John,
I decided to post the recipe I have been using for Camembert. This is from Schmidling.com.
I have made a few changes to the recipe, over time, but even by following it exactly I have gotten fair results (as far as taste is concerned).
The main changes I have made:
1. I don't add b. linens.
2. I do add whipping cream (16 oz. per two gallons of whole milk)
3. I don't salt NEARLY as heavily as he recommends. I pretty much salt it as I would a plate of tomatoes. I basically just sprinkle it on and then rub it into the surface with my fingers.
4. I leave the cheese at room temp. for 24 hours after salting.
5. I normally don't cut the curd but instead ladle the curd mass directly into the mold.
6. I don't use foil to wrap the cheese...I instead use a proper Camembert wrapping paper that I bought from Leeners.com
After wrapping the cheese I really haven't been concerned at all with the humidity.
I simply place the cheese in the crisper of my fridge and turn it every couple of days. According to my temp/humidity gauge I'm running in the high 30% range.
I did crack one of the wheels a few days ago and I was somewhat happy with the results.
The cheese has been ripening nicely but I still had some very "thin" cheese at the edges. Not a milk like substance (like my first attempt) but more like a very thick yogurt or thin cream cheese.
I'm sure this happened because I left the cheese for a little over a week in a 48 degree environment. It was at that point that I received advice to age the cheese in a very cool environment after wrapping.
By that time I could feel that the cheese out by the edges had already softened.
Anyway, my fingers have gotten away from me, yet again.
Here's the recipe. If you get the chance to give it a try, let me know what you think.
Dave
Camembert/Brie from Schmidling.com
This one gallon batch will make two, 4" cheeses about 1.5" thick when ripe. The recipe is for the cultures I use but you can substitute whatever mesophylic starter you normally use and you need at least one of the camembert cultures.
1 Gallon Homo Milk
1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride
Heat to 90F then add:
1/8 tsp of EZAL Meso culture
1/8 tsp of P. camembert
1/8 tsp of G. camembert
One drop of B. linnens
Ripen for one hour, then add:
1/8 tsp rennet then rest for 2 hrs.
Cut gently and dip the curds into perforated molds about 4" diameter and 8" high, resting on a small plate. A one gallon batch will fill two such molds.
Every few hours, put another plate on top and flip the moulds. In time, they will shrink down to less than 2" thick. By the next day, they should slide freely in the mold and retain their shape when the mold is lifted off.
Measure out 1/4 cup of salt onto a small plate and set a cheese in the salt. Turn the cheese over and put the clean side in the salt. Roll the edges in the salt and then wipe off excess salt and set the cheese on a draining matt and do the same to the other cheese. Handle the cheese gently at this point or it will fall apart and you have a mess. Continue this procedure until most of the salt has been rubbed into the two cheeses.
You now put the cheeses on a plastic or bamboo draining matt cut to fit into a plastic shoebox. Put the lid on the box and leave about a half inch opening and keep in a cool place. Ideally, around 55F and 85% humidity. The shoebox will maintain the humidity as described.
In a week or so they will start to grow the surface mold and after about 10 days will look like white furry hockey pucks. At this point you remove them from this environment and wrap them in foil and put in the fridge for about 20 more days. From here on, you can taste the cheese as it ripens to determine the best time schedule for your taste. By 60 days it will be a shell with white soupe inside so you have to sample it every week or so until you find what works best for you.