Non-identical twins?

[Denise]

In early March I made 2 Camemberts, basically following the Malembert recipe, with 4 litres of 3.6 low-temp pasteurised milk and 200 ml of 47% cream, ⅛ tsp Calcium Chloride, ½ put mesophilic culture, 1.4 tsp Penicillium Candid and ½ a vegetarian rennet tablet. Everything in the make went as planned, the curds went into two moulds, drained off nicely, got salted next day and into the cave. After a week the white fuzz was developing nicely, so I put them into the cold fridge.

So these two cheeses have exactly the same origins, have been treated exactly the same, lived in the same box... and they look, feel and smell totally different.

One is nice and white, a bit wrinkly, a bit squishy and smells delicious. We'll be eating that this weekend.

Its 'twin' is a bit wrinkly and squishy around the sides, but there the family resemblance ends. The top and bottom are pinky orange, with very little fuzz, and quite a strong mushroomy smell. The middle doesn't give at all when pressed; it feels like there's a brick inside. It's definitely not a Camembert.

Two questions;

1. Why did the pink twin turn out so different when it's got the same DNA and has been treated exactly the same, in the exact same environment?

2. Is it safe to eat?
 

[jwalker]

Looks to me like the pinkish one has picked up some B. Linens somewhere along the way.

I would keep aging it after you eat the other , it may continue to ripen and get softer , you may end up with something akin to a Reblochon , one of my favorite cheeses.

[olikli]

For some reason the second cheese apparently didn't get a proper dose of PC. But of course it will be safe to eat. This looks just different but not off.

[Denise]

Thank you both.

Main thing, it isn't going to kill me?

I don't understand how one can pick up linens and not the other.....or how it didn't get a proper dose of PC. They were born from the same batch of milk and have lived together all their lives until this week. The only thing they had separate was the salting. Is it possible I gave the pink one too much salt? Not enough salt? (I thought I'd measured it out exactly.... )

To keep aging it, should I put it back in the cave, or leave it in the cold fridge? Keep turning it every other day? For how long? Should I be thinking days, weeks, months? What else can I expect to happen to it?

[Gregore]

If it is more reblochon like , then I would suggest a  week in the cold fridge  , then see how it feels , or a few days in the cheese fridge.   If you cut it in half you can check for Doneness . If it ends up needing more ageing reblochons do well being put back together and aged longer .

I am wondering if it is possible that one had a little more warmth some how when still in the mold and got a little more acid than the other before salting , or possibly one had a little draft and slowed the acid, thus turning it into a reblochon . 

What ever it was it more than likely happened before the salting stage .

[Mermaid]

You are right that a difference in salting could be an issue, but I would guess that one of the cheeses picked up wild b.linens or perhaps you are using equipment (like the bamboo mats) that have come into contact with b.linens before. The reason it is not as squishy as the white one is because the white mold ages the cheese faster through lipolysis and proteolysis.  Was your milk inoculated with the white mold or did you spray it on after the cheese had dried a bit?
You could always try misting the orange-y cheese with a pinch of cam mixed in filtered water with another pinch of salt and sugar. Let the mix sit for a day at room temp before misting.

Im also wondering what kind of aging space you are using? It could be that the areas they are in have their own micro-climates i.e. one spot is more humid or cold than the other.

Regardless, the orange cheese looks beautiful and will be totally edible. No worries. Just age it out a bit longer. You could even try washing it with cider or another booze to get it to get even gooier.

[Denise]

The culture and mold went directly into the milk, so it should have been pretty evenly distributed.
The sushi mats I scrub before use and spray with sanitiser. I also wipe the ripening box out with paper sprayed with sanitiser.
The ripening box is just a plastic box with a snap-on lid, just large enough to fit the two cheeses with very little wiggle room.
A draught before salting....that might be possible. If I mist the orange with the magic water, will it develop white fuzz?

I had some of the nice white one with a salad for dinner today. It was lovverly.