Day 13 and 14 - Life of Cheese

Over Saturday and Sunday, the rind has continued to bloom. The protective coat that we gave it is being a little bit aggressive but not to worry, we will scrub that off tomorrow to reveal the underlying yeast layer

Day 12 - Life of Cheese

My photographic skills are not all that flash making it a bit difficult to see in this photo, but there is a distinctive rind formation around the pate of the cheese. It has that orange tinge on the rind that you could see starting to develop yesterday. I have broken the cheese in half to show that the interior is still very much chalky and crumbly.

Day 11 - Life of Cheese

Our little cheesey friend has been washed with the solution again. You can see the scrap marks from the brush as it delicately scratched the surface of the cheese. The slightly orangey tinge is starting to show. This is the yeast growing on the rind.

Day 10 - Life of Cheese

Nice little rind development ready to be scrubbed off. Tomorrow, this little guy will transform......again!

Day 9 - Life of Cheese

Look closely at the surface of this cheese. You can see some mould growing. This is from one of the cultures we added at the milk stage. For our factory, we have some unique flora in the atmosphere so we need to control the surface environment (principally ph and moisture) to ensure the desired yeast grow first before the opportunistic ones take hold. This is why we add a special mould to help create the perfect environment for our chosen yeast. It's a bit like, if you prepare the soil before you plant it creates optimal conditions for the plant to thrive, otherwise the plant would struggle and not grow quite as well. This is what we are trying to achieve to ensure the washed rinds develop properly.

Day 8 - Life of Cheese

For a cheese to become a truly washed rind style, we need to develop the rind with a variety of yeast and bacteria. To do this, we literally wash the cheese with a solution. The solution is made up of yeast, bacteria, salt and water. This is then scrubbed onto the cheese using a brush. This action, scraps the surface and therefore provides more surface area and opportunity for the organisms to grow. The process of scrubbing also enables us to spread the solution across all surfaces of the cheese. Our cheese has had its first wash today.

Day 6 and 7 - Life of cheese

On the surface, all appears to be quiet, but deep inside those millions of bacteria are working their magic.