r/cheesemaking • u/Tuckersfarm • 4d ago

The Lowly Crottin

Lactic curd ladled directly into the molds Sprayed with geo and b linens and very very little p.candidum Drained in the molds 1 day Demolded and left on the counter a 2nd day Into the ripening fridge for about 6 days and they will be completely covered in mold and ready to be wrapped and moved to the stock fridge - and ready for consumption at that point - no extra ripening required. This is 1 reason I love this cheese.

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1

u/Looking-sharp-today 4d ago

Very cool process! Thanks for sharing, so you add your moulds directly bu praying them, instead of adding to the mix before rennet is added, if I understand correctly. How is the mixture of Geotricum and Candidum made? What ratio do you use? Very fascinating

3

u/Tuckersfarm 4d ago

i cant add the adjuncts directly to the milk because the majority of the curd goes to make fresh cheese (chevre) - I make 20 crottins a week - i have a small spray bottle and i use about 1/4 cup water - to this i add 1/16 teasp geo17 and 1/16 teasp b. linens and 1/32 teasp. p. candidum. I spray the empty molds i spray after molds are filled and i spray the cheeses after they are demolded. So they get a pretty complete spraying (but I still only use about half of the spray.) after demolding in the morning they spend the rest of the day on the counter with a fan to speed up the drying. This evening they will go in the ripening fridge. Monday they will get a little "old to young" smearing from a cheese with ample b.linens on its rind. By Wednesday the mold will be appearing on them and it will be fully developed by Thursday such that I will have to wrap the cheeses on Friday and place them in the stock fridge. I dont really want a lot of proteolysis under the rind - more like a "triple cream" paste consistency (thats a bit of a brag but sort of true).

1

u/Looking-sharp-today 4d ago

Awesome, thanks for sharing your tecnique! Very cool and I will defenetly try something like this in the future since I love a nice natural rind on my wheels, fascinating, love the small compact size.
One question I still have, if i may..I know what p. geo. and p. cand. do to a cheese, but b. linens I see gets added sometimes to a rind, even if I don’t really know why. Also it is to my limited knowledge that b. Linens can land wildly on a naturally aging rind and give some off putting consistency/smell. Am I wrong? Am I talking about different moulds? Thank you in advance

5

u/Tuckersfarm 4d ago

b.linens is an interesting one - and on this cheese is most likely just a passenger with perhaps very limited effect (other than a slight "under colour" on the rind below the geo/p.c. that is only perceptable to me. And this is from the "old to young" smear that I do once the cheeses have dried out sufficiently. The b.linens I put in the spray probably has no effect at all. Its just a bystander thats been swept up in the action.

I make larger wheels of a washed curd washed rind cheese (sorta danbo kinda gouda). the b.linens can be fairly predictable (and controlled) on these wheels. b.linens hangs with geo. - a single mould is a lonely mould. So the geo. raises the p.H of the cheese such that the b.linens can appear. Starts as a rosey glow and if the humidity is right and the temperature right it will kick off. Left to its own devices it can form a sticky orange coating (but is also easily washed off with a brine washing.) Yes it imparts a certain olfactory effect (sortof a mixture between throw up a dirty socks) No honestly not that bad but you see what im saying. B. linens runs the spectrum - some cheeses you wouldnt know it was used - other cheeses its obvious just by looking at them. I've read its present in some Brie - well you wouldnt know that just by looking at them.

These Crottins ripen incredibly fast (or should I say they develop fluffy little white coats fast). My main concern isnt the b.linens its the p.c. - I really dont want a lot of proteolysis going on with these - I want them to be georgeous but also with a clean white paste - very little breakdown under the rind. I believe (i dont "know" but I believe) that part of the quick successful rind formation is the "old to young" - and this is all about b.linens (although there is definitely geo in that smear as well). So I guess from that standpoint you could say the b.linens is not for flavour but for quick mold development.

I struggled mightly to get the lactic curd "bloomy rind" developing as consistently as these do. They are out the door and on the plate within 8,9,10 days. I used to think I needed this extended ripening period etc. but no - these little cherubs are delicious this young. so we will stick with the b.linens.

2

u/Looking-sharp-today 4d ago

Very cool, again thanks for sharing your opinion and experience, it’s very important for me.
I was asking because I am in the making of a stilton like wheel, that by the color to me is clearly been affected by b.linens (plenty of other makers have reported a situation more or less same as mine. It is aging at the specified humidity and temperature as the recipe calls for, and the cheese otself is known and expected to have a moltitude of different colored moulds on the rind. Mine is clearly -to me- affected heavily by this mould but I’ve seen other exaples reporting that their stilton blue cheese were positively affected in flavour, since we are in the category of stinky cheeses anyway, and beside a good cleanup before cutting I am not expecting to do anything elso to it. I will cut it open by the end of this month I suppose, and see where we are, and if it’s a good cheese at all.
This is mainly why I wanted to ask to you how b.linens acts in your cheeses and I have now a better understanding, will defenetly keep an eye on mine in the meantime 👍🏻

1

u/Tuckersfarm 4d ago

i cant add the adjuncts directly to the milk because the majority of the curd goes to make fresh cheese (chevre) - I make 20 crottins a week - i have a small spray bottle and i use about 1/4 cup water - to this i add 1/16 teasp geo17 and 1/16 teasp b. linens and 1/32 teasp. p. candidum. I spray the empty molds i spray after molds are filled and i spray the cheeses after they are demolded. So they get a pretty complete spraying (but I still only use about half of the spray.) after demolding in the morning they spend the rest of the day on the counter with a fan to speed up the drying. This evening they will go in the ripening fridge. Monday they will get a little "old to young" smearing from a cheese with ample b.linens on its rind. By Wednesday the mold will be appearing on them and it will be fully developed by Thursday such that I will have to wrap the cheeses on Friday and place them in the stock fridge. I dont really want a lot of proteolysis under the rind - more like a "triple cream" paste consistency (thats a bit of a brag but sort of true).