Hi there,
I've made my first few batches of Camembert recently and I have a question concerning ripeness, particularly in the center of the cheese. I ripened my first batch for about 35 days and while it was still ostensibly edible, the flavor was a little too strong for my liking. Despite this, the center of the cheese remained fairly unripe (that is, it hadn't softened at all and remained a "pure white" color instead of becoming a cream color like near the edges). I tasted my second batch after only 21 days and found that the flavor was highly desirable, but the center was (logically) unripe and contributed a dry, chalky texture to the cheese. Does anyone know why the center of the cheese isn't ripening? I generally followed the Peter Dixon recipe.
Here's a photo of my second batch of cheese--you can kind of see the texture of the center is different than around the edges and less cream-colored, although it's much more obvious in person. Any advice would be much appreciated!