Author Topic: Camembert or was it milk in bag  (Read 1561 times)

cyberloach

  • Guest
Camembert or was it milk in bag
« on: September 08, 2010, 06:36:47 PM »
This is my second attempt at making camembert and the results are the same iicky goey mess.

Any ideas what i did wrong

26 days old

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2010, 06:44:34 PM »
Moisture too high in curd or protein to fat ratio is wrong and doesn't have enough fat to give body after the breakdown of protein.

cyberloach

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2010, 07:43:15 PM »
so i dryed it at room temperature for 20-24 hours was it not enough

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2010, 07:57:51 PM »
That doesn't dry the curd, just the outside. The moisture is determined by the length of time you let the curd sit from adding rennet to the time you cut or ladle it. If that moisture is too high, and if the fat content is low (need to be mid to high 3%s), it will liquify too much.

You can mitigate this a little bit by draining whey or ladling at a relatively high pH, say 6.4, but if the protein to fat ratio is wrong or if final moisture in the curd is wrong, that's what happens.

Surface moisture can cause slip skin, that's what drying at room temp does - helps to dry the surface.

cyberloach

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2010, 08:03:41 PM »
so i should leave the curd longer after ive added the rennet before cutting it up. Or longer after its cut?

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2010, 08:17:19 PM »
If you leave the curd longer after adding rennet, it will make the final curd have more moisture. If you cut smaller or stir longer, it will have the final curd have less moisture.

But I don't think that's the core issue. What was your milk like? 2%? Raw? Whole? It needs to be a good quality whole. Holstein whole milk doesn't even really cut it for cam.

cyberloach

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2010, 08:36:23 PM »
i used pasturised 3.25% milk

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Camembert or was it milk in bag
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2010, 09:09:27 PM »
Well, I wrote about the causes, for that level of runnyness, there are only really two. Maybe if you want more help, post more of your process and ingredients, including aging conditions?