Camembert Cheese Making Recipe & Paste Solid/No Taste Problem

[ScottC]

Hi All,

My wife and I made our first batch of cheese 7 weeks ago now... we ended up with a 1kg cheddar, 2 Camembert and some ricotta. The problem at the moment is that the Camembert seems to be staying pretty solid, and has virtually no flavour. The P. candidum grew up well and coated the cheeses nice and evenly.

It's not unpleasant... but has the taste and consistency of processed cheese slices; rubbery and bland.

I posted here a while ago about a few tiny moulds that grew under the P. candidum, (but that's not the issue I'm concerned about here), so you can check that thread for some pics of the cheeses. That was a few weeks ago and they basically still look exactly the same.

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6281.0.html

Any advice?

Cheers,

Scott.

[smilingcalico]

I've not seen a recipe like that for Camembert before. Where did you find that? My first thoughts are that the acidity built too much with all the turning the curds and letting sit for so long.  Not that the turning developed the acidity, just the sitting for so much time. Also, the 25% w/w brine.  How much salt was in there?  Most Camembert is surface salted, I don't know if brining itself would be an issue, as I know reblachon is brined, and it still softens considerably inside.  I will also mention, and I don't know how this might relate, but I once did a wine brine on a semi hard cheese, and when I removed it from the wine it was HARD as a rock.  Now, months later, it is finally showing some softening. I don't know if there's any relation, just an observation.

[ScottC]

Hi,

Thanks for the info. What effect does the acidity have on the cheese? We didn't accurately measure the pH throughout the process.  I think I'll have to purchase a pH meter... the indicator strips I have are not accurate enough (0.5 pH units) and are open to a bit of interpretation in the readings.

25% w/w brine is 25g of salt per 100mL of water.

The recipe is from "Home Cheesemaking" by Neil and Carole Williams. It's listed as 'Camembert (Modern)'... there's also another recipe, which we didn't use, called 'Camembert (Normandy Style)', which is summarised like this:

Heat 10L milk to 32oC
Add prepared (overnight in UHT) type A or B culture at 2%
Add 1/10th tsp. P. candidum
Maintain temp for 60-90mins
Add 2mL rennet
Allow to set for 30 mins
Cut curd to 2cm cubes and leave for 5 mins
Turn curd three times at 10 minute intervals
Remove 1/3 of the whey and replace with water to 35oC
Turn curd after 10 minutes
Drain off whey and hoop the curd
Turn hoops after 10 mins, 30 mins, 3h, 5h and 8h.
Leave over night
Remove from hoops and place in 20% brine including a pinch of P. candidum for 30 mins to 1 hour.
Dry on a rack for 24 hours
Store at 11oC - 15oC for 10 days, wrap, store for another 2 weeks.

Cheers,

Scott.

[Alex]

Scott' this is a cheese recipe but far away from beeing a Cam recipe.
Try the recipe below, it's a home style one, I am fully satisfied with it:
 
Camembert – Basic Batch

Ingredients:

3 liters raw milk
3 ts buttermilk – Mesophilic culture starter
1 gr CaCl + ¼ cup water
Penicilum Candidum/Camemberti – per manufacturer’s instruction + ¼ cup water
Enzyme – per manufacturer’s instruction + ¼ cup water (I use MAXIREN Liquid Vegetarian, recommended dosage – 1 drop/1 liter milk, recommended by my mentor – 4 drops/3 liters milk)

Making:

1. Pasteurization: Heat milk to 72-74 deg C and cool as fast as possible to 42 deg C (in winter) or 38 deg C (in summer) using a water bath (kitchen tub).
2. Curdling: Add culture and stir well, add CaCl and stir well, add Penicilum Candidum and stir well, finally add Enzyme and stir thoroughly for 15-20 seconds only. Leave intact for 30-60 minutes until a clean break is achieved.
3. Cutting: Cut the curd to pea size, about 1 cm cubes, wait 8 minutes.
4. Stirrings: Stir gently, complete cutting if needed and let settle for 5 minutes.
Stir gently, and let settle for 3 minutes.
5. Salting: Drain about 1/3 of the whey and stir in 80 gr of salt (not less). Stir gently until the salt is mixed well and dissolved.
6. Moulding: Scoop out the curds and transfer them into 2 Camembert Molds. A metal disk (about 90 gr) can be applied on top of the curds.
7. Drainage: Leave for whey drainage at room temperature, not exceeding 20 deg C. Turn the cheeses in their molds when firm enough at 2-3 hours. Turn the cheeses every about 2 hours during the next 36-48 hours until dry enough.
8. Maturation: Store the cheeses at 12 deg C, 90-95% RH. When the cheeses reach 75% mold coverage, wrap in wrinkled alum foil and continue maturing at 4 deg C, alternately, let the cheese be fully covered with mold, then wrap in foil and continue aging at 12-14 deg C for up to a total of 6 weeks.

Notes:

1. The original recipe calls for 1 Tbs vinegar/1 liter milk added with the first ingredients. Lately I omit the vinegar, the success is the same.
2. The buttermilk I use, contains Streptococcus Lactis, Lactococcus Cremoris, Lactococcus Diacetylactis and Leuconostoc, very fresh with an exp. date of 3-4 weeks ahead.
3. To get a good mold development, right temperature and humidity, time and saltiness are needed. It is preferable to add a little bit more salt then less. Saltiness may prevent bad molds development.
4. A 7.5-9 liters batch can make Brie.

[Tomer1]

I reckon the vinegar is to compensate for pre draining salting (which stops acidification).
It suprises me this recipe works since the whole point in cam is developing acid during draining.  I need to try it then because it sure is simple then most.