Author Topic: One weekend, 2 Cambozola attempts, results not certain  (Read 1034 times)

Cheesetart

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One weekend, 2 Cambozola attempts, results not certain
« on: May 16, 2010, 06:45:10 PM »
Ok. This has been the most difficult experiement so far.  I attempted my first Cambozola yesterday. I questioned the proportion of milk to cream -- but decided to go with it -- for the first attempt.  To my dismay, I was never able to get a firm enough curd to cut.   I even let it sit overnight (I could not bring myself to pitch it out before bed) and still no curd.  It was a mess.  So I tossed it.  Rather than chalk it up as a failure -- and because I really wanted to be able to see this work, I opted for making another batch today.   I had to. It was a challenge.
So I bought more milk and cream -- slightly different proportions. Researched thread after thread, felt I had a handle on it, and managed to get a solid curd.  Not quite as firm as I might used to, but it was curd.  One step closer.
I cut it.  Looked pretty good.
Let it sit for 15 minutes. Looked good.  Moved it around a bit and let it sit for another 15 minutes.
Scooped it into a cheesecloth lined collander.  At this point, it really seemed to be turning into cream cheese.  But I waited 30 minutes, let it drain, and scooped half into molds. Slightly messy.  But still we have some curds.  Let it sit for 15 minutes.
Added the blue mold.
Added more curds -- I can see how the mold might not appear (some of the posts) I think mine was washed away with the addition of the new  curds. Hopefully some remains.
In any case they are sitting on the counter draining.   It is by far the messiest batch of anything --I say anything, because at this point I have no idea what it will be.   Maybe I'll end up with a CamBlue Sauce of some sort.  Not sure if it will be cheese -- but going to let it do its own thing for a while and see what happens.  My husband asked me if I wanted to post pictures -- I just looked at him.   Really?  Pictures?  At this point, I don't know if I'll want pictures to remind me of this.   Fingers crossed that it turns into something edible.   Now I just need to set my sights on something new to try for next weekend.  It will not be a Cambozola.   I need time to "heal".  :-)

Brie

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Re: One weekend, 2 Cambozola attempts, results not certain
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2010, 07:11:50 PM »
I had the same problem before switching over to raw milk. Did you use pasteurized milk? Did you add CaCh? Also, the majority of cream sold in stores is ultra-pasterized and doesn't work at all with rennet. In general (even with raw milk cream), cream will take longer to set than whole milk, but it sounds as though yours has been sitting an awful long time. I also pre-drain the whey prior to scooping in molds--that helps as well. Hope you'll try this again--be patient.

Cheesetart

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Re: One weekend, 2 Cambozola attempts, results not certain
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2010, 07:34:24 PM »
Unfortunately, raw milk is not an option right now.   But I do have local access to pasteurized milk that is not ultra pasteurized.  Typically, however, I can only find ultra pasteurized  cream.   I did add calcium chloride-- and this second time around -- because my goal is to never take the car out on the weekends -- I walked to the local convenience store and they -- of all people -- had cream that was made locally and NOT ultra pasteurized.   All in all, it finally seems to be setting nicely.  It's only been a few hours -- so we shall see.  I was able to slid a small spoon on the side of the mold and "push" the blue back into the center.  This definitely will be an experiment in patience!!