Tomme attempt #2 - Better, but need some help and advice

[MacGruff]

I have made progress in my efforts towards making a Tomme. However, I am not quite there, so I am posting my detailed notes here with charts so that others can both learn from what I am doing, as well as - hopefully - point out to me where I am making mistakes that I can correct. Please feel free to comment on any and all of this - do not be bashful! I am looking to learn from all of you, so I am open to all input.


To start with, I am using Jim Wallace's recipe from Cheesemaking.com. I know he has several. This is the one called "Tomme Style Cheese Recipe" and the URL for the one I got is: https://cheesemaking/com/products/tomme-style-cheese-recipe


I started with two gallons of supermarket bought whole milk on the 2nd of May, 2020. Brought it up to a temp of 87 degrees per the course of about 75 minutes on the stove. The pH started at 5.92 and dropped to 5.85 as the milk warmed up.


Added Flora Danica and Thermophile Type C cultures and let rest for about 45 minutes


Added 1/4 teaspoon Rennet - Temp of the milk was at 88 degrees and pH was at 5.80.


It took almost 90 minutes to achieve a clean break which is really a long time. Not sure why. By this time, the surface temp was down to 80 degrees and the ph was at 5.86. I cut the curds and gently stirred for 15 minutes.

"Cooking" the curds by taking out whey and replacing with water that was at 130 degrees. Did this in stages until I got the curds up to 101 degrees. pH was measured at 5.75.I transferred the matted curds to my small forms. I have Tomme forms with a follower that are supposed to hold about 1 pound of cheese (or about a gallon's worth). When I was done transferring, I had filled up my two forms completely, and had a bit left over - it would have filled about another half a form. Stacked the two forms on top of each other elevated so that the bottom one could draing. pH was at 5.72.


Flipped the two forms after 90 minutes. pH went down to 5.5


One hour later, there is no drainage of whey, pH is at 5.44, so I take the cheeses out of the forms and let them dry on the countertop at room temperature.
[TO BE CONTINUED]

[MacGruff]

Next morning (3rd of May), the pH is at 4.58 and I put both wheels in brine. Four hours later, I flip them (pH at 4.67). Four hours after that, I take them out of the brine and put them on the counter on top of some paper towel and let them rest. pH is at 4.77.

On the 4th and 5th of May, I only flipped them over while leaving them to dry on my countertop. pH readings were 4.70 and 4.80.
On 6 May, I moved the two wheels to the cheese cave which was at 47 degrees and at 85% humidity. This next chart shows my daily readings of temperature, humidity and pH.

[MacGruff]

While in the cave, I flipped the cheese every other day.

I noticed that some blue dots started appearing on the 14th of May, but they did not really start spreading until the 17th. On the 17th I gave the cheese wheels a salt/vinegar rubdown to contain the blue. I had to repeat this rubdown on the 23rd.

The cheese surface looks very dry throughout the process.

Today - 24 May - I took the smaller of the two wheels for a taste. You can see it as a whole wheel in the pictures below, then cut apart, then a small wedge on a cracker. I weighed it first and it was exactly 9 ounces, so it lost quite a bit of weight over the three weeks of the make.

The paste consistency is quite nice and dense - like can be seen in the photo. Applying the sniff test, the cut wheel smelled like a cheese. Nothing really distinctive. The taste was not particularly pleasing or displeasing. It was just kind of there, but there was a slightly bitter aftertaste that came in at the tail end that was definitely something I want to get rid of.

So, now come my questions and requests for help:

- Since flavor is paramount, what cultures should I be using? Am I using the right ones? Have I given the ones I am using enough time?(I have a second wheel still in my cave. I will let it go two more weeks before trying it)- To get a cheese that is not so "dry" for a Tomme, should I have made a two-pound size wheel, rather than two one-pounders? The rind to paste ratio may be a problem?- Is the pH journey look right? (For this last, here is yet another chart - one that combines all the pH readings from the story above:



[By the way, that one blip around data point 35 - that was when I measured the pH right after a salt/vinegar bath, so the vinegar caused the cheese surface to register more acidic)

And now, for the pics:

[mikekchar]

Well, I think the main problem is the pH.  A tomme should be at a pH of about 5.4 at the very bottom end.  So you probably should have brined it before going to bed.  However, it's a bit strange.  You did a washed curd (which should have limited the lactose) and you *still* bottomed out at 4.58 (which is incredibly acidic for cheese -- you are in feta territory there).  I can only think that you did not remove enough whey.  But there is no reason to leave a tomme overnight without brining as far as I can tell.  I can't quite understand why a lot of Jim Wallace's recipes do that.

