I finally had a completely successful brie (this is the 7th batch), one where the entire inside was goo but it just had a nice subtle hint of ammonia. Make day was 22nd of November, I had to get out early the next morning for thanksgiving and had to de-mold so my roommate could take care of the initial flipping while I was gone. Ironically a bunch of stuff in the make went wrong, I didn't pay enough attention to the recipe and used too much rennet, shattering the curd; consequently draining took too long, I pulled the molds from the cheese too soon and it slumped and got all funny looking. So, not perfection yet, but it was gooey at room temp and tasted like a brie. I had some bad failures along the way, but I am glad the skills are finally coming around.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DUbqfyANpayQNEiJ6Left to right: Dry aged Tomme, Vac aged Tomme, vac aged Cheshire (also though was a failure and turned out lovely) and Brie.
Hopefully I can get fully away from vac aging this year.
