I made a natural rind tomme cheese back in March. It has grown some interesting red and brown mold on the rind.
The wheel is approx. 5lbs, made with either MM100 or MA4001 (I can't remember which and I don't have my make sheet in front of me). When it was young I had trouble maintaining a stable temp/humidity, and I'm wondering if that may have contributed to the molds.
Anyway, it's now about 7 months old and we just cut it this weekend. It may have been overpressed, but it has a really nice nutty flavor with some crystals. Just curious if anyone has seen this type of mold before and what might cause it. Also, the rind is very wrinkly – geotrichum?
I certainly could not tell you what exactly you have , but you surely have a nice looking cheese there .
I do not see anything that for 100 % sure is geo , I might see some B linens . And a multitude off other things that are surely from the environment .
The cheese looks very good , well done , I solute you with a cheese
If the rind tastes good then eat it , if not cut it off.
I also have no idea just what the moulds are, or whether they are moulds. Identifying microorganisms is beyond my ability.
I have a tomme in the cave at the moment which looks very similar, including the wrinkled skin and I have been wondering what that is all about too. While there was probably some geo in the mix I wouldn't have thought that it was enough to give the toad skin found on some of the soft geo bloomies. The red I have had on a Cantal (if it's the same red) and it was no problem.
Anyway, it sounds like the cheese passed the all-important taste test so please have another cheese from me.
By the way, the tomme recipe I used only called for a very light pressing.
That's an impressive rind. Like they said, there's definitely linens, but I'm not sure about anything else. Geo is likely, and you also seem to have some of the brown/black Stains of Humidity.