Mimolette is a French type of Edam cheese that is matured using flour mites that feed on the rind of the cheese. The shape of the cheese is spherical and unlike Edam cheese, Mimolette has a lot more Annatto coloring added to make the cheese easier to distinguish.
In this recipe we will not use mites in the ripening process. But let's keep the cheese in a vacuum ripening chamber.
Rennet: 1ml (strength 710 - 739 IMCU/ml) or 2.25ml (1:18000)
Salt solution 18% (for salting)***
Recipe
(The video has subtitles in several languages)
Preparing (1h 40min)
Before starting, we should disinfect all surfaces and dishes that may come into contact with milk.
Determine whether milk is suitable for making cheese. It has to go through the bactericidal phase (cold milk from the previous day usually works). If you have a PH meter, the PH level of milk should not be outside the PH 6.55–6.75 range (which is very rare).
Pasteurize milk: heat it to 65 °C and keep it at this temperature for 30 minutes. Can heat up to 70 °C and hold for 15 minutes.
Quickly cool the milk, for example, in a cold bath to 32-34 °C (it could take 15 minutes), or heat the already pasteurized milk.
Processing (3h 15min)
Add 2ml of Annato and stir it into the milk (it is preferable to dilute it in another container beforehand).
Add cheese culture Micromilk ME (1gr.)
Wait 5 minutes and stir the cheese culture into the milk.
Add calcium chloride (2ml) and rennet (1ml) into milk and mix within 60 seconds. Calcium chloride and renin before adding to milk must be diluted with 50ml of clean water first.**
After adding a rennet, start the timer to determine the flocculation point. Generally, the flocculation point for most of the cheeses is 3. That means that if the milk has thickened (forms a curd) within 12 minutes, you can move on to the next stage only after 36 minutes (12x3 = 36 minutes).
Cut the curd into 1.5cm cubes, approximately, and leave for 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, carefully divide it even more finely (about half) with a whisk.
Prepare 3 liters of clean water at 35C.
Remove whey until cheese grain (approximately 30% - 3 liters) and stir.
Add 3 liters of previously prepared water at a temperature of 35C and stir.
Heat until 38C during 20-30min.
Keep the temperature at 38C for another 20 min.
Pressing and salting (17h 20min + 6h)
Drain all the whey and form a homogeneous cheese mass.
Put the cheese mass in the mold, apply a press and leave in warm place (in a pot) for 20 min.
Press 1 hour - 3kg
Press 2 hours - 5kg
Press 12 hours - 7kg
The last press 2 hours need just to smooth the edges of the cheese.
The salting time is 5 hours per 1kg of cheese in 18% salt solution, where a little calcium chloride*** was added
After salting, the cheese should be dried with paper towels and left to mature for at least 2 months at a temperature of 12C and 85% humidity. But it is better to leave it for all 6 months.
It is preferable to vacuum the cheese, but you can also use wax or synthetic coating.
We look forward to your feedback!
*Freshly milked milk has bactericidal properties for a few hours, during the so-called bactericidal phase, when bacteria suppress reproduction. Cooling the milk prolongs the bactericidal phase. If the milk is obtained in strict compliance with sanitary regulations and rapidly cooled to +40 °C, the duration of the bactericidal phase is 24 hours and more. At the same temperature bactericidal phase period, impure milk has at least two to three times shorter temperature. The duration of the unrefrigerated milk phase is, on average, 2 hours. (Source: http://www.ezerzeme.lv/lv/zinas/noderigi/5222/par-piena-kvalitati)
**The time of milk coagulation (thickening) depends on the quantity of calcium chloride and rennet. It can be adjusted for best coagulation time, which should ideally be 12 minutes. For instance, if the first time your milk has thickened after 20 minutes, then increase the next dose of enzyme.
*** During pressing, the cheese releases whey and also increases the level of acidity, which is an important regulatory process in bacteria. If you slightly increase this pressing time, then it will be easier to melt the cheese. Such cheese is perfect for hot buns or in pizza making. If the pressing time is too long, it will lose its elasticity and become fragile.
