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.
