John,
You asked about suggestions, and I have a number of them. I have read your previous recipes as well.
First, I would suggest that you try to be more consistent between batches. Particularly important is the temperature when you are making this cheese. Maybe you can get away with temp as high as 92F, but most literature recommends 86-90F and and I usually try to keep it between 88-90F (31-32C).
Don't use direct heat to heat your milk. Heat damages the casein structure and upsets the calcium balance, which is why pastuerized milk doesn't form a curd as firm as raw milk. CaCl2 can help some, but it is best to not damage the milk to begin with. With direct heat, the milk directly above the "hot spots" of the burner gets really hot and transfers the heat to the rest of the milk. If you want to use the burner, try putting a metal plate between the burner and the pot, or get a metal grid to elevate it. I always let my milk sit for a few hours at rooom temperature, and then immerse the containers in a sink of hot water.
I have become a big fan of Geotrichum, and I add it and the P. candidum when I add the ripening culture. I have tried a few (including MM 100), and I usually use MA4001 as I think the addition of a little Streptococcus gives the cheese more character. It is important to let the milk ripen for the proper time (usu ~90 min) before adding the rennet. The activity of the rennet is sensitive to this and if there is insufficient acid development the curd will not set as well. Also, if the temperature is too high it will inhibit the acid development.
I have tried cutting and not cutting the curds, and I think both work. Draining is a little faster with the cut curds. I usually let them rest 10 min or so after cutting.
I typically leave the cheeses in the molds 8-10 hours, and occasionally overnight if I started the cheese later in the day. Once they are reasonably firm, I take them out of the mold, salt them (1-1.5%) and move them to the first stage of ripening at 48-50F(9-10C). I turn them once a day, and if excess moisture has accumulated below the cheese I dab it up with a clean paper towel. White mold shows up in 7-10 days, and once there is a continuous layer of mold I wrap and put in the fridge (38F/1C).
Ripening at high temperatures will give you a runny cheese faster, but it will probably also be stinky and somewhat bitter. Ideally the cheese should be soft and creamy rather than runny. The proteolysis and lipolysis that cause the cheese to get soft and tasty need to happen slowly to give you a quality cheese. I do not know how some of the recipes say that you can have a tasty camembert in 4-6 weeks. I have found 8-12 is more common. The ripening time will be dependent on the thickness of the cheese.
I have been able to make a tasty cheese in a shorter period of time by using a St Marcellin style mold and making 1 cheese/liter (or quart) of milk. This is a thinner, smaller diameter cheese and I find it is usually ready in 3-4 weeks. If you want to make the full size Camembert, coolness and patience are a must.
For lunch today, unwrapped and ate one of this two Camembert batch, my first batch wrapped, 4 pictures posted above.
Wrapped came away from cheese nicely, beautiful looking rind development, both bottom and top, but when cut the cheese at ~10 C / 50 F after 2-3 minutes out fridge where aged 25 days in wrappers at 9 C / 48 F (34 days total), found very runny inside .
Ate it anyway .
The rind had the normal Camembert taste and nice thickness compared to my previous non-wrapped Camemberts with thicker fluffier rinds, bottom where wrap was folded had more unevenness that store bought Camemberts, I think as these wraps are thicker than those on store bought Cams. The pate did not have much of the Camembert taste and was a little bitter and a little too salty and while mostly very runny, did still have a small more solid part.
Any advice/thoughts especially on why too runny appreciated . . .