Camemberts

[iratherfly]

If they have mostly bloomed, you can move them to the low temp refrigerator. Not sure why you have black mold,

As for wrapping them, I find that in some cases it does really good things for the cheese and in others it can cause the PC to recede and the Geo to take over, or worst, it can cause a skin slip or fast outside maturation before the inside is ripe. I used to blame myself for the errors until I found that some wrapping materials work incredibly well and some are "professional" yet bring abut poor results.

Since you have quite a few wheels there, I would suggest to test it out and see which works better for you by only wrapping half of the wheels. This way you can compare the development speed and quality and see if the rind looks different when wrapped or not.  Better than having a mistake and having to throw all the cheese away...

[WhiteSageFarms]

Those look wonderful, ancksunamun.

I use the microwave containers for aging containers too. I find most of mine in second hand stores, haven't found any of the fish poacher shape yet.

~Laurie

They were at room temperature for 3 days. 36 hours in the molds then 36 hours draining/drying.

I then moved them into the cave (12c) in covered racks as shown.

This is what I have today, a week after making these cheeses.

I was planning to keep them at 12c until fully covered then wrap them and move them to the 9c part of the cave.

Good idea?

[ancksunamun]

I have wrapped two of the Camemberts which are now completely covered in white mold.

The other four I still have in the poaching containers but the mold growth slowed down so I put some water in the bottom of them and this seems to have picked it up again. All I have to be careful with is making sure I wipe the lids morning and night.

I will wrap two more once they are fully bloomed and age the others in the container to see what difference it makes. So far they are all very firm and dense but hopefully they will soften over time.

[iratherfly]

Usually they should all mature at the same time. Do you age them at the same temp? (notice that different shelves int he cave/refrigerator has different temp so interchange them on a regular basis so they all get pretty much the same average treatment)

Don't wrap all of them. Leave some unwrapped and see which ones ripen better. Wrapping can often lead to slip skin, or, your beautiful white velvet can suddenly begin receding. I usually get better results by not wrapping. I keep them in a good humidity container and that's it.

As for adding water - that's a no-no. The cheese should have enough moisture in it to be able to release it into the air in its small closed aging container to create plenty of humidity throughout the aging process.  Only if by some accident you left it uncovered and dried it to the point where the edges of the cheese are turning into a hard dry yellow, should you add water (and even then, you do it in a form of covering them with some basket and laying a moist sanitized towel on top of it. I find that these water containers can be risky contaminants). Don't speed up the process, let them develop. If you speed it up, you may get what looks like a gorgeous Camembert and feels soft and ready; but when you open it you will notice that only the outside has ripened. Give the paste inside enough time to mature and finish its lipolysis (21 days minimum). Remember that this is surface-ripened cheeses; they ripen from the outside in. It's like cooking; If you turn up the heat to cook something faster - you find out the outside cooked and the inside is still raw.

[ancksunamun]

They are all on the same level (temp wise) but I have been switching them about to give them all the same conditions.

I am looking at wrapping 4 and aging 2 in the container. It's more a space thing than anything as the containers take up quite a lot of room.

Ops!!!  I thought I had read somewhere to add water so decided to give it a go as mold growth had slowed down.

Off to empty them out now!! Point taken re ripening. Thank you for your help. Definitely feeling my way around blindly with this make. Only my 2nd go at Cams and feeling quite lost with how to get a good result.

[iratherfly]

Don't worry about it too much. Practice makes perfect and it may take a few batches to get the routine right and get that perfect cheese. For some people it takes years but I think you are on the right track.

Many times a receding or arrested mold growth has to do with acidity levels of your rind. Sometimes is has to do with the balance between the cultures. If you promote conditions that are better for Geo growth, it may end up overgrowing and taking the nutrients that the PC needs, thus starving it to death. If this keeps happening, reduce the amount of Geo on your next make,. It will also give you thinner rind. You can also experiment with different strains of geo and PC. Geo 13 for example is very aggressive and geo 17 is mild. PC Neige is fast growing and aggressive while PC VS is slow and mild but gives you more deep character. In other words, it's not all about your temp and humidity. There is that old saying "the cheese is made in the vat"; it's kind of almost true.

[ancksunamun]

Well after some Cam newbie adjustments my cheeses came along really nicely and had a full mold growth.

In a spat of impatience (and curiosity) I cut into one 4 weeks in just to see what was going on. It is still very firm (although it softened a fair bit after leaving it out) but it had a lovely taste and my partner claimed it was "exactly like Camembert". Lol!

I will be leaving the others a bit longer now to see how they age differently with more time.

[ConnieG]

Nice Cheese, Nice Photo, too

[Mondequay]

Great photo, Anck. What kind of camera are you using? The photo is so clear I can see your finger print!

I've noticed as I turn my mold ripened chevre and my crottin that I am leaving finger prints and am trying to figure out how to turn them without causing any squishing of the mold.
Christine

[Helen]

That's a great looking Camembert. It makes me hunger for cheese, bread and butter 

[elissamac]

I have major camembert envy. What a perfect looking beauty.
I just checked mine, 4 weeks old, & my finger went straight through a runny mess, so sad  :'(
Back to the drawing board.

Can I ask what recipe you followed? Also what milk did you use.

Well done, it gives me hope that it can be done

[WhiteSageFarms]

Beautiful photo, beautiful cheese. Is it the earthquake cheese? I remember you posted that you were busy making cheeses and it helped create a sense of normalcy after the terrifying earthquake. I'm interested in your recipe and procedure too, it looks good. 

~Laurie

[macox700]

Beautiful! Looks so yummy!   I too would like to know which recipe you used.  I'm hoping the ones I have aging turn out as lovely as yours! 

[DeejayDebi]

Very nice looking Cam ancksunamun! I like to photo too great angle!

[iratherfly]

They look great! 4 weeks should be more than plenty to eat them even though the past looks a bit young. Lots of eyes in them so I guess you had a bit of yeast or very loose curd that didn't know all the way (or the cow's feed is silage so it's just gas) but they look beautiful and healthy.

How was the salt on them?

The ultimate test is to cut a wedge and put it out and wait for about 20 minutes or so until it reaches room temperature - the flavor will open up and the outer part will turn more creamy and liquidy. This is the best way to gauge the quality.

Really terrific looking! Congrats!