Rind Development

Natural Rinds

• Natural Rind is hardened barrier between cheese and atmosphere.
  
• Natural Rinds are difficult to maintain as they contain food that attract airborn bacteria and microbes
  
• Inoculating your cheese with good microflora such as Geotrichum Candidum will dominate preventing attack of other bad microbes. Wine, Beer or Brandy can be rubbed into the cheese to promote a good yeast formation that helps develop of natural rind
  

Oiled Rinds

The goal of oiling is to cover several coatings to create a thick layer. This protects the cheese from unwanted surface microorganisms and control's the moisture content.

• Do not use on small cheeses
• Oil should be applied lightly over a number of days until a hard skin has developed. Once this has developed it can then be done every month
• Lightly pressed washed curd type cheeses such as Gouda and Edam should not be oiled because these types of cheeses have a high pH early in the aging process. Because of this there is lot of food on their surface which can cause yeast to grow.
• Salt can be added to help control surface mold
• oiling to seal the rind. Oiling too early with cheese still moist can result in yeast injections
• Dip cloth in the oil, dab it on the rind, then wipe the excess off
• Cheeses should be aged for 8 days to produce a natural rind before oiling

Dry Salting Rinds

Dry salting is normally performed after forming the cheese and before air drying . Its mainly used for Camembert & Brie (mold ripened cheeses) and also washed-rind type cheeses. It is sprinkled on the cheese surface where it turns into a brine which then soaks into the cheese. The amount of salt depends on the type of cheese being made so it is important to understand the following points:

• Humidity

Soft rind/dry salted type cheeses are aged in 95% ambient humidity after dry salting. This is to prevent excessive evaporation of moisture from the surface of the cheese which would result in a dehydrated dense and tough rind. Also their surface must enable growth of molds, yeasts, and bacteria.

Hard rinded cheeses are aged at 85% ambient humidity to encourage expelled whey to be evaporated resulting in a dehydrated surface which later becomes the rind development. Repeated dry salt applications result in a steadily increasing dehydrated layer.

• Cheese Size

The Size/Shape of a cheese dictates how much salt is needed for that particular cheese. Surface area can influence the cheese so its important to stick to surtain rules regarding size and shape. Consider should the number of dry salt applications to allow it to reach it’s salt target. The problems arise when making large wheels of cheese. Over time to rind becomes so hard that salt will no longer penetrate and be absorbed into the cheese resulting in sub-optimal salt content. To overcome this problem the larger wheels are soaked in brine before being dry salted.

• Salt Type
  

Standard sodium chloride table salt is used. Its best to use coarse rather than fine. This to absorbs teh whey at a steady rate compared to fine salt which can absorb so quickly it can flush out teh fat resulting in an incorrect salt content.

There are many types of salts, cheese friendly household eating salt are most common. These are minerals composed primarily of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) and essential to our well-being. Salt is produced from evaporating sea water and also mining ancient seabed deposits. These are manufactured in many ways including:

• Raw sea salt which is bitter due to magnesium
• Refined flourinated/iodized and anticaking salt. Iodine is used as a health benifait which unfortunately kills some of the good bacteria/culture in the cheese. Anicaking such assodium aluminosilicate, potassium ferrocyanide, or magnesium carbonate prevent the formation of lumps caused by moisture. Due to this its not recommended for dry salt but can be used in brine.
  
• Refined salt which is pure Sodium Chloride.
• Kosher/Malden/Rock salt is mainly used in cheesemaking as its does not contain Iodine
• Canning and Pickling is also non-iodized and can also be used in cheesemaking.
  

Salt Application

Final salt content within the cheese is critical. Salt content can caracterise a cheese so follow teh recipe accurately on amount of salt being applied to teh overall weight of final cheese.

• Soft Rind Cheeses - sprinkle measured amount of dry salt all over the cheese. Try not not lose any salt as this will interfear with final salt % needed
  
• Hard Rind Cheeses - rub dry salt onto the rind.

Ash Rinds

Covering the cheese in ash is used to reduce the acidity and mellows the flavour. Its mainly used for goat cheese

Geotrichum Candidum

Geotrichum Candidum

The wide genotypic and phenotypic diversity of Geotrichum candidum strains does not facilitate its classification as yeast or a yeast-like fungus that is still a matter of debate. Whatever its classification, G. candidum possesses many different metabolic pathways that are of particular interest to the dairy industry. G. candidum is of importance in the maturation of cheese, and much is known about its direct contribution to cheese ripening and flavour formation. Its diverse metabolic potential means that G. candidum can play an important role in the ripening of many soft and semi-hard cheeses and make a positive contribution to the development of taste and aroma. It may also influence the growth of other microorganisms, both valuable and detrimental. The significance of the presence of G. candidum in cheese depends on the particular type of production and on the presence of biotypes featuring specific types of metabolism. However, in situ metabolic pathways involved in cheese ripening and their regulations are mainly unknown. The information available provides a good understanding of the potential of G. candidum strains that are used in cheese manufacture, and permits a better choice of strain depending on the characteristics required.

Tomme style wash

TOMME STYLE

• Whene washing cheese with Bline, add it to a ration of 3% salt
  
• When washing in beer, add it to a radion of 10% salt
• Smear the cheese with the solution and keep it damp, around 90%. This is accompished by placing it in a bag or a tupperwhare box lined with a damp cloth in a temperature of about 12C.
  
• Wash the cheese twice a week for 3 weeks at least, putting the solution in the fridge between washes. The cheese will first go sticky, before the bacterial develops
• Once established, wrap the cheese in a wrapping paper and continue to ripen at 12C
• Your initial brine must be balanced for pH and calcium. Try to use these the whey, or add 1 TBSP CaCl2 solution and 1 TBSP vinegar to get teh right ballance. If unballenced the cheese outer layer will likely become slimy as the calcium goes out of the rind.
  
• Your brine temp should be the same as your cheese temp.