Author Topic: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much  (Read 3109 times)

Shalloy

  • Guest
Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« on: August 30, 2013, 11:00:38 AM »
I've tried asking this on another sub board but not having much luck so thought I would ask here.

I made some camemberts last Sunday and have them in my maturation box at 12C and 92% humidity. I'm turning them daily and when I do the end is wet. Similar to if I had just sprayed them with water.

Is this too wet? Should they be drier than this for the white mould to form?  I don't want to dry them out or lower the humidity if I shouldn't be.

Thanks heaps

jerryg

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2013, 05:28:32 PM »
Sounds like you didn't drain them long enough before moving them to the cave. I would take them out of the maturation box and let them dry out within the cave. Or just remove the lid, turn daily & wait until dry to the touch. Then increase humidity

Shalloy

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2013, 10:42:43 PM »
Thanks heaps Jerryg. Wasn't sure if I should pull them out of the fridge and leave them to dry or keep them in there.

I have another fridge that is fan forced from the freezer. Perhaps I should put them in there so the fan helps dry them out whenever it switches on.  I have a temp controller I can use with this fridge also to keep it at 11-15C.

mbox

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2013, 02:33:15 AM »
aside to the already mentioned i would give more time to stir and release whey a bit longer(prior to molding). I had similar issues before and found that my curds where just too wet .
« Last Edit: September 01, 2013, 02:48:18 AM by mbox »

Shalloy

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2013, 02:57:13 AM »
Thanks mbox. I misread the recipe and now realise I should have stirred them 3 times with a 15 min gap between each stir.

Along with my lack of PC culture which you advised on in my other thread I will be amazed if these cams turn out.

I'm certainly a better home brewer than I am a cheese maker.  :)

mbox

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2013, 03:01:44 AM »
Thanks mbox. I misread the recipe and now realise I should have stirred them 3 times with a 15 min gap between each stir.

Along with my lack of PC culture which you advised on in my other thread I will be amazed if these cams turn out.

I'm certainly a better home brewer than I am a cheese maker.  :)


They will mature faster and probably pretty runny, better age them cooler ...here a good reply from linuxboy to my too soft camemberts : http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11219.0.html

Shalloy

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2013, 11:10:38 AM »
I've just read that post but what linuxboy said didn't make sense.

You asked

in case i find cheese becoming this soft again would i just need to drain it longer ?

And he replied with

Can try. Best way is decrease set time, and/or cut smaller, and/or stir a bit before ladling.

But wasn't the reason my cams are still moist and will end up runny is because my set time between stirring the curds wasn't long enough? So wouldn't the solution be to INCREASE set time? Not decrease?

Am I missing something here?

mbox

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2013, 02:03:03 PM »
I've just read that post but what linuxboy said didn't make sense.

You asked

in case i find cheese becoming this soft again would i just need to drain it longer ?

And he replied with

Can try. Best way is decrease set time, and/or cut smaller, and/or stir a bit before ladling.

But wasn't the reason my cams are still moist and will end up runny is because my set time between stirring the curds wasn't long enough? So wouldn't the solution be to INCREASE set time? Not decrease?

Am I missing something here?

Yes, linuxboy is right and the longer the set time the morelikely the softer the cheese is meant... 

i think the attached document can explain this a bit as you can see the floc multiplier is low on harder cheeses and higher on soft cheeses

hope this helps.

mbox

Spellogue

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2013, 03:13:05 PM »

Yes, linuxboy is right and the longer the set time the morelikely the softer the cheese is meant... 

i think the attached document can explain this a bit as you can see the floc multiplier is low on harder cheeses and higher on soft cheeses

hope this helps.

mbox

The set time that LB suggests shortening for the firmer curd is BEFORE the cut.  The longe the uncut curd mass sets more moisture is retained.  Cutting and stirring facilitates the expulsion of only some of the moisture in the cut curd.  The size of the cut, stirring time, and temp will have an impact.  Hitting your desired moisture target is a balance of all of these variables.

Shalloy

  • Guest
Re: Moisture on my cams, how much is too much
« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2013, 10:37:57 PM »

Yes, linuxboy is right and the longer the set time the morelikely the softer the cheese is meant... 

i think the attached document can explain this a bit as you can see the floc multiplier is low on harder cheeses and higher on soft cheeses

hope this helps.

mbox

The set time that LB suggests shortening for the firmer curd is BEFORE the cut.  The longe the uncut curd mass sets more moisture is retained.  Cutting and stirring facilitates the expulsion of only some of the moisture in the cut curd.  The size of the cut, stirring time, and temp will have an impact.  Hitting your desired moisture target is a balance of all of these variables.

Ahh okay that makes sense to me now. I thought it meant the time to wait after cutting the curds.