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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Washed Rind & Smear Ripened => Topic started by: Brie on July 09, 2010, 06:59:00 AM
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My first Moriber made it to the tasting in FLA--quite proud and amazing reviews!
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Congrats Brie!
What is this tasting for? A contest? It looks fantastic. I wouldn't dare bringing a first try cheese anywhere... you have some guts!
How long did you age it? What did you do for rind? (Morbier rind is usually washed). This is one of my favorite cheeses and a regular staple in our house.
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Very nice looking cheese. You have done so well! I am quite proud of you and I haven't even met you yet. I still haven't gotten around to an ash cheese yet but I will. Morbier will probably be the one or a lactic cheese.
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Thanks for the accolades, my cheesers! This was aged for about 8 weeks. I washed the rind every other day in brine with a touch of B-linens. The rind is a bit ashey--as the original ashing seemed to spread over the whole darn thing!
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Yes, ash is sneaky this way of getting everywhere. (I use it in one of my cheeses).
I saw in the Morbier AOC video that some of the cheesemakers have a great system to keep the ash under control easily: they mix a bit of whey leftover with the ash to make a black paste, they then take a brush or cheesecloth and use it to paint the top of the bottom piece before slapping the top piece atop it. It's a great way to eliminate mess as well as to prevent a thick layer of ash that is too thick (those tend to make the cheese fall apart in the seam, the ash would be chalky to bite through and would paints your teeth black... not nice).
They paint it almost entirely but leave just a few mm at the edge unpainted to help the sides stick better and faster and prevent ash run-over onto the side of the cheese
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Thanks so much for that piece of advice--I love this cheese, and would age it at least a month more in the next go round.
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Beautiful cheese. Very unusual.
-Boofer-
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Great looking cheese!
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Hi Brie,
Your cheese looks nice, although I would suggest that if you want to more closely emmulate Morbier that the curd should be much softer. From the photo it looks like the paste is quite firm, with small inclusions. Morbier (and racelette) should be bulging on the cut face with no inclusions. You can get this effect by making sure your milk is running very high in cream and lengthening your set time. It then needs to be aged in a very high humidity room (above 90%) with daily smears to get the b. linens humming. The result will be a stinky, meltable cheese. Just a suggestion.
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Fancois, would this be ok to make with milk with added cream? What would be an ideal set/floc situation in your opinion?
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I'd start with a P:F of 1-1.1 and a multiplier of 3. I guess I should qualify high fat, as it's different depending on where you are. A ratio of 1 would require cream addition where I am, but may not where you live. FGive it a 2o minute stir then take at least 30% of the whey off and cook to 40C over about 45 minutes. Don't let the pH drop below 6.2 at hooping.
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Thanks, Francois--will try your suggestions at the next go-round. You're right it was not as creamy as it should be. Unfortunately, the cows are quite dry in the summer here in hot, hot Phoenix--so I'm left without my raw milk. Working on some goat cheeses in the interum.
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Brie - did you use the same brine/B. linens solution with each rub-down, or did you make fresh? Also, did you add B. linens to the brine the whole time it was aging, or just at first? I made a morbier this weekend, but the directions weren't clear on whether to use the B. linens each time you wiped down the rind or not. . .thanks.
D
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I have another 3 week old Morbier that I am aging now (followed Francois suggestions on the make). I wash every other day with b.linen and salt brine, which I make about once per week. I keep it in an atomizer and spray on. I am also aging Reblochons, which also need the b.linen spray so that it goes further.
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You should keep the same bucket of wash through the whole make. That is the traditional way of doing it. You also wash from oldest to youngest wheel with the same rag. We only dump wash when it smells off or has something obviosuly wrong with it. Once the yeast gets going it is very difficult for any nasties to take hold, plus we test every batch.
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Thanks, Francois--so the b.linens don't need to be replaced in the brine? That would be great news as it is quite expensive. And do you actually store the rag in the brine?
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Yes, they are expensice AND you get better results by keeping it. I don't store the rag no, we sue new ones every time.
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You should keep the same bucket of wash through the whole make. That is the traditional way of doing it.
Thanks. I'm really having fun with this one. It doesn't seem to be developing much of a rind so far, and it's been 2 weeks. I'm thinking it will take longer because so much of the ash drained out with the whey, coating much of the outside of the cheese. Otherwise, it seems to be doing good so far. Thanks again for the tips - I had only made a small amount of the wash, but have made more and will use the same wash for the remainder of the aging.
