Boofer the Tallegios look nice. How did they come out?
I have used their cheesepaper and it suffocated the rind of my cams to shreds. I also used formaticum and it was even worst. The Expaco blew me away. It's really high tech. you use one side for some cheeses ans the other side for others. It is the only paper that can work on bloomy, washed, natural and blue.
Funny as this thread is going, yesterday I got a French Sheep's milk Fromage Blanc France. I have had it in France and loved its delicious creamy texture so I was looking forward to spreading it on a cracker with a couple of slices of Persian cucumber and a dash of dill. I was very disappointed to find it chalky, crumbly and weird. The texture was familiar... and then I remembered where from: Fromage Blanc was a staple in our household. When I was a teenager my parents attempted to keep it in the freezer so that they don't have a no-fromage blanc emergency if they run out. That wast that texture. The cheese monger or dumbass distributor had probably frozen it. Come to think of it, that was this texture degradation that I got with my frozen Camemberts. It's just wreaks havoc on cheese, and just shouldn't happen. You don't need to have a delicate palate to be able to tell the difference...
There is however one technique that works for long preservation without freezing: Nitrogen packing. It basically puts the food to sleep. Vegetables in bags are packed that way (noticed that in suprtmarket the bagged veggies are no longer in vacuum? that's because the bags are pumped with nitrogen). They also pack fresh pasta this way, grated cheese etc. They use it in wineries in bulk tanks for grapes to keep them fresh and in food transport via trucks, trains and ships. Much of the time sensitive cheese brought over from Europe is brought in sealed containers pumped in nitrogen. (that's the only way a Crottin that's ripe at day 14 can make it to America and still be at day 14 in the shop). I haven't done it at home yet but I am ready to test and report.
The technique is simple. First vacuum the cheese. then, when there is no air left in the bag stick a needle from the nitrogen tank in the corner of the bag and pump it so that the bag is loose but not too pumped. Take the needle out and cover it with your finger or tape to prevent air from coming in. Put the corner only back in the vacuum sealer and seal without vacuuming. Voila! Home made nitrogen pack.
