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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Rennet Surface White Mold (Penicillium candidum) Ripened => Topic started by: anutcanfly on January 29, 2012, 07:16:48 PM

Title: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on January 29, 2012, 07:16:48 PM
So far so good!  :)  This will be a nice treat for Valentines Day.  :P


Chaource #49            1/27/12

1 gallon raw Brown Swiss Cow, pH6.7
1/8 tsp Flora Dancia
1/16 tsp PC & Geo
1 drop chymosin
1 – 2 tsp salt

Warm milk to 77 degrees and add cultures & molds.  Let rehydrate 5 minutes and mix in. Add rennet and let sit for 12 hours, maintaining temp of 77 degrees (my dehydrator work well for this) Temp 74 to 76 degrees, pH 4.9

Filled mold with slices of curds until all curds were used.  Took a while to drain down enough to get them all in.

Let drain overnight (oven with the light on worked great, almost too great, as temp was 84 degrees by morning), flip and let drain overnight again.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Boofer on January 30, 2012, 03:09:34 PM
Let drain overnight (oven with the light on worked great, almost too great, as temp was 84 degrees by morning), flip and let drain overnight again.
I suppose you could crack the oven door a bit to drain off some of the captured heat.

Looks good so far.

Chaource #49?

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on January 30, 2012, 05:03:59 PM
Hi Boofer,

Yes, I'll play with that over the next few days so I have more control over temp.  Feel a little silly that I didn't think of using the oven light myself!  :)
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Boofer on January 31, 2012, 02:37:06 PM
It's too obvious. I've done that myself in the past. In fact there are instances that, when pointed out here on the forum, I slap myself because it seems I should have thought of it already.

That's one of the neat things about this forum...someone mentions something offhand which someone else picks up and runs with. Sailor's tip of pressing in the pot has been part of my regimen since he tossed it in here. It makes sense, you want to maintain the warmth of the curds while initially pressing. Now it just seems so obvious.  ::)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on January 31, 2012, 04:53:57 PM
 :) Yep, too obvious!  Back when D&D was still dice and imagination, we had a special roll called "detect the obvious roll".  If a dungeon master thought you unreasonably slow to catch on, he/she would give you a chance to roll the dice and if successful he/she would tell you what obvious thing you were overlooking.  So in real time, anytime someone realized they were being especially dense, they would say "I missed my detect the obvious roll".  Nowadays nobody knows what you're talking about.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Boofer on February 01, 2012, 07:59:19 AM
What are you talking about?  :)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 01, 2012, 04:38:00 PM
 ;D
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 01, 2012, 07:21:39 PM
Chaource at salting.  It seemed to be too moist, so I let it sit out at room temp for another day.  Then I moved the container to a 50-55 degree room with lid cracked open.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: JeffHamm on February 01, 2012, 07:57:35 PM
Hi anut,

That looks like all is going to plan!  Very nice.  How much salt did you end up using?  Did you add a percent by weight of the cheese?

- Jeff
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 01, 2012, 08:46:46 PM
Thanks Jeff  :)

No, the recommended amount by weight is way too salty for me.  I used 1 1/2 teaspoons, even that is pushing it, one would be better!  It's a dance between what I can tolerate and what the cheese really needs to mature correctly.  This is pretty familiar territory for me so I didn't actually weight my cheese.  I guesstimated the salt needed.   :)
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: margaretsmall on February 01, 2012, 11:46:33 PM
Must be the season for this, as I have just made one too.

22 Jan, 7:45am. 2l organic milk warmed to 25oC, added one cube frozen meso, a pinch each of PC and Geo and 1 drop veg. rennet diluted. Waited. Waited. Waited. At 6:30pm the curd was firm but no whey evident. Went out to dinner with friends. 11pm, still no whey. (The day was cool, it's supposed to be summer here but you'd never know).

23 Jan. 8am Small puddle of whey. Waited. Noon. More whey, started ladling into 3x8cm molds, then realized that there was actually a lot of whey, with the cream floating on the top. Drat. I lost a lot of the cream in the process - low fat cheese maybe? Drained all afternoon. Firm enough to flip at 6:30pm, then again at 8pm.

24 Jan. Salted top and bottom with 1/4tspn salt each surface and turned out onto a mat. Flipped several times.

25 Jan. A small domestic crisis meant we had to go away for a few days, leaving my three little babies alone. What to do? Decided to put them into the cave and hope for the best.

31 Jan. They survived  :D an impressive bloom on the top and sides, but the bottom, not surprisingly, was stuck to the mat. The surface was separating a bit from the the cheese so after another day in the cave (with the previously stuck bottom now up) I wrapped them and put them in the fridge. They weighed 150gm each. The taste is like cream cheese, quite pleasant on toast this morning. I'll do this again.
 
What should I have done to prevent the cream floating to the surface?
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 01, 2012, 11:59:46 PM
I've never had that happen?  I used raw milk for the first time with this type of cheese.  I noticed the cream was no longer evenly dispersed by the time the curd set.  You can see the layers change color down the sides of the cheese.  But I didn't lose cream to the top of the whey???

This sounds like a problem for our older, wiser cheeses!  Hello out there!
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Brie on February 02, 2012, 04:26:00 AM
Chaource is one of my favorite cheeses! I do make it with raw milk and find that if the cream rises to the top, I drain it before straining and mix the curds up--then continue with the draining process. If made with heavier cream it will take longer to drain before aging. Keep a lid on it and watch for condensation, which will result in slip-skin. Good luck and cheese-on!
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 02, 2012, 08:27:24 PM
Thanks Brie.  I'll try that next batch.

