rain forest.  BTW I just throw everything into my dishwasher with a cup of bleach and call it good after the dry cycle. Carry on so we can all revel in your new adventure and success! AC4U!

[OzzieCheese]

Thanks for cheese Al..  Well he goes from the scribbles and scratching's on the printout.

So I left you all at the ripening stage and I let it go for a full 60 minutes.  The milk started at a pH of 6.65 which for Maleny milk is pretty standard (Usually in 6.7 to 6.5 range).  At the end of the ripening the pH had dropped to 6.56 and still at 32DegC (90DegF) .  All things going nicely and time to add the rennet.
while this is not a Cheddar I didn't want super tough curds and Jims recipe called for only 1 ml but I know the rennet I have for a 15 minutes Flocculation time I need about 2.0 mls .   
Add 2 mls diluted in 1/4 cup of non-Chlorinated water.

Flocc was 17.5 minutes - so next time I'll use 2.4 mls - but this is ok as I was aiming for a more moist curd anyway. This gave me a cut time from adding the rennet of 61 minutes.

Curd testing at 61 minutes gave a wonderful clean break and clear whey.  So far so good.

[OzzieCheese]

Cut the curd at about 3/8ths inch (1 cm) all over and let rest for 5 minutes.
Lifting slowly from the bottom of the pot start just moving the curds around in the pot. At this stage all we are doing is getting the curd sizes to be approx. the same.

[OzzieCheese]

Funny the terminology but stirring the curds really is 'drying' out the curds.  The action of stirring even gently is actually massaging the curds through hydrostatic action. 

Nerd Alert:  Water hence whey, is basically incompressible and the stirring action passes the pressure from the spoon or paddle into the curd which is slightly more compressible than the surrounding whey.  The other action that expels whey is as the curds heat up, the proteins in the outside of the curd - there is a fancy name for it that escapes me at the moment (I'll look it up) shrink and this also creates a pressure inside the curd which forces the whey out through the curd wall.  It is really amazing science reading actually what happens as we are standing there stirring, and why its important. The final part of the string story is that while they are expelling the whey, we need to keep them separated and stop them clumping together. 

The first stirring is 25 minutes and then rest for 5 minutes. This stirring is very gentle. We do not want to shatter the curds as this will cause fat and moisture been lost into the whey faster than we want. 

We are not using any increase in temperature here and therefore curd shrinkage is all in the stirring an the first one needs to be gentle.

Before beginning the second stirring - another 25 minutes -  I removed 15%-20% of the whey.  This makes the physical room in the whey for the curds smaller and the stirring will have greater effect on the curds.  As you can see in the second image the curds have attained a much smaller size and very rounded profile.

Jim states that the curd we are after has
1. rounded edges.
2. Surface has a matte look (not shiny, subjective here, but definitely not as shiny as the at the end of the first stirring.
3. When you press down on a curd it breaks) - my interpretation is 'breaks instead of smears'

[OzzieCheese]

Now for the bit that makes this a unique cheese.

The curds go through a process where the curds are let drain but are not allowed to consolidate into the solid mass.  Jim say he uses a long tray with drain holes but not having a lot of room in the kitchen I decided to use a colander line with loose cheese cloth and as soon as the majority was drained I returned it to the cheese pot and started a process of hand stirring and whey draining.  This was much like a stirred curd cheddar but the curds were still soft and needed to still be gentle and trying not to squeeze them.

The following is from Jims' notes
Using your hands or a broad scoop keep the curds separated by turning them over and over until the surfaces seem dry and they tend to consolidate much less.
A certain amount of cooling and oxidation on the surface will help with this but do not overdo it because you want the curds to still consolidate over time in the mold.
At this point very little acid has developed (pH 6.2) (Mine had actually got to 5.95) and the curds will be going to the molds with much work to be done by the bacteria, so do not let them cool too much. Conditioning is rather subjective here so a bit of experience may be needed before you find just the right point to mold.
Essentially your curd pile should look like popcorn now.

Back to me now...


 

[OzzieCheese]

Ok so this is the subjective bit - when do you stop hand stirring and start hooping... ?  Right there was no real advice here more at tacit curd understanding here where Jim says the curds need 'just the right moisture and firmness'
with the guidelines

1. too much moisture will just cause the curds to consolidate
2. too dry and the cheese won't consolidate

ummmm awesome...

ok I kept it up until I thought the curds were keeping to themselves about 30 minutes. I didn't let them cool too much but I do like this stage in the pot rather than on a tray.  It's amazing how little 10 litres of milk makes.

[OzzieCheese]

So as with all these types of cheeses they need to be flipped in their molds to make an even tower and evenly consolidated. The flipping was
30 minutes
1 hr
2 hr
4 hours.
supposed to be 8 hours - in bed for at that one

At the time I went to bed I had flipped it three times and this was the result in the morning.

I think the individual curds have been retained to allow for the classic Fourme look.

Yes .... for those paying attention, I have not yet salted the cheese.  The cheese now needs to sit for 2-3 days before salting.  I will however be salting this tomorrow evening as I feel that the smaller forms will not hold enough moisture to still be damp after 3 days.

This is the beginning ....  I'll add the ageing notes as this one progresses

Mal

[Boofer]

Yeah, Mal, I missed seeing that kitchen with the palm trees and such....

Nicely detailed write-up. Looking forward to more as it ages.

-Boofer-

[Al Lewis]

Looked like a pot full of popcorn.  Great looking form after removing the hoops.  I'm actually surprised they remained together after such a comparatively short time in the molds.  Usually we see these open ended molds flipped for days.  Beautiful result though.  Following with great interest! 

[OzzieCheese]

I'm a little confused right about now.  The instructions were to leave air dry for 2-3 days but after 1 it was very dry.. I tried to tease further draining by salting the outside but I'm pretty sure not a lots was absorbed by the cheese. So, I dunked it into my 21% Brine for 1 hour to attempt to get some into the cheese.   I fear that this cheese will be bland and not very blue. 

I've got it in my 'cave' at 12 DegC an 85-90% humidity but, it's not boding well as there is no blue even after a week.

Any advise from anyone at this stage would be welcome 

Mal

[Al Lewis]

Blue in my Stilton's usually shows up after 5 days, exactly, when using a freeze dried culture.  This is shortened considerably using a liquid culture, 3 days, so it could just be a case of the culture you are using for your PR.  It usually has a way of turning completely blue overnight the minute you start worrying about it. LOL  With all of the variables it's nearly impossible to predict it's appearance.  I would simply give it some more time.