Epoisses style

Here is a quick update on the Epoisses style cheese I have been trying to make for some weeks. The cheeses in these pictures have been washed with mildly salted water for almost two weeks. On a few cheeses the rind is very fragile. I suspect it might be a little to moist in the environment they are in. The cheeses also show signs of a white mold which I think is Geotrichum candidum. I didn't add this to the milk, it must be present in the refrigerator the cheeses are in. The rind is slightly yellow, no clear real signs yet of the Brevibacterium linens. Maybe when I wash them with Marc de Bourgogne, which I will start in a few days, it will appear.

Ayrshire Blue

The results of the blue cheeses I made over the summer were of mixed success. Some turned out bad because of poor milk quality, another cheese suffered because I was in France for two weeks and one batch just turned out badly for no apparent reason. I have obviously still a lot to learn so what better to do than to make another batch of blue.

This time I started with 10 gallons of Ayrshire milk at 86 F. As cultures I added MM1oo and a little LM057 which helps with the development of cavities where the blue mold will grow. The spots in the milk is the added Penicillium roqueforti. This will create the blue mold. 

After adding adding 7.5 mml of microbial rennet it took 60 minutes to reach the desired consistency and the curd was ready to be cut. I cut it gently for 5 minutes to pea size particles after which I let the curds settle for 5 minutes. Without heating I then stirred the curd for fifty minutes or until the curd had reached the desired texture. After this I let the curds settle for about 10 minutes before I hooped the curd directly from the vat with the cheese forms. I did not drain the whey from the vat before I started the last procedure.

I turned the cheeses after 15 minutes and then every half hour to an hour for the next four hours. The next day I turned them twice. The third day I salted one side and the fourth day I salted the other side before I moved the cheeses to the aging facility. I keep my fingers cross that these will turn into some good blue cheeses

 

Epoisses style

As mentioned in the previous post, I had made a new batch of lactic cheeses to try to create something resembling Epoisses again. This is my first batch of lactic cheese from Ayrshire milk. All previous batches of lactic cow cheese I made, had been from Holstein milk. 

I used 4.5 gallons of milk at a temperature of 68F, added culture (MM100 and Aroma B) and 2 ml of microbial coagulant. I let this coagulate for about 24 hours before ladling the curd into the molds. After 14 hours of draining I turned the cheeses in the molds and let them drain for another 24 hours before I salted one side. 12 Hours later I released the cheese from the molds and salted the other side. At this time I put the cheeses under the fan for a drying session of about 10 hours. 

After the drying session, it was the morning of the fourth day after starting the making process. The cheeses are starting to smell strongly fermentative and I even noticed some signs of a mildly orange rind. I am very excited and am newly encouraged by these signs that this time I am on the right track. It is time to move them to a cooler and more humid environment before they dry out.

Epoisses style

So far the cheeses I wrote about in the previous post don't show any sign of wanting to turn into a smear rind cheese. I have washed the cheeses for almost two weeks now with mildly salted water. The rind should have starting to turn orange by now as evidence of the presence of the Brevibacterium linens. Nothing of the kind happened but as one can see, the rind has developed  some white mold and there is probably where the problem lies. When I made the cheese, I added Geotrichum candidum to the batch. This now has developed a white bloomy rind which might inhibit the growth of the linens bacteria.  

For now I will stop washing the cheese and start eating it as the cheeses are starting to get runny already as can be seen in the picture below. I made a new batch of lactic cheeses without the G. candidum and will start a new attempt at making the intended cheese. 

Epoisses style

After visiting Epoisses this summer and eating some excellent Epoisses cheese, I found the time ripe to give it another try myself to make an Epoisses inspired cheese. So far the results seem promising. The cheeses are much smaller than the real ones. I used some crotin molds and some molds I made from old yoghurt containers. I washed the cheeses in the top two containers with some mildly salted water. I will wash the cheeses like this for about two weeks, every other day. After that I will wash the cheeses for two weeks with Marc de Burgundy which I brought back from France. 

The cheeses in the in the lower container shall remain unwashed. Consider it the control cheese.

Fromage de France

Some of the regular readers of this blog might have wondered why it has been so silent recently. Well, I was with my family in France. My wife had persuaded me to take a vacation abroad, cheese being the draw. And of course, I couldn't resist. France is still a heaven of cheese and plenty of other delicious food.
We spent the first week with friends in Ain, the foot hills of the Alps. A perfect place from which to make trips into the Haute Savoie in search of cheese. My friend, who grew up here but also lives in Brooklyn, was so kind to make phone calls. She made contact with several local cheese makers. We visited a Reblochon maker and I spent a morning in the mountains watching the making of Tomme Des Bauges. I will write about this in the next few weeks.