Day 5 and geo is now visable
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: margaretsmall on February 02, 2012, 11:47:54 PM
Thanks Brie, I mostly work with PH milk, so the floating cream was a bit of a surprise. This is what my little babies looked like. The marks from the draining tray are of course the result of not turning them for 6 days. Given that the temp. in the cave was probably about 15oC (this is a whole other story which I won't bore anyone with) and there was some condensation on the lid when I got back, it's surprising the slip skin was only minor. A very lucky first attempt.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 05, 2012, 06:44:46 PM
Day 8, geo is well developed and PC is racing to catch up.

Jarlsberg for grilled cheese sandwiches and Chaource for dessert.  Valentine's day is looking good!  ^-^
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: JeffHamm on February 05, 2012, 09:05:53 PM
Looking very nice and fuzzy!  Should be tasty!

- Jeff
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 10, 2012, 07:51:50 PM
For better or worse my Chaource is done.  I don't think I'm going to wait for Valentines day to cut into it!  Next time I make this I'm going to have to buy some crottin molds!  I just used my camembert molds, but that meant I had to give this cheese constant attention lest it get or stay too moist.  My cave was a nice 46 degrees, which would have been good, but we went into a warm spell and the cave was between 50 - 52 degrees.  Geo got going way too much before PC kicked in.  Live and learn!   :)   I post the opening of this cheese.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: margaretsmall on February 10, 2012, 09:08:32 PM
Lovely cheese anut.
 Now, big question - how do you pronounce this cheese? (I'm clearly not a French speaker). I.m guessing 'ch' at the start  and 'ce' at the end as in 'chance' (as in 'Bon chance') with some sort of attempt at the middle? Margaret
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 10, 2012, 09:34:24 PM
I have no idea!  I just make it up as I go along...  Should be funny first time I talk to someone who does know how it should be pronounced!  ;D  I've spent so much time with my nose in books and so little by comparison talking, that my vocabulary is well peppered with words I learned to say wrong.  I was pronouncing it cha(chah)-ou(ow)rce.  Flip!  I can't get that to come out gracefully even in my head!   If anyone knows, please tell!  I'm curious now...
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Boofer on February 11, 2012, 01:27:39 AM
If anyone knows, please tell!  I'm curious now...
Okay, anut, just this once... :)

Pronouncing Chaource (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,8555.msg60232.html#msg60232)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 11, 2012, 02:44:29 AM
shah-OORSE!  Thanks Boofer.  :)  Now let's see how long I can remember.  I'd say about 5 minutes these days.  ::)  I'd be lost without all my books... they remember everything for me.

Hey! just this once?  I don't rate twice? Or are you just in short supply?  ;)
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: JeffHamm on February 11, 2012, 06:53:00 AM
It certainly looks good!  What's the verdict?

- Jeff
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: margaretsmall on February 11, 2012, 09:15:34 PM

shah-OORSE. Who would have thought. All over the world cheesemakers are muttering 'shah-OOSE, shah-OORSE....' Thanks Boofer. Will Studd did a segment on Chaource but I couldn't catch the pronunciation.
Margaret
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 12, 2012, 03:30:12 AM
That's a funny image margaretsmall.  :) 

Well here the grand opening of my shah-OORSE (did I say that right?).  It looks like it came out right and the rind is the pleasant earthy/mushroom flavor I've come to love in a bloomy rind.  I not sure how I feel about the paste.  It's creamy and tart, and....  I put most of it back in the cave to ripen more and left a wedge in the house so I can try again tomorrow.  I've already exceeded my calorie limit for today.
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Tomer1 on February 12, 2012, 11:53:06 AM
Looking at it made me remember that tart creamy flavor of my last attempt.  The mind plays great tricks... :P
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: JeffHamm on February 12, 2012, 07:37:32 PM
Hi anut,

It looks like it developed well though.  Am I correct that this is at about 2 weeks from make to opening?  Maybe make one or two more and take one out another week and the other out two and see if that helps?  If you made them a week apart, you could try them at the same time; or make one each week for 3 weeks and destroy that calorie count!  :)

- Jeff
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 12, 2012, 08:59:49 PM
Hi Jeff,

Hi Tomer,

I tried it again and I can't say I liked the flavor... very disappointing!  I'll try to age it further even though I cut into it and sees what happens.  Maybe a different starter culture?  :-\
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Boofer on February 12, 2012, 11:20:28 PM
I tried it again and I can't say I liked the flavor... very disappointing!  I'll try to age it further even though I cut into it and sees what happens.  Maybe a different starter culture?  :-\
I had a similar reaction to mine. Not quite what I had in mind, I guess.

There are a lot more styles I would do before I try a lactic again. Reblochon, Taleggio, Fourme d'Ambert, and on and on....

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: anutcanfly on February 13, 2012, 01:31:46 AM
Sounds like a plan Boofer!  :)  Too many wonderful cheeses out there, to get hung up on one!
Title: Re: Chaource, first try
Post by: Tomer1 on February 13, 2012, 05:52:12 AM
I think its a really nice table cheese. you need to spread it on some rustic bread. :)