In terms of flavour, most of the flavour in aged cheeses come from the breaking up of proteins into peptides and amino acids by enzymes in the starter culture.  It takes time to do that.  A tomme needs a good 5 months to develop flavour.  Before that it can be a bit bland.  If you get a good natural rind going, it can potentially contribute to the flavour if you are eating it young (especially geotrichum), but it doesn't necessarily give you a tomme character.  Bitterness can come from many different places, but one of them is simply when the cheese is young.  Having a good geotrichum cover will apparently improve that situation (which I just read about lately).

[MacGruff]

Thanks for the advice, Mikechar.

So, I am thinking of doing the following:

1.   I have another wheel from the same make still in the cave. I will let it go for another two or three weeks and crack it open then. Compare the flavors and see if anything is difference.

2.   Make another batch. Here I am debating making one of two changes. What do you think, which of these two courses of action should I take?
   a.   Make a two pound wheel using the exact same techniques as before to see if size makes a difference? Or,
   b.   Make two one pound wheels but brine immediately after the cooking stage?


Also, what do you think about the specific cultures I am using? Should I perhaps try a different set of cultures?

Thanks for all your help!!

[Boofer]

Have you tried the search function? Very useful. 

Here are some random examples:

• Early tomme with linuxboy's input
• A later effort

-Boofer-

[mikekchar]

Boofer's links are the stuff :-)  100% agree with going through those and doing whatever they say.  The linuxboy tomme threads a legend.

[scasnerkay]

I wonder if you need to do a deep clean of your pH meter. Some of your readings seem quite different than what I would expect at that point, like dropping to 5.85 after warming the milk to target.
I usually use KAZU as a starter for my tomme - not a washed curd version.
I find them good to eat anywhere from 2 months on.
If I miss the drain or terminal pH targets, they are more crumbly, but still quite tasty!!!

[MacGruff]

Thanks for all the comments, folks, and please do keep the coming! This journey is quite educational and I hope we will all learn from my mistakes.

Boofer - I thank you for coming back out of the cold (where have you been hiding?) and sharing some of those links. I did some searches before launching my first and second try, but was not successful in coming up with those specific threads. I printed them out now and am going through and reading them avidly! Thanks for bringing them to my attention.

Susan - I got a brand new Extech pH110 meter before starting this make; calibrated it before starting the make, and then once per week since. I hope I am not too far off, but maybe it is an artifact of the supermarket milk I was using?

Next steps for me:

1.   Since several of you commented that I am essentially being too impatient in trying this cheese after three weeks, I will leave the second wheel in the cave to the two month mark. I will continue to watch it; wipe off the blues and flip it every third or fourth day from now on.
2.   I will try to make Boofer's Tomme #2 with a three gallon make and keep the same notes as I did for this one. About two weeks into the make, I will post the results in a new thread here, with charts and pics as my make #3. Who knows what will happen?

Again, thanks for all the help guys!

[mikekchar]

This is just my opinion, but I really think flipping every day for a natural rind is essential in the first month or so.  After that, you can have a pretty relaxed attitude (but don't let the box get too wet).  Especially in the first few weeks, though, the oxygen requirements for the cheese are really high and you just won't get a good rind if you don't take it out of the cave and give it a breath of fresh are every day.

In terms of rind treatment, there are some tricks.  Leave it until you first see something blooming on it (it doesn't really matter what, but white is better than blue :-))  Then wash with a 3% brine (5% is probably OK too, but don't go higher than that).  Wash the whole cheese and clean it off completely.  Pat it dry or let it air dry before putting it back into the ripening box/cave.  With luck, it will go white after that (if it doesn't, lower the humidity just a tad).  If you get blue in the next couple of days, wash the whole cheese again.  If you get up past the 2 week mark, or you have had a lot of white on the rind and start to get blue, *don't* wash it!  You will almost certainly get a washed rind cheese.  After you get good white coverage, blue will only grow on the *outside* and you can safely ignore it.  It's prettier if you only have white, but you can work on that process over several cheeses.  Do not brush blue mold off of an established rind.  You will only spread it.  If you want a clean rind, then after you get full white coverage, wash it completely, dry it off (pat it dry and let it air dry), then wipe oil on it.  From there you can brush off any mold you see and reapply oil.  Also oil it (without washing) every month even if it doesn't have mold (the cheese absorbs the oil slowly).

