Tomme

I made these cheese about two months ago in the style of Reblochon. Whether they taste like a this cheese, I don't know. I had the pleasure of eating Reblochon only once, this summer in France. As far as I remember, the cheeses here did not taste like the cheese I tasted in France, but I imagine the not all Reblochon tastes the same. 

But this is not the reason for this post. These three cheese came from the same batch. I treated the rind different during aging and ended up with three rather different cheeses.

The cheese in the first two photos I washed with lightly salted water. Besides some mould in the cavities, the rind is smooth orangy yellow. The wheel in the next two pictures I washed in Marc de Borgougne. This promotes the development of  coryneform bacteria which gives it a meaty flavor. The last cheese I let go wild, I did not do anything to the rind. This rind is dry and crispy, musty and crusty.

Loomis Blue

Loomis Blue is a blue veined cheese made from Ayshire milk in the style of Devon blue. The cheese is covered in a beautiful white rind and has a firm marbled blue creamy texture; it's ivory paste is smooth with a of complexity of flavors that burst in the mouth.

Taleggio

My desire to make a more moisture cheese has brought me back to a Taleggio recipe on Peter Dixon's website. I have tried this recipe numerous times when I started making cheese and I always liked the result. My skills as a cheesemaker have improved since then and so has my equipment. I use a pH meter now to monitor the acidity level of the curds and whey and am able to create cheeses of more consistent quality. The milk I use now is also of a better quality. Recently I have found a source of very high quality Jersey milk. The lactic test I did with this milk for this batch formed a very solid curd. It did not have any imperfections, no gas formation or other breaks in the curd. It was very exciting to see the test result. 

I made this batch on December 6, so the cheeses have been in the cave for a few days. I have start washing them with beer and the first signs of yeast and corynefrom bacteria are apparent.

Epoisses

Finally I have managed to make a cheese with a resemblance of Epoisses both in appearance, texture and taste. It might not come close to the cheese made by Gaec des Marronniers, but it is as close to an Epoisses style cheese as I have ever been. 

I made this batch on November 9 from raw Ayshire milk. I used 5 gallons of milk with a pH of 6.79. At a temperature of 78F I added the culture: 1/16 tsp MA4001 and 1/16 tsp Aroma B. After 1 hour the pH had dropped to 6.55 and I added 1 ml of microbial coagulant to the milk. I let this sit until the pH had reached 4.51, which was after for about 14 hours, before ladling the curd into the molds. At 9.30 PM the next morning I turned the cheeses in the molds and let them drain for another 12 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 before moving them to the cave. For the first week I washed them with a light salty brine. After that I washed them a few times a week with some Marc de Buorgogne for another two weeks. 

The rind shows some contamination from different moulds and yeasts. My place of production as well as aging room is swarming with all kinds of micro organisms and this lactic cheese is very susceptible to contamination. But with a little more focus on the washing process I should be able to make a cleaner looking cheese.