French semi soft - what went wrong?

[borisb2]

I followed a recipe from a german cheese book:

- 6l milk (past., non hom.) 1/8 tsp Flora Danica, 1/16 tsp B-linen, 1/16 tsp Geotr Cand., 1/4 tsp rennet (IMCU 280), 1/4 tsp calcium, curd not pressed, dry salted
- after drying for a few days washed (almost) daily in the first 2 weeks with a prepared brine made of whey, salt and pinch of b-linen
- aged in cave (ripening box put in wine fridge), 12 deg C, 90% RH
- wrapped after about 2 weeks and put in regular fridge

What I noticed:
- it barely got any b-linen surface developing, just very slowly a hint of orange/yellow edges (not sure that was more drying out or actual b-linen)
- starting with fruity smell it actual did smell like b-linen after about 10+ days, but subtly
- I did taste small bits during the 4 weeks of aging, but they mostly tasted pretty bitter (stuck in peptide stage?)
- after wrapping and put in fridge I did notice that the wheels (8cm) slowly started ripening, getting softer on the outside - but stayed firm in the center, surface color not much developing, taste test still mostly bitter

- in the 4th week some very strong and bad smell started to appear, eventually resulting in throwing the cheese in the bin - I think at that point it turned really bad.

What did I do wrong here?

[Aris]

What did you wrap it with? I think the main issue is you didn't allow G. Candidum to flourish because the cheese was washed too frequently. I typically let G. Candidum grow and cover the entire cheese then I start washing. From what I've read and observed, G. Candidum deacidifies the surface of the cheese making it hospitable for B. linens which prefers a pH of over 5.5.  I don't use commercial B. linens culture but B. linens still grow easily. It develops even more once the cheese is wrapped in parchment paper then aluminum foil. How much salt did you use? I use 2% weight of cheese in salt on semi soft washed rind cheese.

[borisb2]

I‘m usually using 2% salt as well.

I wrapped the cheese in double layer cheese wrap - maybe it couldnt breath enough?

[Aris]

Was that wrap for bloomy rind cheese? Next time use parchment paper then aluminum foil. I wrap the cheese when it has a light coating of B. linens. I have tried using washed rind cheese wrap from cheesemaking.com on a Limburger. It didn't let cheese breathe, made it mushy and smothered the B. linens. The bitterness might be related to contamination or too much rennet.

[borisb2]

Yes, the paper is for bloomy rind.
https://urbancheese.co.nz/product/white-cheese-wraps/

Could try parchment paper + foil next time OR just leave it in the ripening box.

Still would be good to know why the cheese stayed in the bitter stage and why it turned bad.

[Aris]

It is possible the wrong type of bacteria might have grown in the cheese.  Yeah, you can also age it in the ripening box but you have to maintain over 90% humidity.  I wrap mine because I can't maintain that humidity and the cheese will lose a lot of moisture if aged for several weeks in the ripening box.

[borisb2]

Thanks for your pointers .. will make a new batch soon (just waiting on new calcium chloride)

On that note: how bad would it be to do one batch of soft cheese without adding calcium chloride?
(Using good pasteurized non homogenized milk) .. is that a no go? Havent tried

[Aris]

I think it might work for you. When I used to use crap high temp pasteurized homogenized milk, I didn't use calcium chloride because it won't make a difference. The curds were very fragile but I can still make washed rind soft cheese and blue cheese. Raw water buffalo milk and goat's milk that I pasteurize doesn't need calcium chloride because curds are still firm. My Munster inspired cheese below used high temp pasteurized homogenized milk.
https://i.imgur.com/a6AONQT.jpg