Definitely, you will see a big difference in flavour aging it out to 8 weeks.  If you get the initial rind going well, make sure to relax about the rind after the first 3 weeks to a month.  This is where I've made all my recent mistakes -- washing or brushing and making my rind worse :-) (especially avoid washing, unless you are going to oil!).  I'm always of mixed emotions when I eat my cheeses because I get quite attached to growing them out :-)

[DrChile]

Don't want to beat a dead horse - but I agree looking at the pH may be key.
If you are calibrated, then that can eliminate the probe as a variable so it may be your milk.

I'd grab a half gallon or two of different supermarket brands and test their pH to see what you get at the beginning.  5.9 seems a bit low to me, but I could be wrong...

FYI - the Kroger brand milk, for me, tends to result in shattered curds and I tend not to use that.
Costco milk, however, works well. 

Trent

[scasnerkay]

Starting pH is normally 6.6 to 6.7 at make temperatures.
If your reading is starting at 5.9, you have a problem with your meter.

You can search for meter cleaning strategies here on the forum.
I use the same pH meter as you, and if I have readings that are not as I expect, then I do a deep clean, and re-boot of the the meter. The website for the pH meter also has a recommended cleaning protocol and reboot protocol.
1) Soapy water: fat removal
2) Contact Lens cleaner or rennet: protein removal
3) Vinegar or cleaning solution: salt removal

Take the batteries out, and press On/Off for 10 seconds

Be sure you are storing the meter in a bit of 4.0 solution in the cap in between use!

Recalibrate....

[MacGruff]

Got it. Recalibrate. I bow to the collected wisdom!   

This week we are going to Costco. Still debating whether to get 2 or 3 gallons of Costco milk, but will get some. Will then do a complete recalibration... and then start a new make.

Just as an update on the one wheel I still have in my cave. It is now showing a pH of 7.32 and the rind is turning a nice orangy color. The rind is very dry on both sides (I just flipped it today) The blue is very much under control. with only a few spots and it looks like - at least to my untrained eye) as it a whitish/ greyish fuzz is building around the bluish areas. Of course, that might be just my wishful thinking!!

I will be flipping it twice a week from now on and letting it go another month before taking a taste.

Thanks for all the help!!

[MacGruff]

It may have slipped people's notice, but I made two one pound wheels in this attempt. I tried the one, back on the 24th of May, and left the second one in the cave. After tasting the first one, I wrapped it in plastic and put it in the fridge. Call it Tomme #2.1 Call the one that stayed in the cave Tomme #2.2

Yesterday, we held a July 4th picnic with one other couple - social distancing rules and all, you know! - and I decided that it was time to try the two cheeses out.

Tomme #2.1 did not look any different than it did before, but the taste did change, the bitterness I complained of before had disappeared. I have seen elsewhere on this board where people have mentioned that this happens and it means that the culture just needed more time to work. I can confirm this now from my own experience. The flavor of the cheese, though, was still not that great... and it did not look that great.

Tomme #2.2 was a whole different experience. I am attaching some pics. You can see what it looks like with that lovely orange rind which I have no idea how it happened!. Also, the inside paste was smooth. The flavor was reminiscent of a swiss cheese but milder. It tasted quite mild. I was wondering if it would melt, so the next morning (today) I used it inside of an Omelette - that pic is included as well; the crumbles on top are from the cheese!!! - I could this as a success after all.

I am curious about the flavor being introduced by the culture. I used Flora Danica for this make. I also used Flora Danica for Tomme #3 which is a 3 lb wheel that is in the cave now. What would you suggest I might want to try if I want a more buttery and maybe even sweeter tasting cheese? Is there a different culture, or combination of cultures I should consider using?

As usual, thanks for the help!!

[mikekchar]

Looks great!  AC4U!