Tomme Make, 1/1/2015

[LoftyNotions]

Finally getting around to documenting this. I loosely followed Boofer's lead on this cheese, using smatterings of ideas scattered throughout this site. (OK, I stole everyone's ideas.  .) This was the washed curd version.


Ingredients:

5 Gal. creamline whole milk
5 cubes MM100
2 cubes TA61
1/16 tsp Micodore
1/32 tsp B. linens
1/32 tsp Geo
1 tsp CaCl
60 drops rennet
Between 1-1/2 and gal water heated to 130°F

Heated milk to 88°F and added adjuncts, CaCl and cultures. Original pH 6.59. There was a 0.02 pH drop from adding cultures, so I added rennet. There was a 0.02 pH drop after adding mother cultures, so I added rennet at that point. I might wait ½ hour or so next time I try this.

Floc time was 14 minutes. With a 3X multiplier, cut curd at 42 minutes. Rested 5 minutes and then stirred gently for 15 minutes. Drew off 1-1/2 gallons of whey. Added 130°F water in 2 stages. Added first half and stirred for 10 minutes to firm up curd a bit. Added second half of water and finished heating to 100°F. Stirred curds until somewhat firm. At the point I settled and drained, they were slightly squeaky to the tooth. (About 15 more minutes of stirring).

Consolidated curd with light hand pressure, pressing down on a mat. First 2 presses were ½ hour at 10 pounds. 3rd press was bare at 16 pounds for 1 hour. Remaining presses were 1 hour each at 20 pounds. Total press time to pH 5.32 was about 5 hours.

Cheese weighed 2503 grams just out of the press. Yield was 12.8%. Decided on 2.2% dry salt, (55 grams) which was done in several steps carrying over to the next day. Held cheese at around 60°F until first wash on 1/7/2015. After wash, moved to cave. Humidity was held at 90 to 96%.

Morge wash consisted of 4% salt, and 1/32 tsp each of KL71, Geo15 and Micodore. Cheese was flipped daily with the top and sides getting washed. Daily wash continued for 1 week. Continued with an every other day wash regimen for the second week. There was a slight Geo slime on 1/9, and the beginnings of an earthy mushroom odor on 1/10. The last wash was on 1/19, and since then the cheese has been flipped every other day.

Photos to follow.

Larry

[Danbo]

Love to see the photos... :-)

[LoftyNotions]

No pics of the make, (Just the same boring curd pics)  but here's a mold growth sequence. I'm including a couple photos of moisture accumulation in the box at 96% humidity also.

[Danbo]

It almost looks like a Brie... Great. :-)

[LoftyNotions]

The fur is a combination of Geo and Micodore. The cheese started out having a slight mushroom odor which has been tapering off. I did a light brushing today, and the underlying mushroom is amazing! There's a nice foundation of B. linens also, but nothing I can smell.

I've started slowly decreasing humidity to see what effect it has.

Larry

[Danbo]

I have to experiment with doing exciting rinds some day... Looks like a lot of fun.

[LoftyNotions]

Now the pics will start getting a little more interesting. Humidity is down to 92% this morning from cracking the lid on the box. I'm not sure whether I'll keep brushing or just pat the surface down occasionally. The mushroom aroma is amazing.

Larry

[Danbo]

Wow... gorgeous...

[LoftyNotions]

I REALLY pissed the molds off yesterday! When I opened the box there was a strong ammonia smell. I aired it out for an hour and decided to brush the mold back again. (We'll see who wins this battle). After airing and brushing, it was back to a lovely mushroom aroma.

Humidity was 92% with the lid propped up about 1/2 inch. When I put it back in the cave I left the lid askew about an inch.

I'll post pics in a bit.

Larry

[Al Lewis]

Very interesting cheese.  Great job Larry.  I'll watch this one with great interest.   AC4U my friend!

[LoftyNotions]

Thanks Al.

It's a great opportunity to explore varying humidity and to try some different mold management strategies.

My current thinking is to keep high humidity during the growth phase and then taper back into the 80s to get beautiful Mahogany crusts like yours. Time will tell.

Larry

[Al Lewis]

I keep my cave at 80-85% RH and I can grow any, and all, of the molds in there.  I've done tallagio, epoisses, brie, stiltons.  They all work at the RH.

[LoftyNotions]

Here are the photos from today. Humidity is currently running 89%.

[Boofer]

Sweet-looking cheese, Larry. How long do you expect to age it?

-Boofer-

[LoftyNotions]

Hi Boofer,

I'm thinking around 4 months, but I'd really appreciate your input. Did you feel that was around the right age for your #7?

I think I'm running into the same mold scenario you had, with Geo dominance. After brushing though, it really has a heady mushroom aroma. I'm not sure whether to just do a daily brushing or maybe to do a salt scrub.

Larry