Cambozola Cheese Making Recipe
This recipe is basically a cross between Blue and Camembert Cheeses, it is recommended to read those recipes and peoples experiences, ticks and traps before trying this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 US gallons/8 litres raw cow's milk or 1 part heavy cream to 7 parts skim milk or non-homogenized whole milk.
- Optional: Calcium Chloride if using pasteurized milk.
- 2 fluid ounces of homemade or of your choice of manufactured Mesophilic Starter Culture, 1/8th teaspoon or amount as per directions.
- Rennet, your choice of type, amount as per your experience or package directions, diluted in ~4 ounces of cool water.
- 1/8th teaspoon Penicillium Candidum.
- 1/8th teaspoon Penicillium Roqueforti.
- Salt
Directions
Making
- Pour milk/cream into stockpot or double-boiler on stove, add CaCl2, and heat slowly to 85 F/29.5 C. Maintain this temperature throughout the process.
- Sprinkle the Starter Culture and Penicillium Candidum onto the warmed milk, let thoroughly dissolve before gently stirring in, using top to bottom strokes.
- Dilute rennet in 1/4 cup cool water and stir gently into milk for about 2-4 minutes. Set aside to let curd set.
- After ~60 min check for clean break, wait longer if required.
- Cut curds into ½ inch/1.5 cm cubes.
- Stir curds gently in whey for ~2 minutes so they do not mat together, drain off all whey using cheesecloth lined colander for 25-30 minutes.
- Gently ladle the drained curds into Camembert hoops until about half curds are used, with all molds having same height curds.
- Sprinkle a very small dusting of Penicillium Roquefort powder on top of the curds.
- Gently ladle the rest of the curds into the Camembert hoops, so that all molds have same height curds.
- Let the hoops drain for 16-24 hours until you see no additional draining, turn hoops during this period at increasing intervals to ensure drain evenly, ie after 1/2, 1, 3, 7, and 12 hours.
Aging
- Carefully remove Cambozolas from hoops and place onto a draining mat in an uncovered plastic container in 50-54 F/10-12 C Cheese Cave to start aging.
- With clean hands, turn cheeses daily and drain/rinse out whey from container to minimize free water touching cheeses (mold doesn't like its "feet in water").
- After cheeses have fully drained, lightly sprinkle salt on all sides of each cheese and replace in container in cave. Continue to drain/rinse out free whey and turn as required.
- When no longer excessively moist, place lid with small gap on to maintain high humidity, white mold should begin to appear/bloom within 3-6 days.
- When good white mold has covered cheeses, to aid in developing interior blue veining, puncture top and bottom with ~10 holes using a clean knitting needle or thin screwdriver, turn needle or screwdriver when slowly moving to minimize tearing cheese.
- Continue to age at lower 40-50F, note, you may have to re-poke holes if additional white mold bloom covers the original holes.
- 10-14 days after the original puncturing, wrap cheeses in Camembert Paper and continue to age.
- Cambozola is a point when the center is a slightly soft to the touch, longer aging will result in a stronger blue cheese flavour.