The secret, if there is one, is when you flip them over and wash the top make sure you leave a good layer of the brine on the cheese. You want a nice thick film of it to soak into the cheese. I used the recipe from 200 Easy Homemade Cheese recipes, page 239, changing it for 3 gallons of milk with 3 pints of heavy cream and adding 3/8 teaspoon of PC and 1/32 tsp of Geo to it. I also wrapped them in the spruce bark which the recipe does not call for. For 3 gallons of milk and 3 pints of heavy cream I used 1/4 tsp meso culture, 3/8 tsp calcium chloride in water, 1/2 tsp vegetable rennet (1/2 tablet) dissolved in water, 3/8 tsp penicillium candidum, and 1/32 tsp of geotrichum. Procedure was the standard "bring the milk to 86° F and add cultures wait 15 minutes and add calcium chloride, wait 15 minutes and add rennet, wait 50 minutes and check for clean break. Use a large which to cut the curd to pea size pieces, let stand for 10 minutes. Slowly warm curd to 100° F while stirring continuously for 35 minutes. Hold for 10 minutes while curds settle. Pour contents into cheese cloth lined colander and drain. divide curd into 6 equal segments and put into prepared mold, 1 segment at a time, and press with 20 pounds of weight for 30 minutes, flip over and press for a further 30 minutes. Wrap with the prepared spruce bark (keep in a pan of steeping hot water prior to use to make soft). Brine in 18% saturated brine for 12 hours turning over after 6 hours. Dry at room temperature and place in cave, flipping every 12 hours for one week. After one week flip and wash the top side of the cheese with brine solution leaving a good layer of brine on the surface every other day. Continue until the cheeses soften. Once soft box and place in fridge until use. Not sure if this makes vacherin Mont D'Or but it's what I did. I'll be doing a different version soon. Tip, I keep these on a glass cutting board as the PC tends to grow quite a bit on the down side and wold easily attach itself to a mat. I used 5.1" diameter camembert molds which give you a cheese a little thicker than the spruce bark. About 2 inches thick.
