Mort Malut

[bansidhe]

Two weeks ago, I made a Port Salut from NE CheeseMaking.  I had a few missteps (as usual), thus the altered name.  Mort Malut... Mort=Dying, Mal=bad. That's my play on words.  When I first saw "Malembert" I thought that was what was intended until I came to realize that was the creator's name.  Ha!  Anyway, I digress.  Here's a pic ... so far so good.  I will say the shape is not what I wanted.  I believe it is because I didn't keep it in mold WITHOUT weight AFTER pressing.  Next time, I will.

[Aris]

Looks like B. linens is already growing nicely in just 2 weeks. My Quadrello inspired cheese only has a faint yellow color after 18 days. Then again I am washing it with 4% salt brine with store bought Raclette rind scrapings.

[bansidhe]

Thanks.   The color is nice so far.  I feel it softening. I dont know if that is desired or not. B Linens in in the milk and in the first wash.  Subsequent washes have used just brine.

I just moved it to the fridge to finish aging.  Should be interesting. Im impressed you use rind for wash.  Im not savvy enough to try that yet. 

While I am the kind to go off on tangents and try new things...  so I am fighting this impulse until I know what I am doing.
So, My plan is to make a lot of cheese, following recipes.. and make them repeatedly .. I want to develop a real understanding and consistency. 

What's Quadrello?  Im not familiar with that.

[Aris]

Softening is a good sign but too much, the rind will crack and the contents inside will ooze out. Yeah I agree with getting a real understanding and being consistent. But sometimes you have to trust your senses when aging cheese. I have read people here who have followed recipes saying to age for many weeks and turned the cheese into an inedible mess or edible but made it taste worse.

Quadrello is a smear ripened Italian cheese made from Italian Mediterranean Buffalo milk. I use our local water buffalo breed called "Carabao".