Author Topic: 1st Camembert Attempt - might be posting this to "Failures I Have Known" :-(  (Read 10429 times)

High Altitude

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Tiarella, I have thought of you as a PRO cheese head for a long time ;D!  Don't disillusion me now, please  8)!

Offline Tiarella

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Tiarella, I have thought of you as a PRO cheese head for a long time ;D!  Don't disillusion me now, please  8)!

Oh Man, no way!  Really?  Well, pour yourself a HUGE glass of your homemade wine, sit down and brace yourself for the upcoming newsflash.......    ::)  I am SO far away from a pro that it's a wonder I can even spell the word.  I mess up  :o , I'm stubborn about following directions  >:(  (as in I don't), I fall into neglectful cheese parent mode too often  :-[, I'm lackadaisical about sanitizing pots and pans  ::) (because after all, they didn't have bleach for much of the history of cheese and hey, even running water is recent) and many, many other silly, stupid or lazy transgressions in my cheese making.  Do I make good cheese most of the time in spite of myself?  Well, yes.  And I make pretty cheeses because they please me.  But pro?  SO not.  But hey, good to know I passed for one for a short while in your imagination.   ;D   I AM having fun and I do have milk from my herd that I can pretend is free which probably contributes to my laziness about directions, etc.  And I do love how many really wonderful people are on this forum!

High Altitude

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Well, all braces (I did brace myself and will have that glass of wine tonight) aside, you are still far more of a PRO than me and many of us on the forum. 

This forum does indeed have a fantastic array of cheesey folks, huh?!  Because of them (including you), I have learned so much since I started this cheese journey in January. I've made some 26 cheeses (one of which didn't quite qualify), and am just now delving into the mold ripened softies...yum!

Thanks for the fun posts and beautiful photos of your creations T, and the many other "artists and scientists" on here...it's truly inspiring  ;D!  Enough gushing already...need to go make some cheese! :P

Offline Tiarella

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Well thank you for expressing your kind delusions and I do agree that there's so many chances to learn on this forum.  26 cheeses is a LOT and the number had me wondering how many I'd made.  Not much more than that I'd guess.  I've only been making hard cheeses since August of 2012 so even if I made one a week it isn't a huge number.  True, sometimes it's two a week.....or three, but not often. 

Mold ripened cheeses are fun.  I like them and can I encourage you to try an ashed style cheese and try some leaves on it?  Leaves that are frozen flat  (I vacuum packed them to flatten) and then thawed tend to be limp and they adhere just to the moisture of a cheese that's just been dusted with ash/salt and is moist.  Then the PC grows around it and it is so very cool looking.  Worth a try, right?

High Altitude

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I'll definitely try an ash cheese soon, now that I have had more success (I think) with a second surface mold cheese...a Brie this week. I have ash on my cheese supply shopping list for later this week :-).  Will be trying a washed curd Brie from Caldwell's book on Tuesday (and use 4" cam molds).  Hope it works as well as the regular 7" Brie recipe worked this week.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll collect some fallen yellow leaves from the back yard tomorrow and freeze them.  Wouldn't they be pretty on a Sage Derby cheese! (Do you boil first to sanitize before vacuum packing?)

Cheers!  Off to sip more wine on this Sunday eve  ::)

Offline Tiarella

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I'll definitely try an ash cheese soon, now that I have had more success (I think) with a second surface mold cheese...a Brie this week. I have ash on my cheese supply shopping list for later this week :-).  Will be trying a washed curd Brie from Caldwell's book on Tuesday (and use 4" cam molds).  Hope it works as well as the regular 7" Brie recipe worked this week.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll collect some fallen yellow leaves from the back yard tomorrow and freeze them.  Wouldn't they be pretty on a Sage Derby cheese! (Do you boil first to sanitize before vacuum packing?)

Cheers!  Off to sip more wine on this Sunday eve  ::)


Sorry for late reply.  I don't treat leaves before using but I do use leaves right off the plant rather than off the ground.  the type I use are less thick than the tree leaves.  I've tried soaking leaves in brandy before freezing but that still didn't soften the leaves.  I did manage to use them for wrapping small ashed bloomy cheeses but not much else.  Good luck and DO post photos.  I'm really hoping to see someone else start using leaves. 

Pete S

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Oh Man, no way!  Really?  Well, pour yourself a HUGE glass of your homemade wine, sit down and brace yourself for the upcoming newsflash.......    ::)  I am SO far away from a pro that it's a wonder I can even spell the word.  I mess up  :o , I'm stubborn about following directions  >:(  (as in I don't), I fall into neglectful cheese parent mode too often  :-[, I'm lackadaisical about sanitizing pots and pans  ::) (because after all, they didn't have bleach for much of the history of cheese and hey, even running water is recent) and many, many other silly, stupid or lazy transgressions in my cheese making.  Do I make good cheese most of the time in spite of myself?  Well, yes.
_________________________________________________ ____________________



   A cheese to you, for giving a voice to us less exacting cheese makers
My philosophy for making cheese is a lot like yours. I make cheese for 2 reason's'             
I like to eat cheese & I enjoy making cheese.
 Thank you from us less than then perfect practitioner's
                                                                                            Pete


High Altitude

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And the big reveal of my 1st Cam attempt, that I was tempted to toss out at least 3 times!  Anyway, it started feeling soft the other day, so I thought I'd better open it.  So I did last night finally, a week before it's 7 week "due" date.  And I was glad I did.

It was almost too soft in the middle, though the rest of it was a lovely soft texture.  It actually tasted like Camembert, I was rather shocked really.  I loved the exterior, and the interior was slightly pungent (I wouldn't want it to be much older). Sadly, my husband didn't dare have a bit....gooey cheeses scare him  :o.

I have two mini-Brie's and a 7" Brie now wrapped up in the fridge, so after this near failure, I cannot wait to open those!

p.s., Because of the excellent flavor this recipe produced, I will make it again (Karlin's book). However, I'll be very careful to establish a stronger curd before ladling into the forms.

Pete S

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  A great looking cheese. Mine is about a week younger than yours so I think I will cut one of them.

 Congratulations on a great rescue.     Here is a cheese for you!   Pete

High Altitude

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Thanks Pete!  I think I need to correct the age on this one...it was really only about 5 weeks old.  I think the "mushy" curd lent itself to faster ripening.

Cant wait to see yours  ;D!

Pete S

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  That makes mine a week older than yours. I will surely cut mine this evening. thanks  Pete

Offline Boofer

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Nice job, High Altitude. Creamy and oozy...yum! :)  Rind is a tad thick, but still looks delicious.

Looks like this won't be a candidate for the Failures thread... ;)

A cheese for your success.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

High Altitude

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Aww, thanks Boof! 

I'm so happy for the gooeyness, and I realize the rind looks kinda thick, but it really isn't (or maybe I just don't think so because that's my favorite part!).  I'm gonna get FAT if too many of these bloomies turn out ok  :o!!

mjr522

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Good work, it looks great!  I've almost always been glad when I resisted my initial (and sometimes subsequent) urges to toss out what I thought was sure to be a terrible cheese.  Looks like your patience paid off.