Tilsit, washing

[mtnbikemama]

On my first tilsit. Seems to be going well. This is day 10. On day 8 I started washing with the b.linens solution. Found this mold on surface which wiped away nicely, except in a few crevices. Do I just leave it? My plan in to now wash every few days (without b. Linens). The cheese has a nice stinky smell now will pink/orange in the center. I just dont want to screw it up! The photo is from day 8

[feather]

Any rind washed cheese with b linens, needs to be washed frequently with a wash (with or without the b linens bacteria in the wash, my b linens was in the cheese but I didn't put it in the wash). The end color result will orange/pink on the outside and it may take a while. It didn't turn the interior red/orange/pink, at all, it stayed white.

The pink/orange color bacteria on the surface will over power the blue or any other color that might take hold. It will become very sticky first, and when I made this kind, it was first beige and small areas of burnt orange, which I slathered (with a simple brine solution) over the rest of the cheese. Then it took hold. It is not a matter of washing OFF the orange/pink, it is a matter of spreading it around to take hold. I washed it every day to every other day.

[mtnbikemama]

Thanks feather!

[mtnbikemama]

In case anyone is interested, here is my Tilsit at 3 months! Pretty delicious, slightly stinky (next time I'm going for the full 6 months). Nice texture. My Tilsit #2 is now in the cave

[cheesehead94]

Beautiful! A cheese for you!

[awakephd]

And another cheese for you!

[feather]

woohoo! a c4u.
Looks good.

[Boofer]

Sweet-looking Tilsit! One of my favorite styles. Have a cheese.

-Boofer-

[mtnbikemama]

aww thanks everyone! and so many cheeses!

One question...
I'm finding that there is an off flavor to many of my cheeses so far... nothing horrible but an after taste (only when I eat the rind, the rest of the cheese is fine if I cut it off).
I thought maybe it was the starsan... but last time I made sure it was dry before using equipment
I thought it was the bamboo mats so I switched to plastic.
Does anyone else have a similar situation?

[awakephd]

Can you point any particular direction for what the taste is - bitter, sour, metallic, moldy, .... ?

[mtnbikemama]

Woody, paper, straw like, maybe a tad bitter

[awakephd]

That does sound like it could be from the mats. Have you had any cheese yet that was processed on the plastic mats?

[mtnbikemama]

Yes, I switched to the plastic mats. Still had the flavor. However I have now started to use a different local dairy and the off flavor is gone

[awakephd]

Aha! Mystery solved. The "terroire" of the milk is an important characteristic of the classic cheeses ... unfortunately not reproducible for those of us who have to depend on store-bought milk.