Diane
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One thing that has been working really well for me this year is to mix a small batch of the b. Linens and keep it in a small spray bottle that used to hold salad dressing or butter. It has a very fine mist and I keep it in a zip lock bag in the fridge and just spritz the cheese every day for the first week and every few days the second week and I only use a lite pinch of the b. linens per batch of cheese.
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After reading this post, I wanted to know more about the Morbier cheese and found this article interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/11/travel/fare-of-the-country-morbier-cheese-with-a-dash-of-ash.html (http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/11/travel/fare-of-the-country-morbier-cheese-with-a-dash-of-ash.html)
Those here who keep dairy animals could keep the tradition of an evening and morning division. I wonder what would happen if one half were more creamy and the other more skim?
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Here's my latest Morbier at about 12 weeks--much better due to the advice of Francois and Yoav (and Deb, as always). This was extremely creamy. I washed rind every other day for 8 weeks with salt brine which included a dash of b linens. I also let them breathe with top off of container at room temp every other day for half an hour.
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That looks great Brie - but then your cheeses are always beautiful!
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Oh yea, look at that! Making me hungry yet again!
Did you do the black paste brush method? (you can still do less ash next time around)
I can't see the rind. I assume you pulled lots of natural B.Linen and then it got covered with natural geo?
Beautiful!
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Perhaps you can see the rind better in this pic, Yoav--and yes, I did follow your direction to make a paste of the ash for the middle--oh my just a tad too much, but it did not forage into the rest of the cheese.
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Oh yes, the rind looks much thicker on this one. The color is kind of nutty and I can see a bit of the curd knotting pattern on it. Cool!
There is this technique that an affineur I like taught me: He uses a sponge that has a gentle type of scrubber on one side ($0.99 at home depot...) to wash the rind. The scrubbing side makes microscopic scratches. These scratches first and foremost try to heal and build up a more protective rind fast thus the rind gets thicker. (Much like the salt rubbing technique). In washed rind cheese the scratching has another purpose: these scratches will up with a bit more of the bacterial wash than the surface (like a ditch on the side of the road during rain). The surface dries out first (like the road) and what's in the scratch (the "ditch") takes a bit longer to dry out. As it does, it leaves all the sediment of minerals and bacteria in it, (like the dirt that washed off the road onto the ditch). All this dry bacterial wash and salt helps creating more active live bacterial activity - faster, thicker. You can really see it and feel it in the cheese. Try it.
Your paste texture by the way looks really nice and creamy!
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Scrubbing technique sounds interesting. But I can't picture what type of sponge you mean. Is it the one that has a rough green scrubbie side? Seems like that would be too rough. If it is not too much trouble... a picture? Thanks for sharing. I doubt I'll try this one anytime soon. But it is going on my list!
Beautiful cheese Brie! Something to aspire to.
Susan
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I am thinking of using a hard toothpaste brush..
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Susan, here is a picture. I got this at Home Depot. Use it for cleaning and staining wood furniture. It's far more gentle than the ones with the green Scotch Brite. I cut a small piece and boil it in water first to sanitize and then I use them in the brine wash. See below, in package, in close up, and out of package (see the corner I cut to wash one of my cheeses?)
Brie, toothbrush may work... I used mushroom brush before but it was too gentle. Perhaps a rougher bristle would work. This works best.
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Thanks iratherfly! That sure makes it easy. Now I know exactly what I'm after. Going to Home Depot today so will check it out. I need a few more cultures before I can venture into these cheeses. But when I get them I'll be ready! Have a cheddar on the stove right now. And my first camembert still draining in their molds from yesterday. I love cheese!
Susan
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Good luck! Post some photos!
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That's a really good picture makes me want to try it. They have this cheese at Whole Foods and it doesn't look tempting to me at all.
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This may have been mentioned before, Deb, however--true Morbier is aged 40 days with raw milk, so replicas are either using pasteurized milk or aging past 60 days. I've heard of some French makers sending it at 60 days to confer with regulations. Not the same--cut your Morbier at prime time, and you will have the original (the way it was meant to taste).
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Maybe that's it - it just doesn't look good like yours does.
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I do mine at 60 days. I use grass-fed organic non homogenized whole milk. Really good quality. (In fact, better than my raw milk source).
I am happy to report that Whole Foods finally dumped their crappy thick skin Swiss-made Morbier and are now back to carrying the French brand. Softer, more flavorful, thin white-over-orange rind. Fantastic