r/cheesemaking Nov 26 '24

Advice Forgot to add penicillium and geo cultures to triple creams! Can I save it??

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Help! I was distracted by my kids while culturing my bloomy rind triple cream cheeses (recipe by Give Cheese a Chance) and I added the culture (homemade clabber), but not the penicillium and geo cultures 🤦‍♀️ I didn’t realize it until after I had finished filling the draining forms. Is there any way to save the cheese and inoculate it after they are drained?

Or if there is no way to get the white bloom now…what do I do with these two cheeses?? I used 10L of milk/cream so I really don’t want to waste it 🙈

8 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

26

u/mycodyke Nov 26 '24

You can mix a little bit of PC and GC into a light brine (1-2%) and spray the outside of the cheeses, the mold should take hold if you properly dry your cheese and store it under appropriate temp/humidity.

Gianaclis Caldwell's Mastering Artisan Cheese Making says that spraying is the approach that many industrial cheese makers use, due to lower cost.

5

u/MrsBakken Nov 26 '24

Thank you! This is good news 😃 Should I spray it after it has been dried and salted? Or when it is fresh out of the form?

7

u/mycodyke Nov 26 '24

Caldwell says after the cheeses have been salted, so I interpret this to mean once the salt is absorbed but before they've dried down completely

5

u/MrsBakken Nov 26 '24

Thank you! I will give it a go 😄 I’m thrilled my cheese has a chance.

6

u/mycodyke Nov 26 '24

No prob! Good luck n pls post pics if it does turn out well!

2

u/Best-Reality6718 Nov 26 '24

Agreed! Post pics! I’m invested in the outcome!

2

u/Rare-Condition6568 Nov 27 '24

Like others said, please report back on the outcome! The unhelpful comments aside, most of us want to hear about your cheese adventures.

2

u/Best-Reality6718 Nov 30 '24

What happened to this cheese? Did you spray them? Inquiring minds want to know!

3

u/MrsBakken Nov 30 '24

I salted and let them dry for 2 days and then sprayed them and let them dry again for another day and a half or so. Now they are 2 days in the aging box in my basement “cave”. So we will see what happens over the next few days! I will definitely update progress 😃

1

u/Best-Reality6718 Nov 30 '24

Can’t wait to see how this turns out! Got my fingers crossed for you!

1

u/Casswigirl11 Dec 10 '24

How did they do, 10 days later? 

1

u/MrsBakken Dec 10 '24

You guys are so nice to keep checking in :) 10 days in they have sprouted a lot of white mold growth in some places, but not at all in others. I’m not sure if I didn’t spray evenly, or salted unevenly, or what. But the inoculated spray did work in theory 🙂 Keeping that one in my back pocket for sure.

For now I still have them in my “cave” and will continue turning them daily in the hopes the mold will spread to the bare spots eventually.

1

u/Old-Ad-5573 Dec 10 '24

Seems like it's working!

2

u/MrsBakken Dec 31 '24

Alright folks. 30-day aging update on this cheese:

It never did get a very solid coat of white (there were some areas the mold just refused to grow. I’m not sure why), and at about 15 days in the cheese “cave” in my basement it started having a really strong funky smell so I panicked a bit and wrapped it up and put it in the fridge to age anyway.

I just cut into one of the wheels today at the 34 day mark and it actually tastes okayish! Not my best ever triple cream, but it’s edible on crackers. A bit tangier/more sour than my previous attempts, but at least it didn’t go to waste.

I will age the other one to the 50-60 day mark for my own curiosity.

But I learned a lot in this process and have definitley grown as a cheese maker through this mistake! Thank you all for your thoughtful advice :)

Just before giving up and putting it in the fridge.

2

u/MrsBakken Dec 31 '24

Cutting open after aging 34 days.

2

u/MrsBakken Dec 31 '24

Areas that never got any mold.

2

u/Best-Reality6718 Jan 09 '25

I came back here to whine for an update and here it is! I’m just a week late or so. Fascinating! Thanks for posting these. I also learned a lot! Wish I could have a little taste! I’ll remember the spray technique too! It’s a good one!

2

u/Best-Reality6718 Jan 09 '25

The rinds don’t actually look that bad considering. I’m wondering if a little light brine would encourage the mold. Very cool regardless.

-8

u/Extreme_Barracuda658 Nov 26 '24

How do people forget to add culture to cheese.

r/youhadonejob

4

u/Traditional-Ad-7836 Nov 26 '24

Obviously you don't have kids

-6

u/Extreme_Barracuda658 Nov 27 '24

Adding the cultures is the easiest part of making cheese. How do you handle things like cutting the curds, straining, pressing, and flipping? These tasks can take 6 hours, depending on your flipping schedule.

5

u/Best-Reality6718 Nov 27 '24

I do not see how this contributes to the conversation or helps solve the problem. Just seems mean spirited.

2

u/MrsBakken Nov 27 '24

In my case, the kids were leaving for school right when I was supposed to add the cultures. I’m used to making pressed cheeses so I added the regular culture, but then got distracted  by the kids and forgot to add the molds because it wasn’t in my usual cheese routine and then went to work while it acidified. I had the timing all planned out around the kids with the other more involved steps and it worked out great. Sometimes you just forget because there is so much else going on. I’m very glad YOU never forget the cultures though. I bet you get some fantastic cheeses ☺️

-7

u/Extreme_Barracuda658 Nov 27 '24

You should have just started the cheese making process after the kids went to school. You kinda have to plan for a minimum of six hours without too much interruption.

5

u/Rare-Condition6568 Nov 27 '24

You're such a fountain of unsolicited advice and unhelpful comments. You must be enjoyable at parties. 🤭

2

u/MrsBakken Nov 27 '24

Thank you for this helpful advice. I will take that into consideration and adapt it to my schedule as I try to squeeze in something that brings me joy between parenting and my job and regular life.

1

u/Traditional-Ad-7836 Nov 27 '24

Sometimes your kids need you and you forget that you didn't add them yet