Author Topic: my first moldy cheese: Camembert  (Read 3954 times)

tinysar

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my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« on: April 03, 2012, 01:08:44 PM »
So, 6 weeks ago I got my first packets of molds, and I wanted to start using them right away. Being impatient, I chose Camembert as my first mouldy cheese, figuring that it would ripen faster than a blue, and, if I managed to fail utterly, at least I would know about it within a few weeks. Had I done a bit more reading, I would've known that despite the short affinage, Cam's are tricky to age well. So I've been a bit concerned about this little cheeses. They didn't really get off to the best start:
*I forgot to turn them enough their first few days out of the molds
*They were kept at too high a temperature for their first week - the PC went a bit rampant
*They were at normal fridge temp after that, requiring a long time to age
*Three out of the four cheeses got stuck to their mats (due to the inadequate turning) and tore off half of their skin - see the photos, it was pretty bad.
*Their humidity control consisted of damp paper towels in lunchboxes

So, considering all the things that had gone/could go wrong, I didn't have high hopes. The torn skin ended up healing over beautifully (I just tapped the PC gently on it whenever I turned them), but the PC had grown so fast in the first week that I was afraid that the rind would be more of a crust. When they still felt firm after 5 weeks I figured that it was never going to happen and was planning to treat this as a learning experience.
But they started feeling soft this week, so I cut the first one open today and it's just fine. Not the best Cam I've ever tasted, but I didn't have any geo, so it was never going to be perfect. I'm pretty happy with the result.

The first photo shows them at 5 days, the others were taken today, at 6 weeks. In the second pic, you can see the mess of rind that had peeled off. The third shows the wonderful recovery they made, and in the fourth you can see my lunch  ;D
« Last Edit: April 03, 2012, 01:23:24 PM by tinysar »

beechercreature

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2012, 01:27:06 PM »
mistakes or not, that's a fine lookin cheese.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2012, 01:32:15 PM »
 tinysar
as long as it is edible on a first try what the heck, the next one will be much better, my first blue was grate-able but edible the next blues get even better
at least we have fun doing it  ;)
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Andree

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2012, 05:22:41 PM »
They look very good !  :D

Cheese Head

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2012, 11:36:17 PM »
Congrats, great looking paste development!

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2012, 12:11:53 AM »
They look great to me! A cheesee for the perfect paste!

tinysar

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2012, 10:15:32 AM »
Thanks for the encouraging words (& cheeses  :)) everyone!

My next white-mold project is to use harvested Cam rind so I end up with some geo in the mix. This lot developed beautifully, but Cam's just don't taste right without geo. Might use goat milk too - I love goat camembert.

Offline Vina

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2012, 02:54:51 PM »
They look just great to me! I can only hope for the similar perfect paste!
actually - how do they feel (when touched) during mold development? Mine are sort of ....firm, (thats my 1st) batch.

tinysar

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2012, 12:30:51 AM »
Vina - for the first 2 or 3 weeks (this is at 4 degrees celsius - halve these times for aging at proper temperatures), they felt quite firm under the thick fuzz of PC growth - i.e. hadn't really softened up any since being taken out of the molds. During the 4th & 5th weeks, they started softening up a little around the edges (in a kind of ring shape), but a firm core was still discernible with some gentle squeezing. By the sixth week, they had softened in the centre too, although it still felt a little firmer there - I thought that they might still have a little piece of hard core when I cut them open. But as it turns out they were ripened all the way through, so I'm glad I didn't leave them for another week.

Offline Vina

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2012, 06:25:19 AM »
tinysar - thanks! mine just developed white furr. Today they are going to the 'cave', an empty ordinary houshold fridge.

hoeklijn

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2012, 08:10:22 AM »
in your story I do not read about wrapping in cheese paper? I am used to wrap my cambozola and brie in cheese paper when they are fully covered with PC and let them mature when wrapped. Easy to flip this way, the PC won't grow too much and it's easy to feel if they are becoming softer. BTW: They turned out quite well, from what I can see on the picture...

tinysar

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2012, 02:18:34 AM »
I didn't have any cheese paper, so I just left them in the ripening containers and patted/rubbed the mold down to keep it under control. I had read that wrapping them in anything else (foil, waxed paper etc) would inhibit gas transfer, which might lead to unpleasant flavours like ammonia accumulating. Aside from those tears in the first week, there were no problems turning them. I've wrapped the remaining two in normal cellophane, which hopefully will be ok if I eat them quickly. I needed the ripening container for some other cheeses, otherwise I would've just left them in there - the PC growth seems to have stopped.

hoeklijn

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2012, 12:41:53 PM »
OK, I'll think about that the next time I make a white mold cheese. I had some cheese paper from the cheese farm where I buy my milk but I'm still looking for a Dutch supplier that will sell in quantities less then 10 kilo...

tinysar

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2012, 06:37:07 AM »
Ten kilos of paper? Wow.

I'll probably buy some proper cheese wraps one of these days, but my cheesemaking supplier reckons that everyday unperforated cellophane is alright for short-term storage of cheeses that have finished aging. It breathes better than plastic/foil/waxed-paper, but holds in moisture better than paper. Also, you can peek at the cheese inside without unwrapping them  ;D

hoeklijn

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Re: my first moldy cheese: Camembert
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2012, 10:26:52 AM »
Yep, for 28 euro without tax, but when you buy 10x10 kilo it's only 24 euro  ;).
An English website offers them for 13 pounds per 250 sheets, but they are so small that you need 2 sheets for a decent Brie.
So, anyone here who knows better deals??