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I watched the Cheese Nun documentary (quite a good watch) and the main cheese they make is similar to Saint Nectaire. I did some looking into and whatnot and could not find any recipes for it. Might one of you perchance have a set of guidelines?

Just a quick look gives this possibility, extracted from the Cook's Info site:

"The farmhouse ones are made using unpasteurised cow's milk. The milk must come from a single herd of Salers cows.

The cheese is made twice daily, morning and evening. The milk is put in a vat, and starter culture (lactic acid bacteria) and calf's rennet are added. The temperature is kept at 91 F (33 C) so that the curd is never cooked. Within 15 to 25 minutes, the milk will be curdled, at which point it is cut into pea-sized pieces, then stirred for 15 minutes.

The whey is drained off, then the curd is put in moulds, and pressed. The cheeses are then turned out of their moulds, and stamped with their producers' mark. They are salted, wrapped in cheesecloth, placed back into a mould, and then pressed for 24 hours, during which time they are turned once.

The cheeses are then stored for 7 days between 42 and 50 F (6 and 10 C), then sent for aging on wooden shelves for about 6 weeks. They are then washed with brine, scraped and turned.

Some producers prefer to only wash the cheese, resulting in ones that have a pink rind; some prefer to only scrape the rinds, giving a grey rind. The grey comes from a mould called "mucor" geotrichum candidum fungus, though the strain varies from cheesemaker to cheesemaker. Other cheeses end up with rinds with mould on them that is white, yellow and red.

The farmhouse versions of St-Nectaire Cheese have a 45% fat content. "

You could feasibly derive a recipe from that. Several other readings involve a brine bath. Good luck.

-Boofer-

I did see that yesterday, but discounted it because of no specification of ripening time, and 15 to 25 minutes seeming a tad sketchy with renneting, as it does not seem to be totally firm. On the other hand, maybe that's balanced by only 15 minutes of stirring?

I see similarities between Saint Nectaire and Reblochon. Have you had a go at Reblochon?

Member iratherfly helped us all out when he drafted his comprehensive treatise, some of which can be extrapolated/shared to other cheese styles.

-Boofer-

That recipe is for bulk set starter.  A bit weird that rennet is added at the same time, I suggest that is wrong. I would also think it's a washed curd based on the texture.

I would try:
-milk and enough cream for double/triple
-meso starter with a few adjuncts of your choice, include ripening cultures
-ripen to a change in pH of 0.2
-rennet
-floc x 3 = cut (1/4 to 3/8 cubes)
-10 minute heal
-stir for 10 minutes
-drain 1/3 whey
-replace with 35°C water
-stir until firm enough to hoop
-light pressing
-brine in a mix of salt and ripening culture OR dry salt.  I prefer brine.

Adjuncts such as thermophilic? Sorry, I'm not incredibly well versed in that area of cheesemaking.

How long of a ripening period would that probably be?

What would happen without cream? I take it UP cream is still out of the question...

The documentary suggested curd washing as well.

I also seem to get the main necessary molds for that and I don't think it's worth getting ripening cultures for it... 

But thank you. Very helpful.

Adjuncts I'd try are KL71 and an MVA, maybe a thermo if you have any handy.  Mycoderm and mycodore as well if you have them.

Ripening will probably be 60-90 minutes if you are using a dry powder from the freezer.

Without cream the paste will be totally different.  Yes, UP cream is out of the question (yuck).