Sock it Tomme!

[Boofer]

After consulting with linuxboy on wines in the wash process, shopping for a white wine to use with this cheese, and opening several bottles for a taste test  ... I decided to go with Mondavi Moscato.

I wasn't sure how exactly to go about this so I decided I needed a light brine plus the wine. I dissolved 2 tsp salt in 11 ounces of water and added 21 ounces of the wine to make a wash of 32 ounces. Each day I'll wipe the cheese with this wash. Uncharted territory. No map. No compass.

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

It is common to use a sweet wine?  moscato is low on alcohol (4-6%) and usually high in residual sugar.

[Boofer]

It is common to use a sweet wine?  moscato is low on alcohol (4-6%) and usually high in residual sugar.

This is 10.1% and, no, not so sweet as others I have enjoyed.

Did you see my earlier post about the Tomme cheeses washed with sweet wines?

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

Is it carbonated?
I have yet to see such a high muscato\asti style wine.

[Boofer]

Is it carbonated?
I have yet to see such a high muscato\asti style wine.

No, this wine is not carbonated.

The rind development is progressing nicely. This is encouraging since it is an experimental process.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Here are a couple pics from May 2nd and the May 5th. The captions speak for me. What was I...blind? Overly optimistic?

Not to worry, I washed the rind faithfully with my wine wash and smeared all over. Then I turned the wheel over and it appears to have healed. Hooyah!! 

You gotta stay alert. Don't doze off in the middle of your rind-washing. 

Otherwise, it would appear that the wine-wash experiment is proceeding favorably.

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

I stoped washing my first tomme after 5-6 weeks because when I washed it one morning I noticed a nasty thin crack developing which was ashame since I it growing some nice pc on the sides and started showing orangy linens on the top\bottom.
Why would a cheese crack given that it was kept in the upper 90% of RH and it was firmly supported and handled?

I waxed it,
Better luck next time.

[Boofer]

Tomer, sorry about your crack. I don't know why the cheese would crack given that the RH was adequate. The only obvious explanation is that the rind got too dry. 

The pics above show the rind cracked on the side closest to the vented lid. My solution was to smear it, keep it moist, rotate it top-to-bottom and front-to-rear. I washed just a few minutes ago and the crack has pretty much disappeared. The RH is at 88% (53F) per linuxboy's guidance. Seems to be going okay...for now.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

It looked like my grand fix for the crack wasn't going to get the job done...so I vacuum-bagged it.

Here's hoping the time that it got with the rind development will be sufficient to develop good flavor and texture.

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

"The only obvious explanation is that the rind got too dry."
Thats unlikly since I was washing it every other day.

Maybe mechanical stress of somesort ,I switched between different mattings during the time trying to find something that will give good air flow so the bottom will "work" aswell.

[Boofer]

I was doing the same, mine cracked, and it looked pretty dry. The readings were 52F/88% during that time.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Okay, time to sample this Moscato mystery....

Smells good. Cuts well...slight crumbling around the edges. The crumbs are amazing. Wow, I'll do something like this again. There was a pretty fair amount of moisture in the bag: whey, wine residue, spent cultures.

This may find its way onto the cheese platter for my Dad's 88th birthday this Saturday.

-Boofer-

[OudeKaas]

Wow, looks interesting! Need more detail on the overall taste of the paste and the impact of the wine, please please?

[Boofer]

Well, this cheese has a little more age on it.

There was perhaps a tablespoon of moisture in the bag when I opened it. Upon cutting the cheese, it fairly crumbled and refused to slice properly. Seems like that was always the case, but it never improved. The flavor is still good, but the cheese crumbles very easily. It also doesn't melt very well.

This is one of the last cheeses I made with inferior industrial milk before moving to raw & creamline milk. I think that, combined with a few technique problems, may have contributed to the crumbles and low meltability.

I would like to try another wine-washed/enhanced Tomme down the road...with good milk. I think the Moscato was a good choice. Perhaps a Gewurztraminer would be worth a try as well. I had combined the wine with a little salt to form a light brine which I used to wash this cheese.

-Boofer-

[anutcanfly]

It's nice to have a few cheeses around that don't melt well so they don't get lost during cooking and you have distinct chunks to bite into.