Brie #2

[hoeklijn]

I made 2 Brie's in one batch a couple of month ago and I decided to give it an other try this weekend.
First time I used the Camembert recipe from Tim Smith's book but now I tried the recipe in 200 Easy Homemade:
18 quarts of fresh raw milk plus 400 ml of 35% whipping cream (I want it to be more creamy than my first try)
10 small ice cubes of mesophilic mother culture which I put in the cave Friday afternoon in a tupper, together with a blob of soya yoghurt containing L.Bulgariensis and S.thermophilus (just for a try. I have only a simple multipurpose culture without much info about the content)
1/4 tsp PC neige
1/4 tsp liquid rennet
Main difference that I noticed with Tim Smith's recipe is that cultures and rennet are added together which I did at 31C/88F.
Waited for 90 minutes before checking for a clean break and decided to wait for an other 10 minutes.
Just followed the recipe for the remaining steps.

Since I dropped my digital thermometer in the whey last weekend I bought an other one which was delivered last Thursday. Turned out that I paid 20 euros for a crappy device. According to that thing it was 30C in my bathroom instead of 21C. I was lucky to have an oldfashioned glass thermometer...
Below some pics of the draining...

[Boofer]

Nice. 

The mirror on the right makes it look like you have a few more than the two you mentioned.

Very interested to see the progress of these.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Yum!  Will be interesting to see how these develope.  Keep us posted.

- Jeff

[Tomer1]

Its just asking to get some hands in it and take care of all that whey.        (I think I saw this technique in a french camambert clip)

[Boofer]

Its just asking to get some hands in it and take care of all that whey.        (I think I saw this technique in a french camambert clip)

I think I remember that too. The cheesemaker stuck his/her fingers (held together) into the center of the just-filled mould to help the whey drain.

-Boofer-

[hoeklijn]

Its just asking to get some hands in it and take care of all that whey.        (I think I saw this technique in a french camambert clip)

I think I remember that too. The cheesemaker stuck his/her fingers (held together) into the center of the just-filled mould to help the whey drain.

-Boofer-

LOL, Done that too. It also helps to put a moisty cheesecloth on top with the corners of the cloth below the draining mat, it starts draining right away...
Next picture is after the first flip.
By the way, I forgot to mention that when I was halve way filling the moulds, I sprinkled 3 spoons of cooked chive on the curds of one of the Brie's, keeping distance from the mould of about an inch. So when this works out, there will be a surprise inside...

[hoeklijn]

OK, they are out of the moulds, salted and in a container  in the cave. I'm running out of space, so I have a doubledeck container now with about 2 kg of Brie. As you can see on the picture some chive floated to the outside...

[JeffHamm]

They look good.  The bottom one might end up with a much higher humidity environment than the top one though.  You may want to consider swapping places when you flip them?  The chives will be interesting too, neat idea. 

- Jeff

[Caseus]

Those are impressive.  I think they look great. 

I'm curious about your moulds, hoeklijn.  I have some Camembert moulds that I haven't used yet.  Mine are 11 cm inside diameter by 11 cm tall.  Yours appear much shorter in height than their diameter.  What are the dimensions?

[hoeklijn]

Mine are 23cm in diameter and 8 cm high.
@Jeff: In the cave there's a nearly closed lit on it and yes, I swap places when I flip them.

It's the first time I have my cave so filled with different types of cheese, Fourme d'Ambert with PR, Reblochon with BL and Brie with PC. I hope I can keep it all under control. At the moment the cave's thermostat is set to 12-13C and humidity is around 90%. Beginning of June we have a party and then all must be ready...
-Herman-

[Boofer]

It's the first time I have my cave so filled with different types of cheese, Fourme d'Ambert with PR, Reblochon with BL and Brie with PC. I hope I can keep it all under control.

You're really living on the edge. A master juggler of culture.

I'm curious to see whether you can get them all to behave and share the space.

A cheese for your courage and the range of cheese rind action you have initiated.

-Boofer-

[hoeklijn]

Thanks Boofer, I'm checking twice a day at the moment. On the list are still some NeufChatel and feta. I'll keep you posted....

[hoeklijn]

Wanted to flip them again and had a surprise: They are growing... When they came out of the moulds they were 23 cm in diameter, just like the moulds of course. I placed them on trays that are 25cm wide and the Brie's are just that wide, but not only that, they are blowing. Not much but definitely. And when I had an other tray on top and flipped them... well, I can call it "Brie Blowing Bubbles" but it was more like a farting Brie, however odorless.
Anybody any idea why? I used a blob of soja yogurt with Lactobacillus Bulgariensis and Streptococcus Cremoris, but they are not supposed to be gas forming, or am I completely wrong and did I do a stupid thing? They smell good and look good until now....

[hoeklijn]

Fortunately the development of gas was only once. Could it have been CO2? The wheels are a bit flattened and increased in size up to about 27cm now.
But: Six days after making the first white mold. Still looking good and smelling good.
I flip them once a day and swap places and begin to like the double container more and more...

[JeffHamm]

Those look really good to me.  I've not made brie or cam's very often myself, so the following observation is based upon my interpretation of things I've read on this board.  It seems to me the wrinkles on the side may indicate geo rapid growth, which could lead to slip skin.  It might be useful to wrap and move to a colder fridge to slow down rind development?  Your own experience will be more useful than my suggestion, and others who make this style more often than me may correct me on this.  It's good  to see that both are developing similarly, so your stacking system seems to work well.  A cheese to you.

- Jeff