Reblochons taking a strange turn?

[iratherfly]

I should know better than messing with the surface of a surface-ripened cheese but in any event... I wanted to make Reblochons and mature them a little more smelly than usual so I added yeast (KL 71) to the milk, salt-rubbed over the first few days and then began a brine wash regiment. Traditional Reblochon calls for plain 3%. I added a touch of B.Linen (LR3?), Yeast (KL71) and Geo (Geo 15).

I would think that at 55-60F and 85%RH this should have been, done, done and done by now (week 5) but instead, it seems that the geo is receding and B.Linen it taking over. The rind color is more brown than orange. The aroma is yeasty. The cheese feels like a semi-soft Tomme: It is getting slightly softer but no signs of turning creamy.  I now stopped the bacterial brine regiment and moved to the traditional 3% brine (with just a bit Geo 15 boost it against the B.Linen craziness). I apply it 3x/week with a sponge. (Light scrubbing then wiping excess moisture)

Is this normal? What am I doing wrong? Humidity? Temp? Should I just wait longer? Maybe it's the shape of the cheese? (Smaller diameter than a Reblochon but taller).

Here is a photo from yesterday:

[mtncheesemaker]

I think those cheeses look perfect! Are you thinking they aren't soft enough?
I thought the idea is that the Geo grows first to prepare the way for the B. linens, which then takes over. Do I have it wrong?
Here is a pic of my first Reblochons, made 13 June. They started out all white, then gradually the orange is coming to dominate.
Let us know how they taste when you cut into one.
Pam

[iratherfly]

Thanks Pam!
Well that's good to know that they look right, but usually Reblochons are covered with lots of white when they are ready. They shouldn't be dark brownish orange all around. Also, yes - they don't feel soft enough to guarantee creaminess and this is week 6. How long do you age yours? What do they smell like now? Have you used any yeast in the milk and/or wash?

Worth mentioning that my recipe did not include the traditional thermophilic.

[mtncheesemaker]

This is my first attempt at Reblochon so I'm not really sure about aging. My target is to age for about 5 weeks. I've only eaten this cheese a couple of times, so I don't exactly remember what it's supposed to be like. (If you saw the cheese selection available here in western Colorado, after that food show you attended, you would weep!)
I added B. linens, P. candidum and Thermo B to the milk. I have put some Geo in a few of my washings.
Where did you get your recipe?

[iratherfly]

Haha.. and to think that Colorado is where the cheese society is located!

Proper Reblochon should have a very thin rind and super-creamy paste. So creamy in fact that the thin rind often collapses into it. It isn't particularly very stinky, the color is white with red spotting but not totally red, and the shape is in the proportion of a disc - short and wide.

My recipe isn't a traditional Reblochon but more my own rendition of it... I took the recipe in 200 easy cheeses and added some tips from people here and then I went to watch the 'Cheese Slices' DVD and got a glimpse of how they do it, followed by about 10 different videos of AOC Reblochon - to get the technique right. I ended up deciding to add more B.Linen and yeast and drop the thermo and shorten ripening time - to kind of re-do what they did at the monasteries that invented it.

[DeejayDebi]

Looks like we are all a bit confused about these reblochons. I have some making too that I don't know what to do with and they are 7 weeks old now. They got a bit squished. I knocked the white fussys down a lot but I thought they needed to be harder. Mine are like a really really thick pudding inside. Do you eat it with a spoon?

[iratherfly]

These actually look like PROPER REBLOCHONS!!! This is the look I've been waiting for! White with some orange spotting, disk-like proportions, rind that's thin enough to collapse over the paste which is suppose to be very soft and creamy! At what point did they turn soft for you? They look ready to eat! How do they smell?

It's funny that Pam, you (Debi), Mark and Myself all made Reblochons out of a million cheese possibilities at the very same time

[DeejayDebi]

I know I was inspired by Sues post awhile back but didn't get around to it for a few weeks. I thought these were totally off because they got soft and flat. I beleive they started getting soft about 5 to 6 weeks but I was on vacation for 10 days and came home and they were feeling soft. Are they supposed to be runny? I had them sitting out for about 1/2 an hour to wash the containers and one split (in the back) and it looked like thick banana pudding coming out of the crack so I put them back in the cave right away.

This is what they looked like when they were first made so I was thinking I must have really messed up going away during the ripening. This is a good make then? I have yet to find these things in a store anywhere.

I still don't know how to eat them. 

[iratherfly]

They are welcome on a cheese plate or as a casual snack, great on sandwiches and pair wonderfully with tart pears or apples. The French have a traditional winter dish of mash potatoes with tons of cream and butter (what else?) shallots and just-fried beacon in a casserole dish, covered with large pieces of an entire wheel of Reblochon and browned in the oven. DELICIOUS! (but heavy so better for winter)

Here are 4 different Reblochons - all are proper and typical but as you can see they differ A-LOT in texture, size and rind:

[mtncheesemaker]

Debi, those look gorgeous!
I was also inspired by Sue's post. Have been wanting to make it for a while. It's part of my effort to perfect these washed rind types.
Pam

[iratherfly]

Wow, I just looked at Sue's Reblochons at an old thread and they indeed look great! She uses raw milk.  Interesting that she too washes with the nontraditional solution that had b.linen in it instead of simple 3% brine.

I didn't use thermophilic in my recipe, but I did use yeast which will give it some flavor and aroma character and those signature small eyes - as well as help developing the surface for growth of B.Linen and Geo.

Just a comment about Sue's technique though - Reblochon is not traditionally pressed and there is no wait for first flip. What I saw in several French AOC videos is the cheesemakers scoop the curd into a cheesecloth-lined mold by hand, fold the cloth over the top, give it a light squeeze (not so much to get whey out, more to knot the curd together), then immediately undress it, flip and re-dress. It's quite amazing as this seconds-old cheese is very flabby and can fall apart in mid flip if the flipping takes long enough for it to collapse - so they do the whole thing scoop-dress-undress-flip-redress in less than 20 seconds and a single motion.

Did you follow her recipe? I wonder about the rennet quantity in it. Seems like half the normal amount. Did you use double-strength?

[DeejayDebi]

Thanks Yoav and Pam. Sue's did look like this so I thought I'd blown these cheeses because they went flat  lumpy and pudding like. I will have to try one on someting his weekend. I think I have potatoes in the basement. If it's already sort of melted to start with will it harden when cooked? I am new to these French cheeses.

I did press lightly with one mold on to of the next while I filled the remaining molds. Partly because I don't have a very big sink (a had 7 molds in there) and needed room and partly to get all the curds in the molds. I did spray with b. lindens the second and third day but barely had a dusting left in the packet. I did not spray after that but brushed off most off the white fuzzy growth so it didn't over power the cheeses. That stuff grows like ... hmm mold? LOL

[MarkShelton]

Man, I wish mine had come out that beautiful orange color! I got the LR series b. linens. They are very pale still...

[mtncheesemaker]

Mark, how old are yours now? Do you have some pics?
Pam

[iratherfly]

Mark, post a photo, let's do some cheese forensics!
I used LR LYO on mine. I think I made these a week or two before yours. If you have lots of white Geo everywhere, you can expect it to recede and make room for the orange underneath. Play with washing, salt and humidity and it will come out.  I remember you mentioned getting some KL71 before - did you use it on this batch? I used it in both the cheese and the bacterial wash, which frankly game me more orange than I expected...