After a week we drove north to Burgundy. Here we stayed for three days on a farm in Epoisses. We visited the only producer of raw milk Epoisses in Origny-sur-Seine, some 50 km north east of Epoisses. They make an excellent cheese, but more later.

The cheeses in the pictures came from the cheese shop of Pierre Gay in Annecy. I had heard of this shop in New York as being a good source for cheese and makers. The owner is very nice and he did give me some leads towards cheesemakers in the area. I will give a brief description of the cheeses. 

On top, we find a Saint Felicien in the ramekin, a lactic cow. This one was mild and buttery. The large pink wedge is a Vacherin des Bauges, a bit of a disappointment. Too dry for a vacherin, perhaps not the time of year and according to my friends' father not the right area for good vacherin. Next to that, a trusty Comte, sweet and nutty, flanked by a petit Bornard Chevre and a Seez de Tarentaise. Both nice goat cheeses, the taller tarentaise a harder dryer one, the smaller Bornard soft and lemony. Under this a Romans Fermier, a lactic coagulated raw milk cow cheese. This cheese is made similar as the Saint Felicien but is ripened on rye straw, hence the blue mold on the rind. To the left a Crotin Chavignol, a little dry goat cheese, which to my pleasant surprise was very similar to the cheeses in this post. Moving left we find a Saint Nectaire, soft and earthy, honest without bravoure. And last, a fantastic piece of Blue du Haut Jura, also known as Blue de Gex. According to my friend a real find.

Curd Cutters

Recently I made some new curd cutters. I have been using a knife to cut the curd but I found it very difficult to cut the curd to small particles. Most cheeses require the curd to be cut into rice grain size to drain out the whey.
To build the cutters, I welded some stainless steel frames and stretches stainless steel fishing wire across. The wire isn't very tautt but the thickness of the wire makes it stiff enough to cut the curd. It works great.

Goat Cheese

Here are two little goat cheeses I made a while ago. The one above was made one May 25. I am not sure about when I made the one below but I think it was around the same time. These were the last ones of these batches and, having sat around for almost 3 months, they have developed a wonderful and complex flavor.

Architectural Plans for Creamery

I have been working with an architect for a while on the design of a creamery. Here are the preliminary drawings. The plan is to build the entire structure out of concrete, partly dug into a hill. The aging cave is five feet below ground, which is approximately the frost line. This way a constant cool temperature and stable humidity is achieved. The ceilings of the cave are vaulted to promote airflow. It also prevents water from dripping on the cheese. Aging rooms often accumulate condensation on the ceiling. When the ceiling is flat, this drips on the cheeses. When the ceiling is vaulted, this water runs off along the ceiling and the walls. The vaulted ceiling also adds to the aesthetic appeal or the room. To avoid having to add any load bearing beams in the cave, I added some columns in the center. This allows me to partition the cave in the future if I decide I want two curing rooms with different climates. The ventilation system of the cave has to be worked out still.

The rooms in front of the cave are for drying and brining the cheeses. This part of the building is three quarters below ground. In one of these rooms I hope to install a walk in cooler in the future.

The making room, cleaning room and office in the front are above ground. The cleaning room was added after I read the state regulations for dairy processing plants. State regulations prohibit cleaning milk containers in the making room when the milk is not produced on the premises. I do not intend to start a dairy but plan to make cheese from milk bought from local farmers.

The making room will get a cheese making vat in the center. Around the walls sinks and draining tables are planned.

I haven’t worked out the heating system for the building yet. Although the winters are long and cold in upstate New York, by building the structure in a hill from thick concrete walls insulated from the outside, I hope the building will not require a lot of heating. A small central hydronic system fired by propane might do. I hope I can use the same system to heat the water for the cheese vat as well as other running water.

The plant has two septic systems as required by regulations. I will write about the septic systems in a separate post later. Being located in the New York City watershed adds an enormous amount of restrictions and regulations to these systems and makes building outside municipal systems often cost prohibitive. Whether this will be the case with my plans is to be seen.

Press

From Diner Journal, No. 12 Summer 2009

Goat Blue

Here is one of the Goat blue wheels I made on May 13. After more than two months of aging, I was curious to how it would be. Well, it might not be the best blue I have ever had, but it is certainly not the worst. The paste crumbly, perhaps a little dry. It is musty, a little ammoniated, and definitely strong. I will let the second wheel age for another month or so. It might just improve with time.

Cheese in the Dryer

I have temporary reverted to the dryer as a cave again. Since I made these two wheels, I haven't had a change to bring these upstate. I don't want to put them in a refrigerator, afraid they will dry out. Having nothing else vermin free around and no time to built something, this was the easiest solution. At 70F too warm perhaps for a extended amount of time. But with a humidity of 90%, they'll just age a little faster for the two weeks they will have to spend in here before I have time to move them upstate.