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I have been to busy working on my cheese factory to post to much.  But I recently took a sample from three of my tomme cheeses made from the same batch and they each tasted different. Two were brined one dry salted. All the rest was the same any idea why they would taste differently.

They are lacking in the moldy rind department but there has been a little white mold that has taken over for the most part

The white bloom on them looks like Geotrichum, often one of the first arrivals on a natural rind.
How old are they?

They are almost two months old but I just finished my cave so they have lived in a box most of there life.  On another note I have one more inspection before I will be licensed cheese maker.

I cut the cheese today (only on a cheese forum is it ok to say that).  It tasted great but I think I will age the other two a little longer.  But it melted great on a grilled cheese.

Quote from: Chetty on March 09, 2016, 09:10:20 PM
On another note I have one more inspection before I will be licensed cheese maker.

When you get a chance tell us more about your commercial operation - capacity, what cheeses, what milks, etc.

I have been working on my operation full time for a whole year.  My make room and packaging room sit next to the milk barn on the dairy.  We milk Holstein cows that usually have a good butter fat count.  The cheeses as of now I am going to make are all raw milk cheeses aged for the 60 day minimum.  Gouda, tomme are the cheeses I like to make the most but on occasion I will make a cheddar type and one that resembles a creamier milder version of provolone.  I have a 150 gallon vat but 40 to 50 gallon is what I usually make. 

I put a couple of pictures of my make room and of the outside of my building while it was in construction.  It will be good to be done building and able to spend more time making cheese I'm almost there.

Thanks for the photos.  Will you be making cheese daily or do you plan to store the milk for a day or so and then make cheese?  I've evaluated a small cheese facility here in Washington State and from a regulatory standpoint it seems less of a hassle  to bring the milk in and make the cheese rather than put it in larger fixed tanks for making later.  Milk storage seems to make regulators nervous.  Of course, to make the cheese on a "current" basis you need to have the creamery and milking parlor near to each other and this seems also to make regulators nervous, also.

I'm planning on making it twice a week.  We sell the majority of the milk because we have 158 cows.  Because my make room is so close to the barn yard I had to have a vestibule to make a sort of air lock from the outside world.  My aging cave is on the other side of the farm burried in a hill for natural cooling.  It is cheaper then electric cooling but more labor to haul the cheese.

Great.  Let us know where in Utah you will be selling your cheese.  I have relatives there and pass through the state from time to time.

Kern

We are located in box elder county but will be selling at farmers markets in Ogden I hope I am still setting that up.  I'm still in the inspection stage and I would have to have product ready for sale in May.  The 60 day timeline don't Match and they don't like people to start at the market late. 

New batch of time but I washed this batch to keep the blue mold down.  The only problem I've had with this batch is slumping and flies.  I am having trouble controlling both of them. 

Thanks for the update on your operation.  Slumping can be taken care of by flipping the cheeses every few days.  This doesn't stop it but does put the bulge in the middle.  Eventually, the cheese dries enough so that the slumping stops.  Still, I'd flip them once every few weeks even at this point.  It is a good time to inspect the cheeses as well.

I'm not sure what you do about the flies.  Obviously, you need screens on all openings.  Sailor may have some ideas on controlling flies as I am sure there are some regulations about this.

Thanks for the help, I have screens on everything but I think the must have been coming in when I open the door.  I just put up a plastic walk through curtain to see if it helps.  I have been turning them every day.  But what makes them do this not enough acid before renneting? To much rennet?  Or is washed curd cheese just supposed to do this. 

Curds behave more like a high viscosity liquid than they do as a solid.  If they didn't then we wouldn't be able to press them together and have the curds knit into a seamless cheese wheel.  The moisture content doesn't change too much during pressing for the drier cheeses like Tommes.  Gravity acting on the wheel causes it to slump.  Turning once or more per day doesn't stop the slumping, it merely moves the bulge from one end (elephant foot) to the middle.  At some point in the aging process the rind gets rigid enough through drying that the dimensions of the cheese stabilize and turning is not required as frequently.  Still, it is a good idea to turn the cheeses a couple of times per month as this helps keep the moisture content uniform throughout the cheese.

This is only related to the factors you listed in that they can affect the moisture content.  I've attached a photo of a "hot washed curd" cheese I made where the bulge is clearly seen.  If you start looking a photos of cheeses aging in caves you'll see that bulging is quite common.  It ends up in the center due to periodic turning of the cheese.

Incidentally, I like the shape of the cheeses you've made.