My First Esroms

[Al Lewis]

Saw these and, having never used herb de provence, I thought I'd give them a try.  I used the cultures from Boofer's recipe and modified the rest to suit my needs and what was available.

[Al Lewis]

Here is the recipe I came up with.

2 gallons Whole PH Milk
32 ounces Grace Harbour whole fat buttermilk (with active cultures)
32 ounces PH Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tblspn Herb de Provence, boiled and cooled in ½ cup distilled water
¼ tsp Aroma B
1/16 tsp MM100
1/16 tsp PLA
½ tsp CaCl, in ¼ cup distilled water
½ tablet rennet, dissolved in ¼ cup distilled water

Place milk and cream in a large stainless-steel pot with the CaCl and warm to 90°F, stirring gently. Turn off heat.

Sprinkle culture and B. linens over surface of milk and let stand for about 5 minutes to rehydrate. Using whisk and an up-and-down motion, gently draw culture down into milk without breaking surface of milk. Cover and let ripen for 30 minutes.

Dilute rennet in ¼ cup cool water. Add to milk and, using the same up-and-down motion, draw rennet down into milk until well blended. Cover and let set for 45 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 90°F.

Check for a clean break. Using a long-bladed knife cut the curd mass into ¾" cubes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir gently for 5 minutes. Let curds settle.

Remove 1/3 of the whey and replace with an equal amount of 90°F water. Return heat to low and slowly warm the curd, stirring continuously, to 95°F, over 20 minutes. Do not heat too quickly. Turn off heat and continue stirring for another 15 minutes while adding in the Herb de Provence. Let curds settle.

Carefully pour contents of pot into a butter muslin-lined colander. Fill the prepared molds with curds. Put on the followers.

Place mold in cheese press or place weights on top. Press at 10 pounds pressure for 6 hours. Remove cheese from press and re-dress. Continue pressing at 10 pounds pressure for 6 hours.

Remove from press. Un-mold and place in 18% saturated brine solution for 12 hours.

Remove cheese from brine and dry at room temperature for 24 hours, flipping after 12 hours.

Place cheese in a ripening container. Ripen at 54°F and 84% humidity for 6 weeks. Turn cheese daily for the first week, then begin washing it every second day with a spray bottle filled with cognac turning the cheese each time. 


What follows is a photo essay of the progress to date.

[Al Lewis]

The balancing act of getting three weights to stay on top of the molds can be solved by placing them as closely together as possible and then placing a board on all three with a small weight on it.  The three weights will remain level.  Be sure and run them through the dishwasher first. In the last picture you can see the plastic followers I place on the cheeses to hold them under the brine.  They still float.  They went into the brine this morning and will be out in 12 hours.

[Boofer]

Well alright! This oughta be good! Looking forward to watching these babies do their thing.
I'm especially curious about how the P&H milk performs.

-Boofer-

[H-K-J]

Looks like you have it made Al, waiting for the outcome :P
AC4U for the recipe and pictures.

[Al Lewis]

Still flipping and drying.  Just finishing up molding a 4 pound Emmental.  Should be a good one. ;D

[Al Lewis]

Well I've been misting these with a brine/cognac/geo mixture and they are at the "sticky" stage.  I think I'm starting to see some color but that could be the light.

[Al Lewis]

We're at the very sticky, very stinky, stage. :o

[Boofer]

Love the funk! That means magic is happening. ;)

-Boofer-

[Al Lewis]

Well they are certainly Funky Boofer!  Nice and soft so I packaged them today the same as I would Brie.  I'll post a pic when I cut into one! :P

[Al Lewis]

Okay, I couldn't wait as these things smell so awesome.  They taste delicious with the lavender from the herb de provence coming through in the background.  Will ripen for a while longer as they are very soft but getting softer.  Should be the consistency of a good Brie soon.  Definitely a make I'll be doing again.  Gave a Chef friend of mine one so we'll see how he and his wife like it. ;D

[Boofer]

Looks pretty tasty, Al. Have a cheese.

How long were these aged?

I opened one of my Esrom #5 cheeses today. Saturday marks 9 weeks since they started. I'll post pictures a little later.

-Boofer-

[Al Lewis]

Thanks Boofer!! This was only at 3 weeks but as it felt rather soft, and smelled so good, I thought I would give it a try.  Should be nice and gooey in a few more weeks.  ;D

[AnnDee]

Wow nice looking cheese Al. I am so tempted to make this too. AC4U!

[GortKlaatu]

That's only 3 weeks?  Wow.  AC4U