Tome des Bauges

[Gadjobrinus]

I'm working on a natural rind tomme cave, no washing, etc. I'm specifically working on a "Tome des Bauges" style, a thicker rind and a stronger flavor than most Tommes de Savoie. Once the grey mold (mostly mucor spp.. Also P. "Gris" and P. NALGIOVENSIS, which I think is something passedpawn uses quite a bit in his meat curing) takes over strongly, I will let the "poils du chat" or "cat's fur" go crazy for up to a few weeks before rubbing and turning. Tome des Bauges AOC calls for once a week after the first month to the end, about 4 months. I feel like being a bit more "rustic."

3 weeks in to a 4 month affinage. Sorry for the quality - my camera sucks:

 

[Jayjay1976]

That looks fantastic!! I would love to get into cheesemaking, I'd learn the ropes then jump into this kind of rustic stuff as soon as I could.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

That looks fantastic!! I would love to get into cheesemaking, I'd learn the ropes then jump into this kind of rustic stuff as soon as I could.

Thanks much buddy! Yeah, I do love it. I especially love making these alpine cheeses with my friends' raw Ayrshire milk. God, the differences season to season. Pretty miraculous. If you decide you want to get into it I can give you some suppliers, books to check out, etc.

Thanks again, Jay.

 

[Kittyfeet]

That looks great! It's awesome that you can get raw milk from a friend; I hope that cuts down on the cost of this hobby.

 

[bernardsmith]

That looks great! It's awesome that you can get raw milk from a friend; I hope that cuts down on the cost of this hobby.

Sidebar issue - and apologies if others think that that I am hijacking this thread, but I am not sure that cheese making is a very expensive craft (or hobby). Milk is not necessarily expensive (I use store bought and can sometimes exchange a bottle of home made wine with a friend who raises goats for a gallon of goat milk) and you can make a quality press using food grade wooden boards, and threaded rods and nuts for a few dollars. Molds are not inexpensive but you can make your own, and for basic cultures I simply use kefir made at home using kefir grains. Kefir contains dozens of bacteria that are both thermophilic and mesophilic but it does not have the p. roqueforti bacterium for making blue cheese - so I simply take a sample of blue cheese and culture those bacterium. I make a small batch of cheese almost every week and I think my cost might be about $3.50 a lb. Perhaps less, as I use the leftover whey for cooking, baking, and wine making and occasionally for gardening.

 

[Kittyfeet]

Sidebar issue - and apologies if others think that that I am hijacking this thread, but I am not sure that cheese making is a very expensive craft (or hobby). Milk is not necessarily expensive (I use store bought and can sometimes exchange a bottle of home made wine with a friend who raises goats for a gallon of goat milk) and you can make a quality press using food grade wooden boards, and threaded rods and nuts for a few dollars. Molds are not inexpensive but you can make your own, and for basic cultures I simply use kefir made at home using kefir grains. Kefir contains dozens of bacteria that are both thermophilic and mesophilic but it does not have the p. roqueforti bacterium for making blue cheese - so I simply take a sample of blue cheese and culture those bacterium. I make a small batch of cheese almost every week and I think my cost might be about $3.50 a lb. Perhaps less, as I use the leftover whey for cooking, baking, and wine making and occasionally for gardening.

To add to the threadjacking, you're definitely right that it doesn't have to be a spendy hobby. I was thinking more about acquiring some type of cheese cave, and the potential costs of milk if using the store bought raw stuff. I vaguely recall seeing a half gallon of raw milk at a grocery store for about $8 a while back. After I picked my jaw up from the floor I decided that maybe using the cheap milk is a better option. Or hitting up a local farmer for some good stuff.