Tomme 2 ways

[cheesehead94]

Below are pictures of the first cheese i ever made (although not the first cheese to come out of the cave). They are two tommes that I made on July 1 of this year. I only intended to make a single wheel, but the milk yielded more curd than expected and I didn't have room to accommodate it all in the only mold that I had at the time. So I improvised and frantically grabbed a clean plastic to-go container that we had from a restaurant we went to the week before, grabbed a knife and poked some jagged holes in it for whey drainage, and threw the curds in. When you are making cheese for the first time every little thing that doesn't go perfectly seems like a life or death moment, so I was quite concerned that it wouldn't turn out. The plastic of the container was quite flimsy but tommes require so little pressure that the rind closed up nicely and the plastic held its form.

With two wheels I decided to age them differently and compare. So I did a natural brushed rind on one and then for the other i tried the coconut oil method, which I've read simulates waxing. The natural rind was a piece of cake to maintain, the coconut oil was pretty easy too. I've tried it on a different cheese too that had a rind that was not very smooth and it was a pain in the butt though, so I'd only recommend it if you have a nice smooth rind.

Both wheels were a bit less than a pound, so 4.5 months of aging dried them out quite a bit. They were not crumbly though and had a good, rich texture. I thought the flavor on the one with the natural rind was better, slightly fruity. They both tasted a little like the musty smell of my cheese cave/the mold on the natural rind, which was a bit disappointing. Definitely edible though!

[River Bottom Farm]

They look very nice! AC4U

[ArnaudForestier]

Wow.  Beautiful cheeses, Cheesehead!  Very cool, too, to see your natural rind before and after brushing back.  I've always maintained a fairly thin rind on my tommes, not necessarily by intention, and I would love to obtain your mold blanket.  Per the other thread, thanks for pointing me this way, and congratulations.  I love your improv, too, by the way.  Awesome.