Camembert and salting

[Danbo]

Hi,

I have made a lot of Camemberts over time, but I have a couple of questions anyway...

If I put the cheeses in brine, I think they become to salty. If I handsalt them after the white mould has covered the cheese the taste is great but the cheese gets a lot of wrinkles.

- Do I have to salt the cheese at all?
- I like to use brine as I find it easier than hand salting. Is there a lower limit on the saturation?


:-) Danbo

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I dry salt my camemberts well before the mould develops. My notes from the last make tell me that I salted 30 hours after trnsferring the curds into the moulds. I salt one side at a time with 1/2 hour in between.
My understanding is that salt is important in forming the flavour and texture of the cheese and that is is beneficial to the PC mould.

[Danbo]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for replying. :-)

I will try to follow your method the next time.

- Do you know if there is a minimum amount if salt to be used - I'm thinking about unwanted bacteria etc.?
- How much salt do you use?
- Do you also salt the sides or only top and bottom?


:-) Danbo

[SOSEATTLE]

I also dry salt my brie/camembert style cheeses about 24-30 hours after molding. I have never precisely measured the amount of salt, just enough to fairly lightly coat all sides. I would estimate 1-2 teaspoons per cheese depending on size.

Trust me-you do not want to not salt at all  . I took a class in the past where they gave us a gorgonzola style cheese to take home and age. We were told it was all ready to start aging. I didn't find out until the end that they had neglected to salt the cheese  . Pretty disgusting. I ended up salting after aging. Not recommended, but was actually fairly tasty once I was finished with it.

Susan

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I'm looking at about 2% salt. Typically, the cheeses I'm making are about 240-250 g and I use 1tsp (3g) per cheese - 1/2 tsp per side. That's a bit over 2% but it allows for some loss with whey drainage.
As for salting the sides, it probably doesn't matter one way or the other. I usually put some of the salt on there but the salt should diffuse through the cheese quite successfully anyway. Most of the surface area is on the faces.

[OzzieCheese]

Hi All.... Salting of these is really a bit of an Art.. I hand salt straight after I take them out of their forms and only enough to cover them with a 1 crystal depth - a bit vague I know !  if they get over salted the end result is ok but the rind is not the best.  So my guideline is rub them all over with whatever sticks and that is enough.  Check out some of my make notes, I think my lovely wife took one to show the salt coverage.

Did another batch today to be ready for Christmas.

-- Mal

[Danbo]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I will definately try to perfect my hand salting.

Something that I should be much better at is to document how I make the different cheeses. I write down notes but they are not detailed enough...

The last Camemberts I did came out nice I think. Not too salty and with a perfect shape. They need a week or two more in the fridge for my taste. Now I just need to remember how I did........ ;-)

:-) Danbo

[OzzieCheese]

Notes - take LOTS of notes.  here is a link to my last batch
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13412.0.html

An interesting comment you made -

They need a week or two more in the fridge for my taste

Isn't it wonderful that our tastes and our opinions are what guide us, and why we make cheese in the first place - if you like it extra gooey, leave it a couple of weeks more - if you like it firmer add more cream - if you like it blue then guess what - we can . sorry getting philosophical again 

A very nice looking cheese - AC4U.  

-- Mal

[Danbo]

Very nice notes that you made... Also the description regarding salting! Nice with all the images. :-) Thank you for sharing! :-)

It is all about getting philosophical when making cheese... For me it is one of the most de-stressing activities I know of. Why? Because you can't force it to speed up and you just have to be patient. Putting on some good music in the kitchen and making cheese is relaxing and meditating (and a bit nerdy).

:-) Danbo

[OzzieCheese]

Oh yeah !! I totally agree...  Letting my mind wander while standing and stirring for 45 minutes can take you to some wonderful places... Or read a book .. watch a TV episode. 

-- Mal 

[Danbo]

So right! :-)